Something's hiding in the bushes ( Roe deer-Capreolus capreolus)

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Hy, this is a picture of female roe deer, I was partially camouflaged by some bush, so she wasn't sure what exactly was hiding in there, till the shutter gave my away. Taken with 1DX+1-4 mk II, f8 1/1250 ISO 2000 at 400 mm. In DPP 4.12 I raised the exp by 0.67 and increased saturation by 1 and cropped a bit from LHS and top. In CS 6 placed subject on one layer, BG on another and increased saturation by 10 on the deer and used autocontrast on the BG layer. Reduced noise with NI on both layers then resized and after that sharpened with Smart sharpen at 60, following Arash and Artie's guide. Saved for web aftter that. To me it looks like what I saw when I took the picture.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Dan, you were lucky to get this close, anything less than a 100m and they are off were I am. They love walking through the wheat field with just their heads above.

Nice scene, but I think you can afford to loose some off the top, going more pano perhaps? Colours looks goo, likewise detail, although I might just bring the highlight down on the vegetation. The inquisitive HA and raise front leg are excellent, looks like your scent has attracted her attention.

TFS
Steve

BTW in Smart sharpen, in the top box, what do you have 'Remove' set too?

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Hy Steve, thanks for the input. The roes are shy also here, sadly due to hunting, stary dogs etc. I'l try what you suggested with the crop and BG. Smart sharpen is set to remove gaussian blurr, because that what the guide states. How did you set yours? Is there a quick way to explain which is better, USM or SS? I tried them both on the jpeg and I think SS sharpens a bit better, not a great difference, but visible.

[Steve Kaluski]

Smart sharpen is set to remove gaussian blurr, because that what the guide states. How did you set yours?

Hi Dan, SS is not my favourite tool and I do do other methods available depending on the file, however... in SS have you expanded the box to include Shadows & Highlights too? You know you can expand the view window too?


Is there a quick way to explain which is better, USM or SS?

Yes, but it's too time consuming to write, personally I prefer USM over SS, but whatever works for you.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Dan -- What a lovely looking subject. I liked the alert / suspicious pose and the settings. The Deer is nice nicely popping out and details are looking good to me. Like Steve, i too feel the has in the field a bit eye catching , my first thought was on similar lines and Steve has rightly noted.

Initially I too used SS but then switched to USM , with inputs from Steve and Sir Artie on USM. But then there are different methods for sharpening and different preferences as well, so better is to try and see what works best for you. Just try not to oversharpen.

Nice image, TFS !

[John Mack]

That alert pose is great. A nice setting as well. Framing is right on. Nice detail as well.

[Bretoteanu Dan]

187806 Here is a repost, I cropped from the the top as you suggested Steve and on the BG layer I lowered the highlights by -10. Resized the image at 1920 on longest size, then applied SS on the subject layer, I choose 40 this time, then saved for web.

[Arthur Morris]

A belated BPN welcome Dan. And thanks for your membership support. I like the original image design better than the repost. For my repost I cleaned up a few dirt clumps. Love the alert pose.

with love, artie

[Stuart Philpott]

Hello again Dan,it's really lovely seeing roe posted here, they are one of my favourite subjects. Dan where are you based what part of the world?

I really like the classic stance caused by her being aware there is something there, the raised foot the nose up I guess she is also circling you? Interesting reading through the comments. Colours look like what I'd see here in the middle of blighty Dan, the lovely orange coat looks just right.

They are tricky subjects Dan you have done very well to get this close, I find if i'm low and I keep still enough that the shutter noise (used carefully) can actually bring them closer to me, but it's no easy thing to achieve reliably, they are so highly strung. I have a feeling this species of deer is shy everywhere, it's how they are made, but you can work a little bit with them as they are very curious.

lovely to see Dan and I hope to see many more

TFS

stu

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Hy Artie, thank you for your comment. I too am partial towards the original crop, I felt it gave a bit of dimension, shows the enviroment in which I took the picture, but one shouldn't be afraid of trying different angles. Btw, nice TV pictures you posted today on yor blog:)

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Hy Stuart I live in a town called Arad in Romania. I took this picture about 60 km from Arad, on field near to a wood, Goroniste. There were two females, I saw them just as they dissapeared behind a line of bushes between us. I tried to get ahead of them, but they got down to a ditch wich was covered with thick shrubs. I found a roe track and got down into the ditch, since I had nothing to loose, and I heard them run, so I thought ok, game over and headed out. Just when I came out they appeared from my left and got quite close to me. My luck was that I was wearing full camo suit and I was partially behind some flowers with high stems. They didnt circle me, but stopped at a short distance and I think were trying to figure out what was that thing making those strange noises. I think either they smelle dme or the shutter of the 1DX gave me awya because they turned and ran. I have a few pictures with both of them, but one is not in focus.
They are skitish heer as well Stuart, due to hunting, stray dogs and maybe shepherd dogs. The last ones should have a piece of heavy wood on a collar in front of their front feet, called "jujeu" to stop them chasing prey, but sometimes the "inventive" shepherd takes it of and just lets the dog take care of itself.

[Stuart Philpott]

Dan thanks for the reply,call me stu buddy everyone does:S3:

I always stalk in full camo that includes head and hands covered, quite often once they have heard the shutter they come to investigate. That's why I asked about it circling you, as I see this behaviour quite often ,it's normally accompanied by high lifting legs, sort of prancing and stamping . Very curious animals Dan ,although incredibly highly strung that curiosity can be exploited by us image makers.

Thanks again and all the luck with them i'd love to see more :w3

take care