African landscapes

I like that you've chosen black and white processing for this image. The foreground elephant is sharp and has a nice level of contrast. The background elephants have the perfect amount of blur due to your choice of a wide aperture. They also balance the image beautifully. Nice shot!

I like that you've shot this image when the dunes were half in light and half in shadow. In my opinion, this is when Deadvlei looks the best! I also like the 14mm focal length you've used and the framing of the distance tree. The tree in the foreground is completely sharp which was important! Nice image!

This lone tree was a good find on your part, as it has some interesting combinations of colours, textures and shapes in the background. Your choice of ISO 100 and f/8 was spot on for getting the best image quality.

I like how you have positioned the sun right behind the tree which adds a nice focal point to the image. You've also positioned yourself in a good spot where there is separation between most of the trees. One thing that would help the image, in my opinion, is if you brought out some of the shadow detail a bit. If you shot in RAW, you can try the shadows slider in Lightroom or ACR and bring up some detail in the shadows so that they don't go completely black.

You did a nice job spotting the V-pattern in the foreground. This creates symmetry and balance in the image which works well here. I think placing the tree dead center was the way to go, as the cloud on the left and dune on the right help balance the background.