Anyone that has read this blog more than once or twice is familiar with my love of elephants. So it should come as no surprise that I have created a painterly effects project using elephant images.
I’ve really enjoyed working with elephant images this week, as the large, recognizable shape has allowed me to work with some very abstract settings, without compromising the ability to know what it is you are looking at.
I hope you enjoy my images for the week, and wishing you the best for a positive and happy week ahead.
A pair of young elephants greet each other with affection.A pair of bull elephants test each others strength in the shallows of the river.Follow me.A herd of elephants gathered at a dam. This is an 8 shot stitched panorama.Mother and daughter stealing a drink from a broken pipe.
I was inspired this week to explore images from Namibia with my painterly effects project for the month. In the brief time I have spent there, I have found it to be a magical place. The light is beautiful and the landscapes are at times surreal. From the air, the vast open spaces seem lifeless, but on the ground, it is a completely different story.
I hope you enjoy my selections for the week.
A group of oryx walking in front of one of the impressive dunes in Sossusvlei.A lone elephant moves through the desert, looking to catch up to her herd that had already reached the river.Sunset over the desert in Hoanib.A group of flamingos in flight over the Skeleton Coast.The land of vast deserts sometimes surprises with lush greenery. This lion was lounging in the cool grass with the rest of his pride nearby.Large groups of seals awaited us when we visited the Skeleton Coast from Hoanib Camp. Inland it was a clear, blue sky day, but on the coast, fog and mist obscured the view.A group of lions, newly evicted from their pride, roaming through Etosha National Park.In Damaraland, you can easily feel like you are the only people for miles around.
Since today is Mother’s Day, I decided to create painterly edits of some of the mama’s from the bush. I’ve selected images that will make my Mom smile; I hope you enjoy them too.
To some, using software to make a photo look as if it were sketched or painted may seem like an abomination. Photographers often go to great lengths (sometimes at great expense) to create sharp and crisp images that show the viewer exactly what the scene looked like. But what about those times when that beautifully crisp, perfectly exposed image doesn’t convey the feeling of the moment? Or, heaven forbid, what if you goof up on the exposure, or mess up the focus a bit, but the moment was great and you still want to do something with the image? These are just some of the reasons for exploring painterly effects with photography. I’ve edited photos in the past for all those reasons and while I don’t post them too often, I do have a gallery of my favourite Artistic Impressions or Photo Art images.
This week, I was inspired by a vintage style travel poster I have had hanging up for around the last 12 years or so. I see it every time I walk towards my sitting room; this week I was struck by the interest in creating a photo series inspired by it, whereas most of the time I just look at it and think “I really want to go to the Serengeti someday”.
A quick snap of the poster that inspired this week’s editing.
I decided to do a series of Big 5 animals; I can imagine these in a vintage travel brochure advertising visiting the “Dark Continent” to see the wild and ferocious Big 5. I edited all of them using the Topaz Simplify filter through the Topaz Studio program.
I’m starting the week off with an adorable baby elephant that I had the pleasure of spending part of my last morning on safari with. It never hurts to start the week with something sweet 🙂
The photo prompt of the week is smile; either an image of a smile, or something that makes you smile. Since baby animals are a universal crowd pleaser, here are a fewer images of youngsters that have made me smile.
I hope you enjoy!
A trio of cheetah cubs braving a late afternoon windstorm. Their mother was nearby, definitely ill at ease because of the weather.Looks at the big full bellies of these lion cubs. They were going back and forth between the females, greeting each with affection.A pair of leopard cubs playing amongst the fallen branches in a ravine. These two were all over the place; there Mom definitely had her work cut out for her.The tiniest lion cubs I have had the privilege of seeing. Their Mom had brought down a giraffe calf, but these two were more interested in playing than feeding. They were under 3 weeks old.An elephant calf having a go at the balance beam 🙂 He came pretty close to ending up in a heap on the ground, but recovered from it well.I don’t think I have ever seen anyone smiling as much as our ranger when we were at this sighting. To say he was thrilled is a complete understatement. A dream come true, once in a lifetime moment on safari.This is where mama leopard stashed her two youngsters. The hollowed log didn’t make for the best photo opportunities, but it did make for a very safe spot for these leopard cubs to stay hidden and out of danger.
The topic this week and last are very similar for me. Last week, I told you that I’d rather be on safari and this week I’m going to tell you that my favourite place is being amongst the elephants in the African bush. I must admit, I don’t really like the concept of a favourite place per se, because it feels like it discounts so many amazing experiences over the years. But, I have often said if I could only limit myself to traveling to one place the rest of my life (and even so far as if I had to choose only one animal to spend the rest of my days with) it would be in Africa amongst the elephants.
There is just something about being in the proximity of elephants, feeling their rumbles, listening to their calls, watching them interact and go about their days that fills me with such peace and joy.
I hope you enjoy my selection of images this week.
Elephants playing in the Boteti River in Botswana.A large bull elephant at Nxai Pan in Botswana.A pair of bull elephants at a small waterhole on Phinda Game Reserve in South Africa.An elephant family drinking at a broken water pipe on Londolozi in South Africa.Pushing on the tree to shake down fruits in the Okavango Delta.Part of a larger herd that I spent time with one morning on Phinda Game Reserve.A desert adapted elephant seen near the Skeleton Coast in Namibia.
