Tysondv
FollowThis beautiful photo I took in Amboseli Park, Kenya of to mother leading her two calfs through the grasslands. We had been out on a safari and then saw this lar...
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This beautiful photo I took in Amboseli Park, Kenya of to mother leading her two calfs through the grasslands. We had been out on a safari and then saw this large family of elephant over 800 meters away. We waited for them, to slowly and majestically cross our path. I knew the shot i was looking for and thankfully I was fortunate enough to get it.
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martinfoxsmith
May 15, 2018
WHAT A GREAT SHOT, I WAS AT AMBOSELI PARK IN FEBRUARY, CANNOT WAIT TO GO BACK
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Amboseli Park in Kenya. In 2016 I had the incredible opportunity to visit several countries in Eastern Africa including: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the Ugandan- Rwandan border (Bwindi)Time
As expected, on a safari you often take hundreds of photos in a single day. That being the context of this photo, my memory is failing me, but I think it was somewhere around 3 in the afternoon. I remember we were driving that afternoon, when someone saw a whole herd of elephants off in the distance. We were overjoyed when we realized that they were coming right towards. We probably waited for 20 minutes for this herd to finally cross our path. While waiting I saw this mother and her two calves and immediately knew I wanted this shot. It was actually fairly tricky because I was refined to the car, and there were elephants in front and behind this little trio. It definitely took some patience and timing to get this shot- it was the only shot I was able to get with only these three in it.Lighting
Fortunately, I didn't have to perform many lighting acrobats to get this photo, everything just fell into place. When on a safari you often just have to do the best with what you have in front of you, or else you will miss the shot by scaring the wildlife away.Equipment
This photo was shot on my Canon 70D with a EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (telephoto kit lens). No other gear was required.Inspiration
Before this trip to Africa, I had previously done a class on photography and loved it. So when presented with this trip I knew I needed to buy a camera. I had essentially never used a camera 2-3 weeks prior to this photo being taken. It was on this trip, on those safaris, that my passion for wildlife photography was birthed and to this day it is still my favorite genre. Photos like this were the corner stone in this realization.Editing
Yes! I have actually re-edited this photo multiple times. Because it was so bright that day, the photo looked a little washed out and overexposed. So I did my best, equipped with the basics I had learned in my class, but I still was never quite happy with it. Finally after some experimentation with new techniques, I found what I was looking for. I essentially dropped most of the contrast out of the photo, pumped up the clarity and added some split toning. This brought out some extra color and moodiness that I had wanted to capture.In my camera bag
I'm a fairly new photographer, and therefore my equipment is somewhat limited. I use my canon 70D body and the two kit lenses that came with it- a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 and a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. Recently I just added to my repertoire a 50mm 1.4 prime lens which has really started to take some of my shots to the next level. Despite the flack it gets in reviews, I still love my 75-300mm. It can be painful to work with for sure, but I have gotten almost all of my best shots with it. Though primarily being a wildlife photographer, I may be a little biased.Feedback
I feel like I still have so much to learn myself so I feel somewhat ill-equipped to be giving advice. However, if there has been anything that I have learned since starting, it would be to visualize the shot and to know what you are trying to capture. Almost every shot I take, I visualize the image I want before hand, often drawing on the hundreds of shots I have been inspired by. Knowing what about that subject you are trying to capture is key. Every subject you photograph has special characteristics that you must highlight if the photography is to come alive. Maybe it is the majesty of a lion, or the exoticness of a parrot or a battle scarred buffalo, either way, knowing what you want is crucial.