Family of Elephant crossing

[Kedarnag138]

This was an unexpected encounter. We went into the forest in search of a tiger when we heard of a call. We were roaming aimlessly after the guide lost the tracks after about an hour or so, we heard a sound from the trees not very far from our vehicle. When we went close, following the sound we identified it as an elephant, however it was in deep woods, taller trees did not have a visual. The sounds were very aggressive as though it was trying to fight of a predator(at least that's what our guide told us). We stopped and waited from a distance to see if the elephant would come out and maybe the predator would follow. After about 20min, the elephant showed up and walked onto the road and for a second we thought he was alone, however, he blocked the road sideways and then the family followed. This was quite a spectacle for us, if not for this sighting we would have returned without having seen any animals.

Please share your feedback. Thanks and have a nice day!

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

What a wonderful memory. If you've cropped this, it's a bit too close to the feet for my taste. If it's uncropped, such is life Congrats on experiencing this, no matter

 

[Space Face]

What a wonderful sight. I agree about the tightness but hey ho, sometimes you just get what you get.

 

[Kedarnag138]

What a wonderful memory. If you've cropped this, it's a bit too close to the feet for my taste. If it's uncropped, such is life Congrats on experiencing this, no matter

I did the crop near the feet. There was elephant dung just below the cropped feet. Wasn't sure, if it would look good in the photo

 

[zulu42]

What a beautiful moment. I enjoyed the story as well. Thank you for sharing.

 

[K9Kirk]

What a wonderful memory. If you've cropped this, it's a bit too close to the feet for my taste. If it's uncropped, such is life Congrats on experiencing this, no matter

I did the crop near the feet. There was elephant dung just below the cropped feet. Wasn't sure, if it would look good in the photo

A good example of when only the photographer knows he has a good reason to crop a certain way. Nice pic!

 

[terri]

This is absolutely beautiful! Great background story and a wonderful image for the outcome.

The close bottomed crop isn't really bothering me. Not a single toe is cropped out. You could (if you wanted) attempt to clone out some of the dung unless it's just too pervasive to be worthwhile. Otherwise, I like the fact that this huge animal is filling the frame - it gives an extra impact. The framing helps demonstrate the size of the foreground elephant, especially in relationship to the family members. In that regard, the crop becomes an important element of the shot. It could be fixable with processing, but not sure it's that critical.

I love the backlit situation, the B&W, the slanting sun rays, and I love the lens flare. It all adds to the natural ethereal quality of this chance encounter.

Great job.