Photographed this handsome fella this past December in one of several trips to Shenandoah National Park. Wonderful place with an abundance of wildlife. Comments and critique welcomed.
Shot with:
Nikon D300s
Sigma 150-500mm @150mm
F/9
1/2000
ISO 640
Aperture Priority
Exp Comp -0.3
Induro AT413 Tripod
Induro BHD3 Ballhead
Small crop for composition and a round of sharpening
06-28-2012, 08:51 PM
Rachel Hollander
Hi Michael - welcome to the Wildlife Forum. Nice first post. Looks like you got close if this is at 150mm. Is that natural light or a flash as the bg looks much darker? I like the pose but would consider cropping a bit more from the bottom to get rid of the partial legs. It also looks a bit oversharpened to me but let's see what others say. Looking forward to seeing more of your images.
TFS,
Rachel
06-29-2012, 12:15 AM
Morkel Erasmus
Nice light and look-back pose here Michael! Welcome to the Wildlife Forum :bg3:
I like the darker BG and the details. The fur does look a wee bit 'scrunchy' particularly on the bridge of the nose/beak and the back, so maybe back off the sharpening selectively.
I also wanted to suggest a tighter crop, but looking at this it does work for me as posted. Maybe crop from the bottom and have a look if you like it more?
06-29-2012, 05:33 AM
Steve Kaluski
Hi Micheal, would concur with Morkels assessment and just watch for any artefacts creeping in around the tips of the antlers and perhaps running some NR would also help on the BKG, but not much. Certainly a tighter option will offer more from the shot. I know Rachel asked if flash was used and I see it wasn't,so I guess changing the 'light source' in camera has given this warming effect in the image?
TFS
Steve
06-29-2012, 06:54 AM
Michael Rominger Jr
Rachel- Yes, this guy did come quite close as to shoot this at 150mm. This was shot in the natural evening full sunlight and the BG was not darkened in post. Just the combination of how the light was falling and the dense forest. I will certainly take a look at a tighter crop on this as I do appreciate different perspectives and views. I'll have another look at my sharpening level as well, I may have added a touch too much in my re size for posting. Thank you for the critique and taking the time to leave it!
Morkel- I like the light and pose as well! :t3 Rachel mentioned possible over sharpening as well so I will surely have a look at adjusting my sharpening levels after sizing for posting. I appreciate the added info as to where it appears to stand out to you as well. I do like this particular crop myself but, I appreciate other views as well. Never know when something could just change to whole feel of the image!
Steve- Correct, no flash was used for this image. Although this was shot in direct evening sun, I had adjusted the WB slightly to warm the image a little more. I appreciate the input on the NR as well.
Thanks to all for the warm welcome and critiques! Looking forward to sharing and learning more with you guys!
06-30-2012, 01:25 PM
Mark Wiseman
Hi Michael,
I like the wonderful warm light in your image together with the composition, POV and the detail.
Thanks for sharing, welcome and best wishes,
Mark.
06-30-2012, 05:40 PM
Michael Rominger Jr
Thanks for stopping in and sharing your opinion Mark!
07-10-2012, 10:34 PM
Ken Watkins
Michael,
Beautiful light on this one, as I have no idea as to the texture of the fur on these animals I find it hard to comment on the sharpness, but certainly in Africa some antelope have extremely sharp looking fur ( Klipspringer)
07-11-2012, 11:59 AM
Michael Rominger Jr
Ken, thanks for taking the time to look and comment! Although I haven't seen any Klipspringer in person, the fur between them and our Whitetail deer does look similar. I would love the opportunity to come visit you guys over there at some point to photograph your wonderful array of wildlife as well. Definitely one for my bucket list!