Ready to Cross was created at the Masai Mara region of Kenya-Africa recently. We were driving around with our guide, and we saw the elephants herd at a distance but directing towards the Mara River so we went there but in the other side of the river and we could come very close to the river bank to wait for the elephants to arrive. This image is a combination of 3 images taken in a pano fashion because we were too close to the elephants in the other side, and I had my Nikon Z8 camera with the Nikkor zoom lens Z 100-400mm + 1.4x TC for a total of 140-560 mm. The images were captured @ 140 mm and with these settings: ISO 200, f/8 and 1/400mm. The images were combined in LighRoom, corrected for brightness and cropped as is.
There were 2 Nile Crocodiles at the river border, but the elephants did not show any fear when they came close to the water. My guess is that the reptiles did not have any intension to attack the elephants while crossing.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 7 comments posted
Bruce Benson
Isaac, You have presented a nice image of small elephant herd, but the addition of the crocodiles raises the impact greatly. It is interesting to me that the smallest ones are among the closest to the crocs. By the way congrats on joining the PSA travel advisors, nice spoonbill image in the PSA journal. Bruce Posted: 09/02/2023 12:18:53
I agree with Bruce that the addition of the crocodiles adds punch to this image. The pano stitched together very well. Would a bit more contrast be helpful or would it destroy the natural setting and lighting you had that day? Posted: 09/08/2023 15:38:07
Barbara Gore
(Groups 36 & 47)
Well done pano, Isaac. I agree with the others about the croc adding power to the image. I would expect the elephants to be fiercely aggressive if a croc went after the younger elephants. Very nice image. Posted: 09/11/2023 08:10:13
Adrian Binney
Nice put together image Isaac of an interesting drop of elephants. I always like big family groups like that, with many different ages. Impressive tusks on a couple of them and as others have said, the crocs certainly add interest and tension.
Well done in being picked up by Tom to help others over their travels: I'm sure you'll add value in respect to many wildlife destinations. I've enjoyed advising a couple of travellers since joining the fold a few months ago. Posted: 09/11/2023 11:33:50
Maria Mazo
Hi Isaac,
What an interesting image, as the others have mentioned, the inclusion of the crocodiles adds a point of tension to the image. The panorama stick was very nicely done, and I understand that in these situations, you don't have many options for points of view, but a lower one would have made this image stand out even more.
Congratulations on your new role as a travel adviser; you will certainly enjoy it. Posted: 09/16/2023 00:18:33
Isaac, As others have commented, this is a very interesting image, especially with the croc. I was wondering if it might be even more effective if you used the Content Aware Crop feature in Photoshop to add a bit more space around the right side of the image. Congratulations on your new role as travel advisor; you will be wonderful in this role! Posted: 09/22/2023 09:52:51
Dr Isaac Vaisman
Marie, even though our group in Nature + (meaning adjustments are allowed, not in like Pure Nature which together with Photojournalism and phototravel are the reality divisions, or in other words, as you saw it); I try ti stay away from all these new AI capabilities in Adobe, which in actuality, you are letting the software create your image. Posted: 09/22/2023 11:47:53
