Jaswant Madhavan
April 2026 - Mana Pools
About the Image(s)
This was taken in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, in September 2025. I love this NP because much of the game viewing is on foot, allowing you to get a good sense of the human wildlife interaction. There is also a blue haze in the background that gives the pictures a beautiful quality.
Canon R5 70-200 f2.8 L @ 200mm f2.8 1/640 ISO 800
Post-processing: Heavily edited. I made routine changes, ran it through Nik Color Effex 8, applied the Bleached Portrait preset and then worked on a vignette etc.
7 comments posted
I like the way that the light leads down to the elephant. Then I realise that there are other animals in the phot but that they blend with the foliage Posted: 04/05/2026 05:29:33
Jaswant,
I haven't seen images of elephants enclosed in the foliage of large trees like this. Did you lighten the area under the trees to enhance the light from above? It almost looks like light coming through a window in a church. Posted: 04/06/2026 01:55:36
I haven't seen images of elephants enclosed in the foliage of large trees like this. Did you lighten the area under the trees to enhance the light from above? It almost looks like light coming through a window in a church. Posted: 04/06/2026 01:55:36
Nice. Is that an ape in the trees above? And is her holding the flashlight? ha! This is really interesting as the elephant is so dwarfed. What did the original look like? Posted: 04/06/2026 19:34:28
Thank you for the comments. I'm in the process of moving to Atlanta and that's where I am till the 14th. I'll send a copy of the RAW file when I get back to Columbus. This is a quite heavily edited file. The light through the trees has been exaggerated to create the mood. I'm actually planning to use this as a wallpaper for a wall in the house. ???? Posted: 04/06/2026 19:51:18
This is a lovely photo. The more you look the more you see. The lighting is so engaging and highlights the subject so well. I am curious what the raw photo looks like relative to the final product. I do think this would be a great image for print or wall art, especially as a larger piece as you have so much detail in the image. Posted: 04/07/2026 14:41:27
I love this image. It is such an unusual presentation and creates great mood.
Enlarging the image I find the elephant rather grungy. Not sure if that is your intent. I used Topaz Photo AI to denoise and cropped some off the top to add more emphasis to your elephant. I think the mood is still captured in this presentation. Its ok if you don't agree with me! Posted: 04/14/2026 15:04:56
Enlarging the image I find the elephant rather grungy. Not sure if that is your intent. I used Topaz Photo AI to denoise and cropped some off the top to add more emphasis to your elephant. I think the mood is still captured in this presentation. Its ok if you don't agree with me! Posted: 04/14/2026 15:04:56
Mervyn, Thank you for the edit. I do like your changes. In all the chaos of moving I did not run it through Topaz Photo Ai. With the denoise etc. it looks a lot better.
Thank you for he comments. I have been a "documentary" photographer mostly, but now that I have more time on my hands I have started delving into the creative side.
I have attached the "RAW" file. You can see that the end result is quite different. Posted: 04/16/2026 11:36:17
Thank you for he comments. I have been a "documentary" photographer mostly, but now that I have more time on my hands I have started delving into the creative side.
I have attached the "RAW" file. You can see that the end result is quite different. Posted: 04/16/2026 11:36:17