Nikon D100, Tamron 18-270mm, 270mm (432mm equivalent), ISO 800, f6.3, 0.4sec Tv
I was looking for a photo I could enter into the creative category at my photo club’s monthly competition and had forgotten about this shot I took in Okavango Delta in Botswana years ago ??“ we were headed back to camp after a game drive; the sun had set and save for this reflection of young cow elephant. We could hear but could not see what we believed to be a small herd of elephants the far side of a waterhole so I took the shot.
I had little choice with my settings to get a noise free shot so I shot this at ISO 800 ??“ f6,3 ??“ .4 second Tv. What you see is pretty much what I captured - however, I did push the contrast, and selectively dodged and burned, and lastly selectively saturated /used vibrance to intensity the color. I cropped in a quite a bit as we were pretty far from the pan itself and I thought a pano crop would work - Lastly, I removed some distracting grasses in the lower right of the frame.
9 comments posted
Judith Flacke
Well, it caught my eye - stage one in a competition is to grab attention. Great, impactful colours. But then I got confused as to what I was looking at, and where I was meant to focus. One or two elephants? Upside down so a reflection - or two? So I thought... And did the attached. Still reasonably creative? I inverted the image and replaced some of the dark vegetation using content aware. Just a thought. Might even crop a bit on the left so there is more space in front than behind.... Posted: 07/14/2026 11:42:13
Butch Mazzuca
Thanks for your comments Judith Posted: 07/14/2026 20:15:35
Judith Flacke
Posted: 07/14/2026 11:43:28
Tom McCreary
It is very creative and really catches the eye. Looking at it, it is clearly an elephant that is being reflected in water with some ripples, so the judges can tell what it is. What is interesting to me is the ghost image around the elephant and the grass in the foreground. I am wondering what created that in camera, from your description. Just looking at it, the judges may think that you added that.
By flipping the image, Judith created an entirely different image. Now the reflection is gone and it looks like an effect that was created in Photoshop. Posted: 07/14/2026 15:43:00
Butch Mazzuca
As always, thank you for your comments, Tom - I think the key word here is creative - when I took the photo I just thought it was cool to only see the reflection without the subject. However, what I neglected to mention in my write up was that this was my first published image. Shutterbug Magazine printed it in 2009, I think it was in the fall, but I don't recall.
As noted, I had forgotten about the image and wanted some input before submitting to my club's competition in the creative category, which I have to do by Saturday and was hoping to get feedback before submitting - so, I'm leaving it as is.
Lastly, I think you know I'm big on titles and I was experimenting with the title as well, so it will be interesting to see what the others think - although frankly, I really like the current title :-)
Posted: 07/14/2026 20:15:48
Tom McCreary
I like the title and agree that you should leave the image as it is for the competition. It is a very striking image with a lot of impact and will certainly draw the judges attention. I can see why it was selected by the editors of Shutterbug to include in their magazine. But as you know judges can do strange things. I hope that it does well and hope that you let us know how it does. Posted: 07/14/2026 20:25:28
Butch Mazzuca
Thanks Tom Posted: 07/14/2026 20:56:02
Gaetan Manuel
I would call this image an 'Abstract' photo: the ghosting around the elephant,the colours, the ripples on the water. and the reflections on the water. The image draws attention. As for the title, I think that it is appropriate. Posted: 07/16/2026 16:20:26
Butch Mazzuca
Thanks for your comments Gaetan - yup that's what I intended, not when I took it, at the time I just thought it was an unusual and interesting shot, but after processing it's absolutely an abstract. Posted: 07/16/2026 17:19:00
