I shot this image during an early morning game drive at the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania
last month. It appealed to me because I was able to capture the tender moment shared by the
calf and its mother.
Camera settings were f 6.3, 1/800 S, ISO1600, at 362 mm.
Using Photoshop, I cropped the image to get rid of the other animals, then used ACR to make
slight adjustments to the exposure, contrast, vibrance, highlights and shadow on the subjects
and used Lens Blur to blur the background. I used the Remove tool to eliminate some of the dry
brush particularly on the calf and slightly on the mother. Then I removed the distracting
branches and brush from the background. I was careful not to take away too much from the
background so as to keep the sense of place of the image.
I’d like to apologize for my lack of participation last month as I was traveling and didn’t get back
till late September 30th. I also had to deal with the illness of my sister; thankfully, she is healing.
It still was an amazing trip in spite of the disruptions but glad to be back home in one piece.
As always, looking forward to your feedback and suggestions.
10 comments posted
Dr Isaac Vaisman
Maria, beautiful interaction mother and calf. I like the composition. The image is sharp and the background is not distracting. Posted: 10/10/2025 18:58:34
Maria Small
Thank you for your helpful feedback, Isaac. Posted: 10/10/2025 19:50:17
Karen Kratz
Maria - nice capture of a sweet moment. I agree with your cropping too. Very good photo. Posted: 10/18/2025 19:54:59
Maria Small
Thank you, Karen. Posted: 10/21/2025 18:46:10
Adrian Binney
Maria - you have done very well with this nice moments - perfectly presented. It's a pitty the mother's head is behind the calf , but still a well captured and presented image. Posted: 10/20/2025 04:41:07
Maria Small
Thank you, Adrian. Posted: 10/21/2025 18:46:47
Richard Goldenberg
Hi Maria - Beautiful image and lovely moment captured. No one else mentioned it, so maybe it's just me, but my eye keeps getting hung up on the portion of the image circled in red in this annotated version. Posted: 10/20/2025 10:37:20
Maria Small
Thank you, Richard, for your comments and feedback. Regarding the calf's ear, I checked the original image and the one in the edited version and I don't see much difference except, perhaps, having been enhanced by the editing that I did, the ear looks a little more weird? I'll study it a little more to determine the reason for what you termed as "disruption." Thanks again. Posted: 10/21/2025 18:43:21
Maria Mazo
Hi Maria,
What a lovely moment of interaction between the mum and calf! You did well in the edit, removing distracting elements. However, as Richard pointed out, I think the clone tool caused some disruption in the calf's ear. Apart from that, it's a wonderful image. Posted: 10/21/2025 11:33:28
Maria Small
Thank you, Maria, for your feedback. I don't remember using the clone tool in my edits but, like I said to Richard, let me study the original image and the edited version to determine what caused the disruption. Posted: 10/21/2025 18:45:37
