KARL ANDRE TERBLANCHE - BULLETIN 35, The Elephants Part II

Bulletin 35

04 November 2007

The Elephants Part II

"Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you." - African proverb

It is amazing how silently these huge animals can move. The first sighting of the day was like watching a silent movie. Like ghosts they magically appeared from the bush.

I am quite often asked if I get so close to the subjects or “is it your camera?” Well the honest truth is it is a bit of both. I use everything from 17 mm up to 1 000mm (500mm lens and 2 x converter) to get the images I want. I usually tend to have my Canon 1 D Mk III paired with my 500 mm lens (quite often with a 1.4 x converter) and my 5D ready with either the 17-40mm or 100-400 mm lying beside me. A wallet full of memory cards beside this. And the laptop on the back seat ready for a down load if needed!

As was the case on this trip I worked from my car, with a homemade board and bracket attached to the passenger window. On this I usually place a beanbag or my pillow if need be to support my long lens. Lucky for me I have a big 4 x 4, with plenty of space front and back so everything is neatly laid out at the start of the wait. By the end of the day its an absolute mess and I usually end up taking the car apart looking for a lens cap or the like.

Elephants need a lot of water, so…………just wait at a water hole and they will come to you! Be patient.

I also tend to have a 5 l bottle of water and some snacks in the form of peanuts and raisins in the car (NO ORANGES…THE ELEPHANTS ABSALUTELY GO NUTS FOR THESE…BE WARNED). Which is a good thing as on this particular trip I spent the entire day in one spot. From 06:40 through until 18:30 sitting by the edge of a water hole waiting and watching. Sitting and driving for that amount of time is one thing, but sitting scanning and making images for that period of time can be painfully uncomfortable. Especially if the outside temperature starts climbing towards 40 degrees c, you really need the toilette and are surrounded by a pride of lions.

They tend to make a muddy mess of any water they come across! But you can see the enjoyment radiating from this elephant.

As with most things in life the actual picture making takes up the smallest fraction of time. The majority is devoted to preparation, research, travel and playing the waiting game. I generally let the subjects come to me, as was the case with these elephants one individual came right up to my car window (3 meters away) took a good look at me, did the smelling thing, crossed his legs (sign of a happy easy going ele) and spent a good ten minutes with me. I took a shot with my wide angle, but as the mirror slammed up with a thud the elephant immediately tensed. I lowered the camera slowly and just enjoyed the moment. There was no need to spoil a good thing by taking pictures. Sometimes its better to be part of a moment than to document it! That’s not to say I didn’t get any images with the wide angle, as soon as the family group started moving past me I let the camera do the talking.

Enjoy the images and I will be posting some lions next time round! Take care and all the best.

The youngsters love the water even more than the adults. Sometimes they have to be forcibly removed by the adults. There are definite parallels to us humans here.

You can’t help but feel happy watching these youngsters play!

After the bath its time for some beauty treatment elephant style! Not sure I’d do it the same way…but there you have it.

Water or dust! It’s all the same! They just seem to love it all.

This is one of the wide-angle shots I took as the group filed past me. They were a lot closer than it looks.

Dust at sunset. A family group makes its way trough the dry bush.

African sunsets are very fleeting! One minute its light the next its dark. Make each day count!

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