Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam. - I take a photo of the elephant that is bathing in the pool.

It is very natural and very common in everyday Malay.
It is like English take a picture, not like a single verb photograph.
A more formal or complete form is mengambil gambar (with the prefix meN-), but in speech people often just say ambil gambar.

Why is it Saya ambil and not Saya mengambil? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct; the difference is style and formality.

Saya ambil gambar gajah...
- Colloquial / informal
- Very common in spoken Malay
- Dropping the meN- prefix is normal in casual conversation
Saya mengambil gambar gajah...
- More formal or careful style
- Common in writing, news, presentations, etc.

So you can think of it like:

ambil ≈ spoken, casual
mengambil ≈ written, formal or polite

Your sentence is perfectly fine in everyday conversation as Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.

How do I know if this means I took a photo or I am taking a photo? Where is the tense?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Ambil can mean take / took / am taking / will take depending on context.

You show time using time words and context, for example:

Saya tadi ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.
= I took a photo of the elephant that was bathing in the pond (earlier).
Sekarang saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.
= I am taking a photo of the elephant that is bathing in the pond (now).
Nanti saya akan ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.
= I will take a photo of the elephant that is bathing in the pond (later).

So your sentence Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam. is time‑neutral on its own. The meaning (past / present / future) comes from the surrounding context.

What exactly does yang do in gajah yang mandi di kolam?

Yang introduces a relative clause or descriptive phrase about a noun.

gajah = the elephant
yang mandi di kolam = that is bathing in the pond

So:

gajah yang mandi di kolam = the elephant that is bathing in the pond

Structure:

[noun] + yang + [clause that describes the noun]

In this sentence, yang tells you that mandi di kolam is describing gajah, not anything else.

Could the sentence mean I, who was bathing in the pond, took a photo of an elephant?

No, that is not a natural reading in Malay.

In Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam:

yang mandi di kolam directly follows gajah, so it describes gajah.
The default and natural rule: yang describes the noun right before it.

To say I, who was bathing in the pond, took a photo of an elephant, you would need to change the structure, for example:

Saya, yang mandi di kolam, ambil gambar gajah.
(Even this sounds a bit odd and would usually need more context.)

So for your original sentence, Malay speakers will understand it as:

I took a photo of the elephant that was bathing in the pond, not I, who was bathing...

Can I say Saya ambil gambar yang gajah mandi di kolam or move yang somewhere else?

No, Saya ambil gambar yang gajah mandi di kolam is ungrammatical.

In Malay:

The yang + clause part must come after the noun that it describes.
You cannot insert yang randomly before the noun as in English the picture that the elephant is bathing in the pond.

Correct patterns:

gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam
the picture of the elephant that is bathing in the pond
gajah yang mandi di kolam
the elephant that is bathing in the pond

Wrong:

✗ gambar yang gajah mandi di kolam
✗ yang gajah mandi di kolam gambar

So the position in your sentence is already the natural and correct one.

Should it be seekor gajah instead of just gajah? Is Saya ambil gambar seekor gajah... better?

Both are correct, with a small nuance difference.

Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.
- No classifier
- Often used if context has already established there is one elephant there, or you are speaking generally.
Saya ambil gambar seekor gajah yang mandi di kolam.
- seekor is a classifier for animals (literally one animal)
- Emphasizes one elephant; slightly more specific and sometimes a bit more formal/complete.

General pattern:

seekor gajah = one elephant
dua ekor gajah = two elephants
banyak ekor gajah = many elephants

In casual speech, people often drop the classifier seekor when the number is obvious or not important, so your original sentence without seekor is very natural.

What is the difference between mandi, memandi / memandikan, and bermandi?

All are related to bathing, but they differ in who is doing what.

mandi
- Intransitive: the subject bathes itself.
- gajah mandi di kolam = the elephant bathes in the pond.
memandikan (often shortened in speech to mandikan)
- Transitive / causative: the subject causes someone/something else to bathe (washes them).
- Penjaga itu memandikan gajah.
  = The keeper bathes the elephant (washes the elephant).
bermandi
- Less common in everyday speech; often appears in set phrases or more literary style.
- Often implies being covered in something or surrounded by something:
  - bermandi peluh = drenched in sweat
  - bermandi cahaya = bathed in light

So in your sentence, mandi is correct because the elephant is bathing itself, not being bathed by someone.

If I want to stress that the elephant is currently bathing, where do I put sedang?

Use sedang before the verb inside the yang clause:

Saya ambil gambar gajah yang sedang mandi di kolam.
= I am taking / I took a photo of the elephant that is (currently) bathing in the pond.

Placement:

gajah yang mandi di kolam (neutral; just says it bathes / was bathing)
gajah yang sedang mandi di kolam (emphasizes ongoing action)

You can also use sedang in the main clause:

Saya sedang ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam.
= I am currently taking a photo of the elephant that is bathing in the pond.

Both positions are possible, depending on what you want to emphasize:

sedang ambil → the act of you taking the photo is ongoing
yang sedang mandi → the act of the elephant bathing is ongoing

Why is it di kolam and not something like ke kolam or dalam kolam?

These prepositions have different functions:

di = at / in / on (location)
- di kolam = at the pond / in the pond (as a place where the action happens)
- Your sentence: mandi di kolam = bathe in/at the pond
ke = to / toward (direction)
- pergi ke kolam = go to the pond
- You would use ke if the verb describes movement toward the pond, not an action happening there.
dalam = inside (inside the interior of something)
- dalam kolam = inside the pond (emphasizing the inside space)
- You might say berenang dalam kolam (swim in the pond/pool), but di kolam is also common and natural.

In your sentence, mandi di kolam is the normal way to say bathe in the pond.

What does Saya tell us, and how is it different from aku, kami, and kita?

Saya is the standard, neutral, polite I / me.

Saya ambil gambar gajah...
= I take / took a photo of the elephant...

Differences:

saya
- Polite, neutral, used in most situations (formal and semi‑informal).
aku
- Informal, intimate; used with close friends, family, or in some dialects more broadly.
- Using aku with strangers or in formal situations can sound too casual or rude.
kami
- we / us (excluding the listener)
- Kami ambil gambar gajah... = We (but not you) took a photo of the elephant...
kita
- we / us (including the listener)
- Kita ambil gambar gajah... = We (you and I / you and us together) took a photo of the elephant...

So Saya ambil gambar gajah yang mandi di kolam is a polite, neutral way to say I took a photo of the elephant that was bathing in the pond.

Is gajah yang mandi di kolam like an adjective phrase? Where do normal adjectives go in relation to yang?

Yes, gajah yang mandi di kolam functions like a descriptive phrase (similar to a long adjective phrase) modifying gajah.

In Malay:

Simple adjectives come after the noun:
- gajah besar = big elephant
- gajah kelabu = grey elephant
A yang + clause also comes after the noun:
- gajah yang mandi di kolam = the elephant that is bathing in the pond

You can combine them:

gajah besar yang mandi di kolam
= the big elephant that is bathing in the pond

Word order rule:

[noun] + [adjective(s)] + yang + [clause]

You cannot put adjectives after the yang clause for the same noun, so:

gajah besar yang mandi di kolam ✔
gajah yang mandi di kolam besar ✗ (this would sound like the elephant that bathes in a big pond, and even that is awkward; you would want kolam besar together if you mean big pond).