Photo of the Day
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 05:00PM 
Raging Elephant
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, January 2008
Canon EOS 1DMkIII, 100-400mm @ 180mm, 1/8 sec @ f/8, ISO 100
This isn't a raging elephant as stated in the title, but rather an impression of what I am trying to convey. This bull was walking beside our vehicle for a good 5 minutes, and he would go from one side of the vehicle to the next. After eating a clump of tall grass, he would sometimes do a quick shake of the head before moving on. I was trying some push/pull blurring techniques of slowing the shutter down and zooming in or out when the shutter was pressed. Not many of these experiments were successfull, but it was a fun few minutes. Keep in mind that as photographers we are storytellers, and it is up to you to define the tone, gesture and mood of your photographs. This can be done in many different ways, and my approach was to use a blurred zoom to show a sense of movement that could be interpreted as rage.
Reader Comments (2)
Andy,
I love using this technique! I think it works on this image. The only thing that bothers me is the two objects at the top of the head. Other than that, it is a great image!
Thanks, Patti. I did a different crop and re-uploaded the file again. I agree with your initial statement about the distraction. Thanks!
This is one of those images that will never make it into my keepers file, but something that can be used as illustration.