Moonrise Elephant Sands

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 31, 20171,744 views4 comments

Elephant Sands, Botswana, Africa

I had a problem categorising this image but it seems to me it comes under the banner wildlife. These animals are completely free to wander around Botswana, they are not fenced in and they are totally free to come and go as they please.

These are undoubtedly my most satisfying of the elephant shots that I took and extremely difficult as I couldn't see to focus and the exposure which was in the region of two seconds required the elephants to be virtually stationary during that time. They were exposed at an average of 3200 ISO and the moon fortuitously rose as the elephants visited the waterhole with the lodges situated around the perimeter. I hope you like them as much as I do.

Please View LARGE..

Fuji XT-1, 55-200mm zoom lens, estimated manual focus, f/5.6, 2 seconds, ISO 3200

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Paula LeVay on August 1, 2017 at 2:09 PM

Ian, there are several things that I particularly like about your image, the first being your creative spirit in imagining that it would all come together considering the degree of difficulty involved with low iso and visibility and elephant motion. I love your use of both moonlight and lodge lighting to illuminate the image and reflect it in the watering hole. The elephant's presence have a ghostly or spiritual quality that adds context and interest.

Registered on July 29, 2016, 66 Posts, 270 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on August 2, 2017 at 1:49 PM

Ian: there's a uniqueness to the photo that I appreciate. The elephants, their reflections and the moonlit scene are a treat. Amazingly sharp foe a 2 second exposure. Congrats! Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on August 3, 2017 at 1:06 PM

I, too, find this to be hauntingly compelling. It is great to see someone photographing "out of the box." Reflections are key to the impact, too.

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on August 18, 2017 at 12:03 AM

And interesting and sort of eerie scene, Ian. I love the colors here. Congrats on the WP.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments