57

2022

Kenya

Image Story

"The first in a series of panorama experiments - stitching three images together from a herd of 57 elephants."

From my first visit to Amboseli, I’ve found it hard to capture the sheer scale of the elephant herds here. Nowhere else in Africa have I seen anything quite like it, and trying to reflect that in a single frame always felt just out of reach.

On my third trip in six months, I started experimenting with panoramas. I would take a quick burst of three images of a moving herd and stitch them together afterwards in post. The idea was simple enough, but in practice it led to far more misses than hits. Elephants rarely stand still, and if any moved too far during those few seconds between frames, the final result would be a mess of stretched trunks or misaligned legs.

Eventually, with a lot of trial and error and a touch of luck, it all came together. The herd moved almost perfectly across our position, allowing the images to line up cleanly. Stitching them was one thing, counting them another. I think there are 57 in total, though I would not bet the house on it. Either way, not a bad moment to walk away with.

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Large: 59 x 24"

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Behind the Lens

It took me dozens of attempts to pull this off. Trying to stitch together of a moving herd of elephants is a real challenge, even with the amazing technology in editing software. Often I would end up with stretched elephants or they'd have two legs, I just couldn't get them together. When it finally came together it ignited a little side project in the collection as I looked for more panoramic opportunities.