Elephants

[Spalea]

David Lloyd: " Matriarch Maasai Mara Kenya 2010.

This is a two picture post.
I took this in the days before flip up screens and wireless remotes. I shot blind with my camera upended on a suspended monopod with the camera inches from the ground.
At first it was hit and miss with the composition – lots of sky and grass at first – but with a 35mm lens and a little practice, good compositions became regularly achievable. In the beginning I’d set my camera to ten second timer to anticipate the moment before advancing to a wired remote.
Then I discovered how to put the elephant to where I wanted it to be (while maintaining ethics) but that’s a story for another day.
Quick Tip One. You’ll become good at anything with a little bit of practice.
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I’ve usually decided whether to process a picture as black and white or as colour by view of what suited it best in the final result, but in this case I could not decide so I kept both.
There is no such thing as a ‘black and white conversion’ from colour unless you want a quick and less aesthetically pleasing version.
Quick Tip Two: Process all pictures from the ground up, including black and white ones. "

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