Same Deer, Different Verse

[Nancy Bell]

With this posting I have attempted to incorporate all the suggestions from my previous post. This image was taken a few moments before the other image. This one does not have the visually interfering deer in the bkgd. It also has more leg room at the bottom. I left the bits of snow attached to the eyelashes and did not attempt any 'eye doctoring". I sharpened less aggressively and hope that addresses both the over-sharpened and contrasty look of the previous image. What do folks think of the bit of grass in his mouth?

I am ready to learn more and appreciate very much the comments and critiques!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Nancy - you forgot the exif data but I like the grass in the mouth and think it adds to it. I also think the additional room around on this one works well. I still feel the sharpening is a little over done, particularly on the body, try different opacities of masking on the head and body when sharpening.

TFS,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Nancy,

this looks much better. I also like the grass and agree with the sharpening with Rachel for the body. A little bit more space on the RHS would be nice :bg3:

Have a great weekend

Ciao
Anette

[Marina Scarr]

What a cute deer. I agree on the oversharpening and a different crop. Love all the fuzz and the grass in the mouth. Wouldn't mind seeing this deer in some environment which also includes some trees or grasses, although I understand you may have had white out conditions here. I just feel the deer is a tad stark against the all-white BG with so little to anchor the image.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Nancy, I prefer this to the previous, although I'm not a lover of the square crop, any reason for this, or did you just like it? :S3:

Again, the processing is better on this one, but there is so much detail within the image that you can still extract which would really help and help avoid the rather stark look Marina commented on. I would look to working on extracting the detail from your image within the RAW converter, then deal with sharpening as a separate issue. Your camera is capturing the data, just take your time and even take a break from when you are processing and perhaps revisit the RAW several times, in that way you may see different things that you can improve on and slowly 'build' the file. I also went for a slightly 'cooler' look, but again, just personal preference, however you could combine the two, warmer deer, cooler BKD?

Crudely done, but you can see what there is even from a web image.

Hope this helps.

TFS
Steve

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks again all. Steve, how do you mean "extract the detail within the RAW converter"? Which sliders? Duh...I feel like I came in the middle of the movie and missed something crucial :eek3:.
For the crop, I used the screen for the rule of thirds, and the eye is on the upper right point. Just ended up square. Prefer rectangle.

[Steve Kaluski]

"extract the detail within the RAW converter"?

Basically Nancy you make two images and combine, one for the 'location' the snow, the second for the deer. Without seeing the RAW it's had to say which sliders to use as each slider plays a part in the look & feel and so you have to balance them, it could be the exposure sliders, couple with a graduate filter & then adjusting the tone Curve. I would be aggressive with each slider to see what effect it has, in that way you understand what they do, then pull them back. Once you have it about right, then comes the subtle movements to finalise. Obviously you try to get as much done at the RAW stage, then you can tweak the outputs in PS. Once you have the two looking right, you can then combine.

[Nancy Bell]

Steve, thank you for the explanation. I need to do much more in the RAW stage and less in PS.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nancy I like this frame in general more than the previous one.
I wonder if the sharpness appears overdone because of the smooth white snow surrounding the subject...:e3
Steve's repost really shows what is possible when working with optimal exposures for the snow and the deer. I do hope you post some images after you've played around more with doing more in the RAW stage.