Kilimanjaro Bull

Love the setting in this image... the mountain line in the backdrop is adding a lot. Great work Neil.

Each time I go to Amboseli, I dream about making an image like this - the world's largest land mammal against Africa's highest mountain. Usually, Kilimanjaro's summit is covered in clouds, or when the mountain is clearly seen, there are no elephants around! You have managed to nail this. In my opinion, though, you could try to selectively add some contrast to the mountain, or use the gradient filter in Adobe Raw. Just adding my two bits here, Neil!

Superb, Neil!

The bull is perfectly placed so the mountain mirrors his mass. I like the other details, too, like the lines of the fallen stripped tree and the surprise of a bird at the top of the right hand tree. I agree with Ajit that it might be an enhancement to add some punch to Kilimanjaro in the background with a contrast or grad tweak. Still, this is wonderful as posted.

Nice work.
István

Compo and DOF are excellent Neil!

Hi Neil,

You did pretty darned good with a JPEG here!

Colour and lighting are excellent here. I also like the balance of fully lit and shaded regions on the elephant - I think that aspect of the image is very strong. I'm going to disagree with the others who would want more contrast on the background - I personally like images what have a "difference" somewhere in them - and to me the difference in contrast between the "vibrant" foreground (and subject) and the more muted background adds visual interest to this image. I think this already excellent image would be even stronger if the elephant had positioned itself a little more to the right - to me this would provide a little more balance between it, the background and that fallen tree. Boy, some subjects just don't understand how to be the perfect model!

Really like this Neil - thanks for sharing it...

Cheers...

Brad

I have nothing to add regarding this photo other than gushing praise. :) An incredible photo, thanks for sharing.

This is great! Everything has been said, so all I can say is please keep 'um coming!

Neil,

Well done and it looks like you made the most of the break in the weather. The juxtaposition of the elephant and Kilimanjaro in the background couldn't be better. Congrats!

This make me wish I could go to Africa. This is a great image and you did well for having shot it in jpeg

Well done getting the Big Two in the same frame. Oh to get back to Africa

Great backdrop n interesting image, works well.
Jagdeep Rajput