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Wild Elephants At Bandipur

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Wild Elephants At Bandipur
Photo Information
Copyright: Akshay Harith (S_Akshay) Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 30 W: 11 N: 107] (521)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-19
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Nikon DSLR D200, Sigma100-300mm HSM APO with sigma 1.4XTC
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/125 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Bandipur National Park
Theme(s): Family Matters 1 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-04-23 10:36
Viewed: 660
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 14
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Proboscidea

Superfamily: Elephantoidea

Family: Elephantidae

Elephants are a family in the order Proboscidea in the class Mammalia. They were once classified along with other thick skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant .Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, the Mammoth being the most well-known of these.

Elephants are mammals, and the largest land animals alive today. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms (265 lb). An elephant may live as long as 70 years, sometimes longer. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. This male weighed about 12,000 kg (26,400 lb), with a shoulder height of 4.2 m (13.8 ft), a metre (3 ft 4 in) taller than the average male African elephant. The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch.

Elephants are symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures, and are famed for their memory and high intelligence, and are thought to be on par with cetaceans. and hominids. Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind."

Elephants are increasingly threatened by human intrusion and poaching. Once numbering in the millions, the African elephant population has dwindled to between 470,000 and 690,000 individuals. The elephant is now a protected species worldwide, with restrictions in place on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory. Elephants generally have no natural predators, although lions may take calves and occasionally adults In some areas, lions may regularly take to preying on elephants.
nglen, writerscrawlz, loot, gannu has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Tlapp Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 17 W: 2 N: 15] (90)
  • [2008-04-23 10:42]

A family picture. Neat! They seem very interested in posing for you!
Regards, Rafal

Hello Akshay,
Compared to its African equivalent they have too little ears:-) and a funny face.
Well done. Definitely fun through the little one...
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1864 W: 2 N: 4738] (18250)
  • [2008-04-23 11:31]

Hi Akshay. This is a very nice picture of the family . I do like to see the very young ones. you have captured good detail and colours. a nice POV. well done TFS. good notes too.
Nick..

I absolutely love this, especially the baby! The composition is beyond repoach. I can almost feel the texture of these giants. These are magnificent animals and when they show the documentaries on them, I try to make it a point to watch them, and if I can't, I tape the show to view at a later time.

Also, your notes are superb.

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5633 W: 594 N: 3202] (8699)
  • [2008-04-23 18:24]
  • [3]

Hi Akshay

This is an excellent family shot of a group of ellies. I like the forward facing pachyderms and therefore you managed to capture all those funny yet interesting facial expressions. Of course the little one wasn't too interested in the photo shoot as it rather wanted to play with its sibling.

Just a suggestion for future reference. A slightly lesser aperture would have still given you a wide enough DOF for this shot. The advantages would have been a slightly blurred (out of focus) background and an increase in shutter speed which obviously and ultimately would help for sharpness due to camera stillness. You might want to consider this in future especially when you photograph big animals such as these and the focal distance is slightly extended. Unfortunately you did not include your exif data in your upload so I cannot see what the focal distance was for this shot, but obviously they were some distance away from you.

Anyway, well done and TFS.
Regards
Loot

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 729 W: 4 N: 1811] (8608)
  • [2008-04-24 3:48]

Hello Akshay,
Very nice shot and a good one. I like the natural scene and also the baby elephant.
Ganesh

  • Great 
  • Nilson Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 342 W: 0 N: 263] (2095)
  • [2008-04-26 15:53]

Exelente imagem de qualidade muito boa parabéns por esta foto.
Nilson

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