The Money Shot

I just got back from Botswana. On the way up from Joberg, we stopped at a lodge called Elephant Sands. It has a water hole and I was told that ele's drank there each night. It was a moonless night with a very full milky way in the sky. Everyone around the boma laughed as I set up my camera and shutter release and pointed it at the dark watering hole... but I heard the ele's and could see the sky, so I started shooting 20 to 30 second exposures. With that much time, I assumed the light from the lodge and the fire would allow the trees and any ele on the far bank to be seen. Good guesswork. This may not be my sharpest image from the safari, but it may turn out to be one of my most prized:

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Thats a beautiful image

You are right...Not the best technically but the most important and awesome. What a moment...

Awesome!!!! Love the colors in the sky.

That's pretty freaking cool. That's one amazing sky.

Amazing! Frame and hang. What a trip that must have been!

Great shot Buddy.

Don't you just love it when a shot comes off ........ and better than you expected ??!!

Beautiful sky.

Matt.

Simply Outstanding. I could sit and look at the photo for hours.

Fantastic shot. Like most good photography, the imagination is key.

Absolutely fantastic!!! I just can't get over that sky, what a great image to have..........TFS

Congratulations, that is a beautiful image, and one I would be very proud of had I captured it.

I hope you don't mind if I ask how much PP was done to bring out the colors in the sky, as living in the States with all the light pollution, I have never seen a night sky with all that color evident.

Is it natural or enhanced in PP?

thanks

Terrific shot. Botswana is fabulous, isn't it?

Thanks all. Botswana is a special place. Really friendly people and lots of nature. A must trip for anyone who loves nature/wildlife.

That is just stunning...wow, what a sky!

Compelling sky, rich. I'm guessing the elephant was sleeping?