Terrified Elephant

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 20, 2013248 views9 comments

Elephants really do not like Wild Dogs, no idea why although I suppose a large pack may be able to take down a youngster?
Unfortunately this was very early in the morning and I was a little lax in adjusting my settings, needed to open up to get a better shutter speed, I am not really happy with very high ISO.
EOS 1DX
200-400mm F4 at 400mm
F 6.3
ISO 1600
1/320 (hand-held)

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Balakumar Kaushik on October 20, 2013 at 3:54 AM

Nice moment captured. Liked the overall warm colours. I initially thought of a vertical crop but then that would make the frame too tight. It looks better the way you've presented.

Cheers,
Kaushik

Registered on January 4, 2008, 98 Posts, 1403 Comments

Comment posted by Greg AshworthFanch on October 20, 2013 at 8:24 AM

Nice capture! The high ISO does not bother me at all, and the F 6.3 give just enough depth of field.

Registered on December 14, 2012, 55 Posts, 67 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 20, 2013 at 12:12 PM

Nice demonstration of this interesting behavioral idiosyncrasy of elephants. The photo might be a little stronger if the dog was positioned just slightly forward and not lined up with the elephant but since the behavior is the important thing here, not a big thing.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on October 20, 2013 at 3:31 PM

Great action shot, Ken! I especially like the ears flapping to make the elephant look bigger. The high ISO is no problem for me.

Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on October 20, 2013 at 10:32 PM

I love the view of the elephant. I wish the wild dog had one more stride so he didn't appear to merge with the feet...or to be underfoot!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 21, 2013 at 2:47 AM

Thanks everybody, much appreciated

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on October 21, 2013 at 3:38 PM

Great sighting and action. Good to see these species together in any event.
I like that the ele is sharp and the dog motion-blurred. I would take care of the green/cyan sheen on the elephant.
You really should trust that 1Dx to deliver, it's capable to exceed your reservations up to ISO-3200 I would think

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by James Blue on October 21, 2013 at 6:32 PM

Very cool Shot Ken. Elephants can sure throw a temper tantrum when they have a mind to. I'm picky on high ISO also, but I do find the 1DX very capable of very clean images @ 1600 - something prior models failed at.

Jim

Registered on June 16, 2013, 16 Posts, 144 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 21, 2013 at 11:42 PM

Thanks everybody for your comments, much appreciated.
Like James I am not a great fan of high ISO and really do not understand the claims made for these settings, the 1DX is capable at 1600, 3200 is a just about passable if desperate. It must be because I come from a time when ISO 400 film was launched, that was noisy too

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments