I liked this one best from a series shot of this elephant dust bathing. What I am not so happy about however are the uncooperative springbok in the BG! I mean I don't mind them being there at all and can actually add to the image to portray the elephant in its living environment. Unfortunately their poses and positions are not how I wanted them. Then in some images the springbok have good positions and poses, but the dust spray or elephant pose is not as good!
In other words, when shooting an animal where there are more animals around it the situation becomes so much more difficult; you not only have to focus on the main subject, but also be aware of the other moving subjects within your frame or that might enter your frame. When looking through your viewfinder this is often very difficult and it actually helps to continuously look up (or open your none viewfinder eye) to oversee the entire scene. Of course that does not change anything about the scene, but it makes you more aware of what's in it and you can act on that if possible.
PS: The blue BG are rainclouds, it poured down that night and the elephants were nowhere to be found the next day.
Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana
Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Shutter Speed 1/320 Sec.
Aperture Value f/6.3
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
slight crop to eliminate a springbok back side on the left
Comments
14 commentsA nice behavioral shot of the elephant. The springboks provide a size contrast but as you said, their pose and position are not ideal. Well you can capture what you are given.
I agree with your self-critique. But this image has such a lovely mood/action to it that I almost forget that those 2 springboks are there. I love how you captured this at a low angle and with such detail in the skin texture. The dust flying around is a treat ! Not sure what the circumstances were, but backing up the vehicle might have worked, perhaps (to eliminate the distractions) :-). But then, he wouldn't be parallel to the focal plane, oh well !
One nit (which no one can control) is if the trunk was in an upright position instead of sideways ( sort of like the iconic 'trumpet pose'), this would be golden! Great image, as-is.
Jagdeep Rajput
Max