GideonMalherbe
FollowA group of thirsty elephants hurrying to the water hole in the Etosha Game Reserve in Namibia.
A group of thirsty elephants hurrying to the water hole in the Etosha Game Reserve in Namibia.
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in the Etosha Game Reserve, Namibia. There are a waterhole near the Okaukuejo camp and it is amazing how the different groups of animals come to drink water at different times of the day. The elephant herds come in at late afternoon and the young one rush up to the waterhole to have a drink and a bath after a long day out.Time
The elephants favour the waterhole late afternoon and the photo was taken 6:24 pm in the golden hour just after sunset. The sunset gave beautiful warm golden colours to the image with the dust giving the special atmosphere to the whole image.Lighting
The sun was just under the horizon but I still could get a nice crisp image with a 1/40 sec at f9 aperture setting.The yellow light in the golden hour at sunset gave the nice warm tones to the image.Equipment
A Canon EOS 350 with a 17.0 - 85.0 mm lens were used without a tripod.Inspiration
I wanted this image to portray the absolute urgency of the young calves to quench their thirst with the mothers keeping a watchful eye over them.Editing
I cropped the raw photo a little to position the herd coming in from the top left corner of the photo. Then the hue was changed to bring out the warm golden colours of the sunset.In my camera bag
I use two body's. Being a keen wildlife photographer the older Canon 7D with the EF24-105mmf/4L IS USM lens does a great job for the wider angle photos. The challenge of bird in flight photography always gives me the urge to get up early to take that magic shot and few combinations of equipment can do it better than my great favourite the Canon EOS 7D Mark 2 with the EF400mm f2.8L IS II USM lens.Feedback
My late friend Basie van Zyl had a quote ''Always be prepared when the opportunity arises''. To do that you need to practise a lot. You need to know your equipment very well and have the best setting in the different light conditions you are going to find. Always be ready for the unexpected ...nature does nor wait for us... things happens in a split second ... and then the moment is gone forever.