We raced ahead of this marvelous herd of African Elephants and positioned ourselves on the road to try and capture this scene as they crossed the dirt road. As...
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We raced ahead of this marvelous herd of African Elephants and positioned ourselves on the road to try and capture this scene as they crossed the dirt road. As the moment unfolded a Rhino unexpectedly ran across the road also creating a wonderful moment I will remember forever!
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Awards
Runner Up in Wildlife Wanderlust Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wildlife Wanderlust Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Nature Addict Project
Contest Finalist in Animals Around Us Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Paths And Trails Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wildlife On The Move Photo Contest
Honorable Mention in Endangered Species Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Endangered Species Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Unique Locations Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Composition And Leading Lines Photo Contest
Runner Up in A Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in A Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Jungle Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
Top Ranks
Categories
jleighkelley
October 10, 2018
It is so real that it is almost surreal! What a fantastic experience and to get such a great shot as well! Just beautiful!
Rmay1
August 20, 2023
Congratulations on runner up in Wildlife Wanderlust contest. Amazing capture. 😊
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Shamwari Game Reserve, South AfricaTime
Late afternoonLighting
It was overcast which exposed the animals nicely with a little bit of light shining through on the foliage.Equipment
Canon 1DX Body with a Canon 70-200 lens. I steadied the shot on a beanbag in the Safari Truck.Inspiration
We stumbled upon this magnificent herd of elephants moving rather quickly through the bush towards a road that we had frequented over the past few days. We raced ahead of this marvelous herd of African Elephants and positioned ourselves on the road to try and capture this scene as they crossed the dirt road, we were fairly certain the lighting and timing was perfect to get a cool road crossing with a continuous stream of elephants. As the moment unfolded just as we had hoped a crazy twist occurred. A large Rhino unexpectedly ran across the road, just as I was getting my shot creating a wonderful moment I will remember forever! This was truly planning meeting a little luck.Editing
Not much post processing here. What you see is what you get. I always burn and dodge a touch to bring out my subject plus a little clarity and color balance.In my camera bag
I am a gearhead, so my bag is a little different for each trip I take. When I'm shooting on Safari I swear by my 200-400mm with built in 1.4 Extender attached to my new Canon 1dx Mark II. I can shoot 16 shots per second and can cover any focal length from 200-560mm which is most of what I need on Safari. I also usually have a second body (and sometimes third) with me for closer shots. I prefer the 5D Mark IV connected to my 70-200. Finally, I am falling in love with Infrared photography so I modified an old 5D Mark III to be a full time infrared setup. I get the coolest, mysterious shots with this camera.Feedback
Wildlife photography is all about spending as much time in the field as possible. On this day we were in the truck for 14 hours straight. Things are going to happen out in the wild, but often it takes a lot of patience. When your moment does come, you have to be ready. I try to have several bodies within arms length that have been pre-set to the settings I'm predicting for the shot that might occur...sound difficult? It is! As the day unfolds, I am constantly checking the lighting and shooting practice shots with my cameras to make sure I capture that moment that always seems to come. As an example, in the shot above, if my camera was in manual mode on aperture 2.8 I wouldn't have caught this moment. I had to have it set to capture this moment, before the moment occurred.