African Elephant

This week we bring you another one of Klaus Tiedge’s photographs of Africa’s magnificent beasts. This photo is titled “Affirmation” and was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II on exposure f8 at 1/160.

Klaus explains that this image was captured just after he dropped his wife off at the airstrip of the Amboseli National Park. His wife, Sandra, had just joined him for a week on his two-month exhibition through Kenya in 2011.

Amboseli, as Klaus was told, is home of the elephants with the “big tuskers”. Klaus agreed, the elephants here did appear much bigger than elsewhere. During the days before this photo was taken Klaus had been observing the elephants marching through the swamps as they grazed but he hadn’t been lucky enough to capture an exciting image yet.

Then on this beautiful morning, the clouds were low and covering up half of the Kilimanjaro mountain as it towered above its kingdom. Klaus states that he could feel something happening. He had decided to stay close to the swamps to enjoy the amazing land around him with its rich diversity of dry sand, volcanic rocks and water-filled swamps with moist grass everywhere.

Suddenly in the swamp to his left two elephants heaved up their massive bodies, fighting each other. Klaus explains that he grabbed his camera to capture the exciting scene which passed very quickly. “It was amazing to see the colossus, lifting with great effort, with a deep strained breath before their tusks clashed. That’s why I love to go out there” says Klaus.

It’s nature and something unpredictable can happen at any time, especially when you least expect it.