Red deer (Cervus elaphus)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hand held image taken in Tatton Park UK, she is chewing beech mast and acorns. Small crop and I tidied up the distant background.

Olympus E-M1X
Lens Model : M.40-150mm F2.8 + MC-14
Lens focal length : 135 mm
Focal Length (35 mm conversion) : 270.0mm
Metering mode : Pattern
ISO Sensitivity : 200
Exposure mode : Manual exposure
Exposure time : 1/2000 sec
F number : F4
Exposure compensation : -1.3 EV
Flash : OFF

ACR/PSCC

Thanks for feedback on previous image, let me have it - both barrels for this one!

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Jon, a nice shot with the amusing facial expression! Looks a bit dark overall, where was the AF point? The ears look a bit soft due to DOF? The BG animals are a bit unfortunate but they kinda blend in the darkness. TFS.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Good morning Jon,

Thank you so much for sharing this red deer image:S3: Indeed, pose from the deer is amusing, looks like she is greeting you:bg3:

My first impression when opening the thumbnail was that the frame overall appeared too dark. No issue with the area behind the subject, which is obviously shaded by the two large trees. But it looks as if you dropped the exposure (and possibly also HL) too much, even the greens in the FG appear 'muted, so to speak. The distant BG also looks too dark, it should be brighter because it is in the sun.

I think I understand where you were going with this - trying to conceal to some degree the antelope behind the subject - but I would rather see them and have a more natural look and feel in terms of lighting. Subject's body looks good but face seems a tad soft, I too wondered where the FP was.

Perhaps you should have shot this scene wider, to include more of the landscape and give a sense of the environment? Those trees must be awesome...

Warmest regards,

[John Mack]

The facial expression is pretty neat. I like the coat on these red deer. Framing is nice. I don't mind the deer in the background.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, albeit on the laptop, I'm not keen, the colours appear muddy/muted and the quirky face, 'caught eating', just doesn't grab me, sorry.

TFS
Steve