Standard: 40" x 27"

Large: 60" x 38"

I find there to be a wonderful difference between working in sepia compared to pure black and white. While the majority of my images print better in the latter, every now and then I take a photograph that I have to reproduce in sepia. This particular image, Giant’s Footprints, sits firmly in that camp.

The elephant in it, Michael, is one of Amboseli’s emerging super tuskers. Already a giant at the age of 32, we spent five days in his company last year. Knowing he was one day going to be as famous as Tim or Craig, I was desperate to get a shot of him now, much as Nick Brandt did with Craig in the early 2000’s Those images are perhaps even more iconic now than they were when he took them originally.

My issue was positioning. Usually I am keen to work front on to my subjects, but Michael was pursuing a female elephant at the time so to position myself front on and, therefore between him and his intended conquest, would have been suicide.

This gave me an idea - could I follow alongside him, giving him space and creating a shot that angled upwards to emphasise his enormity, but also to highlight the calmness of his walk, the way the dust danced around his footsteps, and to show the incredible texture of his skin.

After a few failed attempts, Michael walked into an open area, ensuring I could keep a clear horizon. For me the image is made by the two small Thompson gazelles in the background - one under his tusk and the other half hidden behind his trunk. They make up perhaps 0.1% of the image, but lend scale and interest by portraying how it feels to stand in the footprints of these elephants.