NOVEMBER 2011 – Three elephants walk along the main road of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Our first days couple of days in South Africa and the Kruger National Park were cloudy with some rain which could be strong at times. But we were excited to be in the park and did not really mind the bad weather. Of course, both the animals in the park and the farmers in the surroundings have been waiting and hoping for this rain to come as the dry soils and the vegetation get a healthy dose of water.
Now we were driving, slowly and always cautious, along the main road towards north. When suddenly these three elephants appeared from the side. They were not exactly blocking the road, but we did not want to pass them so closely. We had seen videos of elephants attaching solid tourist cars, and we did not want any of that action.
So, we stopped and took a couple of photos. (Elephants in the rain, yeah!) And we were discussing what to do. We were in a situation that we were not trained to handle well because we simply lacked the experience. Finally, we slowly drove backwards until we reached a position where we could observe the activity safely.
A bit later a local sedan came along the main road and was bravely driving towards the group of elephants without reducing the speed. Shortly before reaching them, the driver braked briefly and passed them slowly. The elephants took notice and walked slowly towards the bushes on the side. We were stunned and happily continued our journey through the park.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 24-NOV-2011, 14:35 |
| Location | Kruger National Park, South Africa |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1D Mark III |
| Lens | Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
| ISO | 800 |
| Exposure | 1/1250 sec at f/5 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 3888 x 2592 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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