ADELAIDE WOLHUTER

Nikon D7000

Nikon 70 – 200mm lens

ADELAIDE WRITES: My husband Riaan and I visited the Kruger Park in June 2021. We were driving from Shingwedzi to Olifants when a few elephants crossed the road near the Letaba bridge. We figured they would head for the water and stopped on the bridge to watch. They appeared from the bushes about five minutes later – the herd was much bigger than we’d thought: There were about 30 ellies in total. It was such a wonderful photo opportunity when they crossed the river.

TOAST SAYS: The bridges in the Kruger Park are great places to pull over because you can look up and down the river course, and you can stretch your legs if it’s a bridge where you’re allowed to alight from your vehicle. If you’re taking photos, you can switch things up and get shots of the animals against a different background. Mopane veld becomes monotonous after a while, right?

The landscape in the Kruger is mostly flat, with the odd koppie that offers a view. Open plains are also scarce. A photo like this is therefore difficult to take because a herd of 30 elephants blend into the bush next to the road and you only see four or five of them at a time. A trunk here, an ear there. There are few opportunities to photograph a herd all together. The Letaba River came in handy for Adelaide – the sandy riverbed offered plenty of space and she could fit lots of ellies in her frame.

Look at the elephants at the front – you can see their reflections in the water. Adelaide might have captured more reflections if the elephants had crossed closer to the bridge, but hey, that’s life.

The success of this photo can be attributed to the fact that Adelaide had a clear vision of the type of photo she wanted. She knew the elephants might cross the river and she was ready to get her shot. The longer you spend taking photos in game reserves, the better you’ll be able to predict behaviour and get the images you want.