On Safari with Sam… Charging Elephants!!

CHARGING ELEPHANTS

We came across this herd of Elephants in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, East Africa. There were a few vehicles watching them when they started to charge, including us! The other vehicles moved off fairly quickly, but I instructed my driver to wait a bit to see what unfolded.

As it turned out, the non-aggressive charge was in-fact running to reunite with a younger calf on the other side of the track we were on as they had become separated. The younger Elephant was a long way off, so it took us a while to determine what was going on.

My heart pounding, adrenalin pumping, I hung out the roof of the 4WD with my finger on the shutter. Well, what an experience, there is nothing to compare with being in a close encounter with such a majestic animal as the Elephant. I really didn’t appreciate how large they are either until this, with only the vehicle separating us.

Closer… kiture…closer…kiture, kiture… I eventually decided to take cover back in the vehicle.

The following images were taken with the lens set at 100mm, so yes, that’s pretty close, although personally, closer the better I think. The images capture the real essence, the spirit of the animal the closer you are, and for me, that’s what its all about. The closer I am, the more I feel it. The more I feel it, the more it is portrayed in my images and altimately the more you will feel it through my images!

As ther famous photographer Robert Capa once said;

“If Your Pictures Aren’t Good Enough, You’re Not Close Enough”