Sikka stag during the rut

[Davidwilliams]

Taken during the rut, I stalked this guy for 3 hours in thick woods before gettng into position where there was some sunlight

600mm
f4
1/250s
iso 500

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv112/dratsea/5537545c.jpg

[Morkel Erasmus]

gorgeous dappled light here David, and the look-back pose is classic.
high IQ as well!
I don't know the species, but I am curious about the magenta & cyan tones I see coming through in the shaded parts of the fur?? :e3
I might crop tighter (just a tad) from the top and RHS, eliminating the pine branch in the top corner.

[Davidwilliams]

These sikka can be almost black through to grey with dark brown being the predominant colour, only deer that has ever charged me was a sika, you dont argue with these guys in the rut, after this look back I quietly disappeared from whence I came

[Rachel Hollander]

Your efforts paid off, nice pose and sharpness. Good suggestion by Morkel about the crop. I also wondered about the color tones.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Came back again, David. The colours just look off. Can't think that any antelope has that much magenta in its coat? So pronounced?

I did a quick colour correction using Color Balance in PS as well as selective desaturation to pull down the blues and magentas. What do you think? (I also cropped as per my initial suggestion)
Also take note that the vertical limit for posting is 800px high...yours is significantly larger...:w3:w3

[Steve Kaluski]

Morkel, went through the same procedure as you and came close to your RP, therefore David I think a slight tweak as per Morkels comments will be the right way to go. Would also look at losing the highlights intersecting the antlers on the LHS. Perhaps a slight move to the right would have avoided the tree and the highlights and engaged the face more, rather than the rear, although I do appreciate these are skittish. Surprised to see them here, only seen them in India.

TFS
Steve

[Davidwilliams]

appreciate the time guys, like the crop, (its deer not antelope)and I get your point with the colours, would have liked time to compose better but these guys just dont always cooperate, have learnt a few things so thanks for the input, will try to work out the sizing for next post, sorry:c3: