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AT THE WATERHOLE


AT THE WATERHOLE
Photo Information
Copyright: Carol Dorion (CAROL50) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 474 W: 57 N: 1104] (4743)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 1996-09
Categories: Nature, Decisive Moment, Mood
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-06-20 7:47
Viewed: 249
Points: 26
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
An old photograph taken in '96 at a waterhole where two elephants were quenching their thirst during the heat of the day. We arrived at one of the waterholes here in the Addo Elephant National Park and decided to stake out this one upon info from the park rangers that the elephants like to come here to drink .It proved right as some arrived singly or in groups from every direction , quite a spectacle to see these giants pass right by our oh soooo tiny car just a few meters away , well for a first encounter with numerous elephants it was memorable , they are huge ,no fence , nothing to separate them from us ,yep we were soooo small !
Just a few words about this park: 70 kms north of Port Elizabeth on the south coast of of South Africa it is a small park, well compared to Kuger or Kalahari Gemsbok NP for exemple , it protects the small remnants of the huge elephant herds that once roamed across the Eastern Cape region .Curious flora and you are almost garanteed of seeing elephant.
Unfortunately , elephants and farmers don't happily coexist , as we know elephants are like bulldozers that eat and drink and they do a lot of damage where they pass so when farmers started to develop the area at the beginning of the 20th century they soon found themselves in conflict with the elephant herds. It was thanks to two local farmers who allowed the elephants to stay on their land that any survived .When Addo was finally proclaimed a national park in 1931 there were 11 elephants left ! At the time of our visit there were 180 animals in the park , these days over 450 call Addo their home , they can survive at this unusually high density thanks to the fact that the weird Addo bush is close to elephant paradise , the dominant plant is the pink-flowered spekboom which grows to the height of about three meters and has a succulent leaf.
Thanks for dropping in and leaving a critique,
Carol
tatarovisk, teamill, Urfaust, messenger1, fransx, poocha, dareco, Dyerco, Travelcam has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To teamill: Hello my friendCAROL50 3 06-21 05:46
To messenger1: Thanks SandyCAROL50 1 06-20 12:33
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Critiques [Translate]

Olá Carol,

Great POV, contrast and light! ;)
Interesting crop and note.
Congratulations

best regards
Marco

Hello Carol, how are you?
First of all, what a great descriptive note! Your notes are always so interesting to read, and add so much to the photo.
Great scan of this photo taken waaay back in '96 :) Love the way you've composed this with just the two massive heads, with trunks hanging down to the water. I think the sharp contrast works well here. Nice DOF with the blurred background.
What an experience to sit in a tiny car, as you said, and watch these massive beasts only meters away! An awe inspiring experience, I'm sure!
Hope all is well with you my friend.
Have a great weekend.
Trudy

ciao Carol..
i really like contrast here.. it gives exactly the impression of the strong african sun! opposite forms of elephants, with the focus, create an interesting natural framing.. with a pleasant final visual effect!! wonderful capture! my compliments
ciao Marco

Hello, Carol -
Wonderful image with a stress on the vertical - the long, narrow portrait framing underscores the two dangling trunks. Great crop to show just heads, tusks and trunks; the background is smoothly blurred. Very interesting subjects. Good job managing the strong sunlight. Nice work.

Hi Carol,
An excellent crop of these two elephants.
Nice contrast and colors and above all the vertical presentation which suites well the subject.
The parallel trunks are creating a strong composition.
Well done and presented.

Francis Xavier

very attractive and unique composition from good crop
nice light and contrast
good focus good DOF
i like it:)
TFS

  • Great 
  • dareco Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1717 W: 16 N: 840] (15143)
  • [2009-06-20 9:33]

I love this crop and the detail is very good. Nice lighting and color. I fell in love with the elephants when I visited Thailand. TFS

Hi Carol
What a great catch. These two could be discussing life's problems at the olde waterhole. Nicely done.
Phil

Hi Carol,
A nice symmetrical image of these elephants, the shadows are a bit dark though, maybe enhancing the highlights and shadows of the original image might improve it. Anyway a fine picture of these massive animals in their natural surrounding.
Hans

hello Carol!
a good perspective and symmetry between the two elephants...well cropped!

best sERGIO

Greetings Carol,

Well cropped image and well presented. Good clarity and exposure. Interesting notes go with this superb elephant photograph. Well captured. Tfs.

Martyn

Very nice compo!! I like the vertical format here.. The high contrast works well even if the shadows are a little dark - but for a scan this has come out very well. I like the narrow DOF - very effective.

David

Wonderful Carol
I like the crop and POV, with deep shadows indeed. What a place to travel to, the tusks on the left elephant look small, I though they would be much bigger. Great shot, the colours are natural indeed.
Regards
Jim

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