Young Defence
On the banks of the Elephant's River close to Elephant's camp in Kruger NP (South Africa) this young bull was protecting his family from our vehicle w...
Read more
On the banks of the Elephant's River close to Elephant's camp in Kruger NP (South Africa) this young bull was protecting his family from our vehicle with this mocking display.
Read less
Read less
Mar, 2016Views
715
Likes
Awards
Zenith Award
Legendary Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
PRO+
adavies
March 31, 2016
Adorable capture! Nicely done! Welcome to ViewBug! Looking forward to seeing more:)
andrewsmith_1367
April 25, 2016
Great capture, personally I'd be running in the opposite direction! He really looks as though he's charging at you with serious intent, despite being a baby still. You have a great eye for the right photo and really deserve the awards you are getting.
PRO
orlandosadie
April 29, 2016
Practice for youngsters. They never follow thru. The trunk and foot raise simultaneously is normally the position they stop flipping the trunk telling you to leave. Ears open is also mocking in small and large elephants. Ears tuck in means business. Many incidents yearly of vehicle damage / overturned people getting too close. Redirect aggression is common so giving them space and respect is safety 101
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken 10+ years ago in the Kruger National Park close to Olifants (Elephant) camp on the dirt road that follows the banks of the Olifants River in a westerly direction towards Balule satellite camp. A mother with 4 offspring of different ages was crossing the road just after we passed them. I think we saw the very young infant close to the mother and parked the vehicle square across the road about 50 meters away. After the initial placid mother + 3 (photo 63520147) , the 4th lagging behind bundle of energy came rushing out of the bushes to catch-up and upon see the vehicle came charging towards us with this mocking offensive/defensive display that is typical to young males. The ears will extend early on during the short charge, but the trunk and foot display will be at the end when it stops abruptly, like signalling to the perceived danger to go away.Time
Difficult to remember exactly, but the bright white background light gives an indication it might have been around mid-day, with the family going to the river to drink water or just cool downLighting
Post editing with limited experience in digital editing was difficult with the bright background and thus decided to go with a B&W image which stood more out than the colour imageEquipment
A 8Mp Pentax MZ50 film camera with standard 100 ISO film (maybe 200). I can’t remember if the 300mm or Sigma 500mm zoom lens was usedInspiration
For the love of nature and the African wildlife collecting memories of those special times, places and people you shared it withEditing
Yes I used the Aviary Viewbug program, as I started to learn all about digital enhancements about 6 months ago. The image was cropped significantly and blurred the back ground to draw attention to the black elephant and not the white light. To lessen the impact of the white light even more, decided on the specific frame to box-up the imageIn my camera bag
As mentioned above, that specific camera + lenses/tripod was used for 15 years, until the camera started giving problems last year and I just recently upgraded to 24Mp NikonFeedback
With wild animals you can never tell what to expect, when to expect it and lots of patience and always be ready / keep the camera close is advisable. Elephants (especially the African savanna ones), big and small is likely to mock charge frequently if you get to close, but it can also put you in great danger sometimes, leaving you just enough time to get away (never mind the photo). Keeping a good distance with 300 to 600mm zoom lens is a safe bet and then look for the playful / naughty youngsters whom will NEVER follow thru with their charge anyway. A good idea would be to hang around a group of elephants with youngsters and allow other vehicles to get up close and be the focus of the elephant’s attention/aggressive display, while you sit back safely and wait for those moments.
