Mater Familias

A very effective composition (without any kind of BG).  I think it might be better without the leaves (if that were possible) as they pull your eye away from the eyes and tusks.  Excellent idea.

Hi Ingrid, I would loose a little off the LHS and create the same space as the RHS to provide a more 'symmetrical' framing. I also feel you needed more DoF and in turn would have had to bump up the ISO to retain SS, not sure how well the D800 copes with higher ISO?

TFS
Steve

Hello Ingrid.... WOW, Great to see up close, with excellent detail in larger version!

I realy enjoy it as presented, Dof is close but sharp at eyes and slowly taper off at tusks, this I think helps accentuate the eyes and area around the eyes!   I would crop off very small bottom left corner, where ear ends and black area starts! :)

Thanks for sharing

Bill
www.BillBicklecom  

I would have moved her just a bit more to the center to cut out that little dark area in the far lower left corner.  I love the green.  It tells a story about what she has been doing.  I also must add that I am very partial to elephants and images of them!

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way especially given that this is a critique forum and we can all benefit from other perspectives, but in some ways I can't wrap my mind around the critiques and suggestions given here, Ingrid, because I find this to be one of the finest wildlife images presented on NPN. I trust your significant skill and experience to understand your decisions pertaining to comp and DOF to be artistic decisions and the out working of how you crafted the image. For me, this is a very, very special piece.

Beautiful, Ingrid. The elephant occupying the whole frame emphasizes its massive size. I also like the branch. It adds a bit of color to the otherwise almost monochromatic frame.

Cheers,

Hisham.

Hi Ingrid!
This has become 'a kind of your signature framing'. 
I love it!
Jagdeep Rajput

Thanks all so much for your comments!

I appreciate all your suggestions, however, the choices made were on purpose. I wanted the shallow dof here to emphasize the eyes. The green to me added something extra, it also shows that there is no aggression (which could often be the case when an elephant flaps its ears at you ), so it gives a clearly friendly picture. I did not want the crop to be symmetric as she is holding her head a bit squint anyway. In that respect the little black corner didn't bother me. If I crop it off, the picture is symmetric. Anyway, thank you for thinking along, I appreciate your opinion and your time a lot even if sometimes I might not agree with it 

Have a lovely Sunday!


Ingrid.

Great intimate portrait. The greenery adds a lot. Well done.

Ingrid: I like it off center and with the blt of greenery. Not every photo needs to be symmetrically composed or cropped to symmetry. Hang it large as is. Congrats!! Richard

Hi Ingrid,

This reminds me of macro-photography where close-ups of tiny things show up big in great detail! Your detailed close-up portrait of this  elephant with leafy dinner is very choice. I like the asymmetry in the comp, sharpness of the eyes and the skin texture is perfect.  She looks like she did not find your presence alarming and the close-up works well.  Large version is awesome.............................................Jim

For me this is fine as posted.  Excellent work. 

Ingrid,
Not often you get a good Elephant eye, those long eyelashes are normally in the way!
Where in Tanzania did you find this?
I agree with John in relation to the "strange" critiques you received early on in particular that relating to DOF

Hi Ingrid,

A very fine image exactly as posted. I like the asymmetric composition and feel the bit of vegetation adds both an accent of contrasting colour and some context (in the form of telling a bit of a story). I can see how some would prefer more DoF and I wouldn't be surprised if we could find some who would want less! Your own decisions in how to execute this image resulted in an excellent image, as could some of the alternate approaches.

Moderators "Point of Order": To those who have commented on the quality of the comments of others on this image: This is a critiquing gallery and alternate approaches and suggestions that are respectfully written are ALWAYS welcome. Feel free to state your own opinion on an image, and if those views differ from others it is clear that you have a different opinion and you do not have to directly question their points or question their right to state their own perspective. The last thing we need here on this gallery are comments that discourage honest critiques on images. Ingrid is an accomplished photographer and had no problem whatsoever defending her own creative decisions (and she did it with professionalism and class). 

I encourage everyone to review the posting guidelines and, in particular, follow the link and read (or re-read) the essay written by Jim Erhardt entitled "The Art of Image Critique".

Ken: Feel free to state your own viewpoint on images, but please refrain from calling the critiques/comments of others "strange" (even if you include quotation marks). It is rude.

Cheers...

Brad

Ingrid,
Congratulations

I would like to apologise to all those who thought my use of the word STRANGE was rude.
Cheers

Ken

What a nice surprise to see 'my' elephant in the WP - thank you! 

Grt, Ingrid.