Tag: Elephant

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2018-02-25: Revisiting Old Work

During this month of revisiting old work, I’ve had the opportunity to take many trips down memory lane, remembering amazing moments in nature and the challenging times trying to work out what to do with my camera to make the image that appeared on my LCD match the thought I had in my head.

What this monthly topic has hammered home is that the gear doesn’t matter, its what you are able to do with it.  The software used to edit images doesn’t matter, its understanding how to make the tools work for you in the best ways possible.    These things get said time and time again, but they really become apparent when you start reviewing a collection of work gathered over time that has been captured and edited with a variety of different resources.

No one looking at my images is going to say “You shot that on this camera body and then you edited it with that software program.  There are times when I have been out shooting with more than one camera and once the images have been uploaded to my computer, I don’t know which image was shot with which body, without checking the info panel!

At the end of the day, the only thing that should matter is if the image moves you in some way.

And with that, here are a few images I have reworked this week.  I hope you enjoy, and please check back next Sunday to find out what the topic of the month will be for March.

A rhino with her calf seen while doing volunteer work with Wildlife Act in 2014.
Not a spectacular picture, but a fun memory for me. I took a day off work and went out shooting for a school project I was working on. It was a fine fall day so I took Spencer with me, and he was overjoyed at having the opportunity to dig in the sand next to the river. October 2013.
My first foray into Botswana included viewing elephants in the water from a boat. An amazing experience!  April 2013.
For my then and now image, I chose this wild dog lounging in the shade, seen while working with Wildlife Act in 2014.
Here is the now version of this image. I think I was much better able to highlight the texture of the fur compared to the original edit.  

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2018-01-08: Monochrome Monday

Happy Monday to all!  For my first monochrome Monday post of the year, I decided to share not only my favourite animal, but an image that I recently printed for a display in my home.  I love surrounding myself with images that evoke memories of wonderful times and fantastic adventures.  I reuse old frames over and over again, some needing to have duck tape on the back to hold everything together, but it allows me to update images whenever I want.  I have loads of photo displays throughout my home, from beautifully framed large-size matted prints, to unframed 5″ x 5″ cardstock images arranged in groups of 25 images.  As I move throughout my home, I’m taken back to beautiful places and inspired to plan the next adventure.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.

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An elephant in the desert.  Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, Namibia.  April, 2017.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

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2017-11-30: WPC Experimental

I am a few days delayed in posting for this topic, but I wanted to play along anyways.  The photo prompt last week was experimental, and it gives me an opportunity to share some of the images I call my Artistic Impressions.

It’s timely, as I was just listening to a wildlife photography podcast that I really enjoy, discussing photographic art as opposed to straight “documentary style” wildlife photography.  I thought the comments of the host, Gerry Vanderwalt, were absolutely spot on.  His take on it was use your wildlife images in whatever way you choose to create the art you want to make, but just be very clear when presenting it to let people know that what they are seeing is not reality.

Now, I don’t think anyone would mistake any of these images for reality, and the comment was more aimed towards compositing work, but, I really do feel that people should create whatever moves them.  If reality didn’t match how the moment made you feel, then turn your images into something that does invoke the feeling of the moment.  Just don’t try to claim it is something that it’s not.

Anyways, on to the images 🙂

 

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A watercolour style take on a ground hornbill at sunset.  I loved the posture of the bird and the shadow on the termite mound, but found the image to be less sharp than I would have liked.  Turning it into one of my artistic impression images allow me to play up what I liked most about the image.
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If an elephant visited one of my dreams, I think it would look something like this.
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A cormorant perched on the edge of the Atlantic, with seals frolicking amongst the waves.  
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A small part of a large seal colony in Namibia.  The weather along the coast was dull and blustery, and many of my images left me flat.  This take on the scene reminds me of surveying the area through the fogged and misty windows of our vehicle.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

 

WPC: Experimental

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2017-10-30: Monochrome Monday

Isn’t this little guy just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?  I spotted him on my last afternoon in the Masai Mara, and while he started out acting all tough, he soon realized that we weren’t any type of threat, and relaxed completely.

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Baby elephant in the Masai Mara.  Kenya, September 2016.

 

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

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2017-10-09: Monochrome Monday

This big bull elephant was the last animal I saw before heading home from my last safari adventure.  We came across him on our way back to camp for a quick breakfast before our flight out.  He was moving swiftly along the road, and in musth as well, so we stayed well out of his way.  He stopped briefly to check us out from afar, grabbed a small trunkful of sand from the road and let it fly before carrying on his way.  The way the light was falling, the sand almost makes it look like he is surrounded by confetti.

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Bull elephant on the move.  South Africa, May 2017.  1/800 sec, f6.3, ISO 560.  Converted to black and white using On1 Photo Raw.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

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2017-09-25: Monochrome Monday

We were lucky enough to spend about an hour with this breeding herd in the Namibian Desert.  They spent time grazing on devil’s thorn and then went down into the riverbed for a drink and a mud bath.  After that, they were off, and we headed back to camp for breakfast.

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Elephants in the Hoanib river bed.  Namibia, April 2017.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

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2017-08-15: Ngala Tented Camp

It was a soggy day flying from Phinda to Ngala, which was my second to last stop on my trip.  It’s tough thought o be too upset about rain in locations where it has been desperately needed for years, and besides, we only had two days with any rain over a four week period, which is pretty fantastic from a sightseeing perspective (especially in an open vehicle).  I have spent time at Ngala previously (you can check out some past highlights here if you want).

We only had two days at the camp, but they were filled with lots of laughs with our wonderful ranger Lee-Anne, some fantastic game viewing, and really great meals.  The first game drive was a soggy one, but we didn’t let that get our spirits down, and we ended up seeing both lion and leopard on the same game drive – not too shabby!

I hope you enjoy a small selection of the photos that I took at this beautiful property.

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Not the most amazing image, but what a sight to see.  I was in the furthest tent from the main lodge, and as I left my room to head over for some lunch, I noticed a pair of elephants climbing the banks on the opposite side of the dry riverbed.  Here one of them pauses to dig a bit in the dirt on the side of the steep bank.
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Fabulous things happen when you follow the clues provided by nature, rather than having a hard and fast plan as to what needs to be seen.  Lee-Anne spotted a large number of vultures moving swiftly in one direction, so we followed the birds and found this young male leopard with an impala kill.
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Family greetings, lion style.  I chose monochrome for this image as I feel it really highlights how well these big cats can blend into the bushes.  I’m sure you didn’t notice the two cats blurred in the background, and you probably wouldn’t see them if driving past on the road either.  Animals have wonderful ways to camouflage themselves.
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After the rainstorm, we woke up to a chilly morning and this grey go-away bird had not warmed up enough yet to fly.  He was perched on a branch right next to the road, allowing me to get a few nice shots.
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If ever a face said “Non shall pass” this is it.  This old bull was lying in our pathway through the riverbed, but we certainly were not going to try and make him move.  Our vehicle may have been bigger, but we went around.
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A lioness looks on towards a herd of zebra and impala.  The herd saw her immediately, so there was no point in moving any closer.
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A small dam and the dissipating clouds from an early morning storm.
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An amazing sky during a small morning rain shower.  We had some rain, and amazing sunrise and double rainbows all at one time.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/voices/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

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