An elephant sways his trunk to within inches of Geralds face MADIKWE GAME RESERVE, SOUTH AFRICA. IMAGES taken from just two feet away by a photographe
An elephant sways his trunk to within inches of Geralds face MADIKWE GAME RESERVE, SOUTH AFRICA. IMAGES taken from just two feet away by a photographer in an underground hide show a cute baby elephant navigating around the feet of its grownup relatives as they all gather at their local watering hole. Images of the four tonne giants give a unique perspective of looking up the elephants truck as it drinks and even what looks like a baby elephant sticking out its tongue. These images were captured by photographer Gerald Hinde (79) from South Africa. To take these shots, Gerald spent many days in the underground hide at Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa on his Sony. ?I have spent many days sitting in the underground hide to capture elephants close up with my 16-35mm Sony wide angle lens,? said Gerald ?The elephants often get attracted by my presence and they extend their trunks to within a couple of feet from me to smell this strange movement in the hide. ?It also regularly happens that I get sprayed with water and/or mud as they bathe themselves. ?My favourite shot is when the elephant trunk almost touched my face. It was a scary moment. ?I suppose it?s my favourite shot because as a wildlife photographer I enjoy the adrenaline rush. Hairy moments are part and parcel of the job. ?I love trying to capture those moments other people don?t get the same opportunities to capture. When returning home to edit the images, those special, unusual images give me great joy. ?I?m fortunate enough to get opportunities that the average wildlife enthusiast doesn?t get so I get some good comments, especially from my Instagram and Facebook ENDS
Size: 3699px × 2466px
Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 16/35, 2023, african, baby, bull, close, elepahant, elephant, january, madikwe, nature, photography, sony, wildlife
