photobyjohnbo

Cellpic Sunday—Portrait of an Elephant

African Elephant

October 2024.
Kruger National Park, South Africa.

According to Google, the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest land mammal on the African continent. Kruger National Park, where this was taken, is one of Africa’s premier wildlife reserves. It spans over 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) in northeastern South Africa and is home to around 20,000 elephants. These elephants are known for their complex social structures—females and calves travel in herds led by a matriarch, while males often roam solo or in bachelor groups.

Elephant portrait-1
16×9 photo

About the photos: This portrait of an elephant was captured on the last day of our journey to Kruger National Park. I used my Samsung S23U with the rear telephoto lens, since the elephants were pretty close to the road. Using Adobe Lightroom Classic, I cropped the image to a 4:3 aspect ratio, focusing on the subject. Then I sent the photo to Luminar Neo to tweak the develop and Enhance AI settings. Finally, back in Lightroom Classic, I added a vignette to darken the corners and make the subject stand out from the complex background. You can pixel-peep or check out the metadata for these images on my Flickr site here.

I’ve been asked why I use Lightroom Classic only minimally, and then send the photo to Luminar Neo for processing. Two reasons: I use the Catalog module in Lightroom to track all of my photos, but I prefer Neo for its simple menu structure and powerful AI processing. Neo has a catalog scheme, but it’s not nearly as sophisticated as Lightroom Classic’s module. Secondly, I use a Lightroom plugin, Excire Search, to add keywords and some powerful image search tools. All of my completed images are analyzed by the AI tool for keywording.

I invite fellow bloggers to join in by creating their own Cellpic Sunday posts. There’s no set theme—the only rule is that your photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule is simple: link your challenge response to this post or drop a comment here with your link so others can find it. And remember, despite the name, there’s no penalty for sharing on a day other than Sunday.

John Steiner

42 comments

  8. Fantastic photos, John. The angles make it look like you were close to these beautiful animals. As always, I learn a lot from your details on the processing of your photos. I did not notice the vignette until you mentioned it. It does add a beautiful softness and closeness to the photos, I feel. A great idea! Thank you John. Blessings to you and safe travels.

    Reply

  17. Such a beautiful image of the elephant in his natural world John, what a treat to see! 😊

    Reply

  20. terrific photo…..I lived in Africa for 20 years and don’t have a single shot of animals in the wild over there, sadly! mind you, no cell phones or digital camera back then. All I had was a point and shoot!

    Reply

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