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Thread: Two humorous elephants

  1. #1

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    Two humorous elephants

    South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve

    The elephant in the first photo isn't trying out for the ballet. Instead, it is holding some branches in place with its left foot so it can more easily peel the foliage away with its trunk and enjoy the feast.

    The elephant in the second photo is also preparing for a feast. I happened to be at the right position at the right time with the right focal length to make it seem as if I was only inches away. Especially to get the full impact of this photo, please click it to view it in the Lytebox.


    Two humorous elephants


    Two humorous elephants
    Last edited by Mike Buckley; 6th November 2013 at 02:22 PM.

  2. #2

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Mike;

    I think that you outdid yourself on your other elephant thread

    These shots are nice and I particularly like the unusual pose and expression in the second image. His iconic ears are laid back which makes in interesting IMHO. I wonder if one or both on these images would really stand out if you interspersed them with your other shots where more of the environment is present in the image?

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Quote Originally Posted by ShaneS View Post
    I wonder if one or both on these images would really stand out if you interspersed them with your other shots where more of the environment is present in the image?
    You might be right, Shane. However, I don't think either of these images is as good as any image in the thread that includes my wife's photos. That's the primary reason I didn't post them there. The other reason is that, for me, these two photos are a bit humorous, whereas none of the photos in the other thread are.

    In summary, I was thinking for a couple of reasons that these two photos aren't a particularly good fit with the others. It's interesting that you're apparently thinking otherwise.

  4. #4

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Mike, a pro photographer that I took a one day lesson from in Tokyo a long time ago told me something that has always stuck with me about creating a story with your images. It comes to mind when I see these images, the others, and your comment above.

    His advice was that when you are trying to tell a story (and that is how I envision a book) to include images that include context (in this case, the wider framed images in the other thread) along with close ups and tighter shots like these.

    I'm really not sure whether it would work in this case but it is worth playing around with layouts of the different shots a bit to see.

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Very nice, Mike, very nice. Excellent techs on these. Superbly processed. Just on nitpicky thing, which you could do absolutely nothing about, is that I am slightly distracted that the lighting is to one side in the 2nd photo, leaving the elephant brighter on the left, and in shadow on the right. Again, not a huge deal, and you had no control over that, so I should hush up.

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Shane,

    I think you're absolutely correct about the idea of using both tightly framed and widely framed photos to tell a story and I will certainly do that when I assemble photos for the thank-you book for my friends.

    However, I tend to think there is a difference between presenting images in a book and presenting them in an Internet thread. The primary difference is that most people tend to like no more than about five photos in an Internet thread. If I had included these two photos in the other thread, there would have been seven photos. Notice how few threads have that many photos, and I think for good reason.

    That leads to the next difference between a book or even a booklet and an Internet thread: the threads aren't necessarily devoted to telling a story. In this particular case, I was more interested in displaying my five favorite photographs of elephants from that one game reserve. That's different from telling a story and the two photos in this thread aren't in my top five favorites.

    Make sense? It does to me but at this late hour almost anything would.

  7. #7

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    Re: Two humorous elephants

    Thanks for mentioning the light in the second photo, Matt. You're right that I had no control over the situation. I couldn't even move to a different position because I was a passenger in a Landrover type of vehicle. However, I wonder if toning down the bright light on the elephant's right ear might at least help mitigate the issue that you mentioned. I'll give it a try.

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