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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > African elephant, Addo Elephant Park, South Africa, 2002
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08-DEC-2002

African elephant, Addo Elephant Park, South Africa, 2002

He came crashing through the bushes, only ten feet away from our vehicle. He was one of the largest elephants we saw in Africa, and I wanted my picture to say that. I used my frame to maximize scale by pressuring him on all four sides with my frame. He is so large, and so close, that he seems to be bursting through the confines of this image. He is virtually enveloped in bushes -- a form of abstraction that makes him seem larger still. The only breathing room I left in the shot is the tiny bit of blue sky running just under the top edge of my frame -- enough space for a bit of tension to flow between the top of the picture and his shoulder.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/640s f/4.0 at 21.0mm full exif

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Phil Douglis10-Aug-2006 18:11
Thanks, Zandra, for studying this image so closely. That strip of blue sky is essential to the meaning of this picture. It defines, through tension, the cramped nature of this massive beast as it squeezes into the frame. It offers just as powerful a lesson in cropping as well. A giant amongst giants, indeed!
Guest 04-Aug-2006 08:03
You sure did succed with your intention in this shot Phil. I do feel as if he is burstign out of his fram. He is to big to fit inther, almost to big to fit anywhere. My very first thought whenopening this picture was "A giant maongst giants". He is the King of the hill.. This speaks to me of massive power and force yet the image is plesantly relaxed. I have also been viewing this picture in a cropped version to see the difference in leaving in and leaving out the tiny strip of blue sky. It is remakeble what a difference it makes and how that tension just disapears when cropping it. All of a sudden you loos the feeling of him burstng out of the frame and instead you have a picture wher you wonder...whyis it cropped this way? This is a great example of how to use the frame to define and enhance a subject.
Phil Douglis01-Feb-2006 22:44
Thanks, Guest, for your enthusiastic comment on this 2004 South African elephant image. I just returned from Zambia, and you can see a lot more elephant images in my new Safari gallery athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/safari
I await your enthusiastic responses to those as well.
Guest 01-Feb-2006 22:30
WOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil Douglis24-Sep-2005 04:07
Thanks, Ramma -- I think part of the size exaggeration here is caused by vegetation that surrounds the elephant. At first we are not sure if those are just big bushes or small trees that envelope the beast. If they are small trees, that must be one very huge animal. And it was.
Ramma 16-Sep-2005 21:06
You make the elephant look larger than a Dinosaur in this pic ! Great composition, framing. The pic is abstract &incongruous. And i particularly liked the texture of the skin of the elephant
Guest 08-Feb-2005 19:26
Wonderful picture to bring the message: big big elephant!
Your intention is perfectly achieved.
Phil Douglis30-Nov-2004 20:00
Once again, abstraction comes down to a matter of intention, Jen. To see part of an elephant rumbling past is to seen an abstracted animal. The rest of it is left to the imagination.
Jennifer Zhou30-Nov-2004 15:13
Hahah...you remind my of a photographer once said when you take pictures of very common animals, do hide them a bit and make people think, because there is nothing interesting to show the whole---everybody knows how they look. But if you are taking picture of a very rared animal, please show more because people need to see the whole to understand what it is...Very interesting concept!

Thank you for this smart shot!

Jen
Phil Douglis30-Nov-2004 04:17
Thanks, Jen for these observations. Yes, I am using composition to indicate scale here, but I am doing it through both abstraction and frame. This elephant is huge, so I make him virtually burst within the tight frame, creating great tension in the process. It abstracts itself in the bushes and yes, I hide the most symbolic part. His nose. Everyone -- even young children -- know what an elephant's nose looks like already. Why show it. As Jen says, let them use their imaginations to piece together the rest of the picture.
Jennifer Zhou25-Nov-2004 02:51
Another tip from Phil----using the composation to indicate the size of the subject!

I notice you also chose to hide the most symbolic part of elephant----the long nose. Is that part of your plan? Leave it to viewers imagination?

Jen
Phil Douglis21-Apr-2004 03:18
Thanks, roboele, for the kind comment. As for your question, many of my images are made intuitively, including this one. However, many others are pre-visualized, such as the shot of the man walking by the painting on the wall I've posted at:http://www.pbase.com/image/25451657. When I saw that wall featuring paintings of huge legs, I knew that it would make an incongruous backdrop for a person walking before them. So I waited for people to pass and contrasted the scale of their legs to the huge legs on the wall. Eventually, someone came along that made my pre-visualized idea work.
Rob Oele20-Apr-2004 09:35
Looking through your galleries this one immedately caught my eye. It's not just the hugeness, but also the eye (looking kind of sad) and the detailed texture of the elephant's skin that does it and make it an excellent picture altogether. By the way I like the comments that accomany your photo's but it also raises the question if you also make just intuitive and "instinctive" pictures?
Phil Douglis25-Mar-2004 20:40
Thanks, Karen. Once again, it's the imagination that goes to work here -- as photographers we must always consider what we include within the frame, and what we leave out. In this image, what leave out makes this huge elephant seem even larger.
Karen Stuebing25-Mar-2004 11:18
And it does just that. When I saw the thumbnail I thought "What a gargantuan elephant!" and of course I had to click on it to see how you did it. :)
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