The Big Tuskers – Amboseli National Park
The vast savannah of Amboseli National Park is home to an array of wildlife, most notably its herds of free ranging African bush elephants. The park hosts some of the largest elephants in the world – the Big Tuskers – whose tusks are so long they reach the ground. These giant mammals have the ‘right of way’ in the reserve and are protected, yet undisturbed, by humans. Having visited the park several times prior to this project, David wanted to capture the magnificence of Kenya’s special creatures from the ground, going closer than any photographer has gone before.
David Yarrow comments, “Amboseli is my favourite place in the world to photograph these incredible animals. It’s a raw, elemental, amphitheater, home to over two thousand elephants and the perfect location to photograph the Big Tuskers in their natural surroundings. Once you see an elephant of this size you know you will never see anything like it again in your career. I am, and will always be, in awe of their power, size, and that human-like intelligence they hold so clearly in their eyes.”
As part of this project, David followed the movements of Tim, one of the park’s largest Big Tuskers. Having photographed elephants of this size before, David used the Nikon D850 with the AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR and AF-S NIKKOR 200mm f2G ED VR II lenses to intimately profile these creatures, with the AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED lens guaranteeing edge-to-edge sharpness within a landscape image of the elephant herd walking into the distance.