Theme: Spring is the Rebirth of Life

This is another of the images from the Great Smoky Mts National Park trip. We were fortunate to see most of the common wildlife that resides there, except for the bears. This doe and her fawn (which was still in spots) were in the field, as we approached. They approached the road, crossing in front of us. They went through the barbwire fence, which is just out of view below the image. It is always refreshing to see young wildlife in the wild, enjoying time with their mothers, learning the ways of survival.

The image was processed in Photoshop and Topaz, including; Topaz Lens Effects and Simplify.

Beautiful. Love the approach angle of the deer contrasted with that of the fence. Subtle processing. Great image for Spring!

Very effective composition with the horizontal layers of color; from the broad bright green sweep of the meadow to the long gentle curve of the fence separating the soft brown layer and the final multi-colored layer of forest. The sun captured on the foreground grasses adds a lovely sparkle and a bit of motion that complements the flow of the fence. Interesting attitudes on the deer capture the viewers attention. Well seen and processed! Good choices on your framing.

I like the colors, the composition, and the elements you captured in the scene. If I imagine an extension to the left side of the image of (1) the flow of both the right and center part of the fence and (2) the line formed by the deer, they seem to meet. That probably adds to the appeal of the scene. Your subtle use of Simplify is very effective. Was it a split neutral density preset that you used in Lens Effects?

Thanks all for viewing and comments. Appreciate it.

As for the frame choice, I always take the colors from the image. Sampling areas within the image and using those to create the matte and frame. I really prefer the frame to unframed images, though some do not like it, I know. It seems to seal the image for me. But to each their own.

Dennis, There are three main filters that I use in Topaz Lens Effects; UV Haze, Warmth (cool), and Graduated Neutral Density. Usually in that order. I find that most images require some degree of Haze adjustment. The filter has three presets and then a slider so you can adjust in those ranges, as needed. The warmth/cool filter, has five presets for each plus the slider adjustments. I like to use this one, as often I find that a little warmth adds so much to the image. I usually will make this adjustment before the GND adjustment, but sometimes tweak it afterwards as well if needed. The GND filter has twelve filters; Bottom ½ - 1 stop, 2 stop, Bottom ¼ - 1 stop, 2 stop; Top ¼ - 1 stop, 2 stop, Top ½ - 1 stop, 2 stop; Left ¼- 1 stop, 2 stop; Right ¼ - 1 stop, 2 stop and again a slider adjustment. So there is a lot of latitude in modifying the lighting of an image, to improve it. Both this one and the waterfall image posted earlier benefitted from the various GND filters to shape the lighting around the intended subject, to enhance the vision.

Lens effects offers many more filters, some of which I also use from time to time. One is the reflector, which I did use here to reflect light up from the bottom of the image, to enhance the darker area of the doe, which was a little harder to separate by using the shadow filters in PS. That is why I like this particular plug-in, it offers a lot of control of the processing of the image that is beyond what PS normally can do and is simple to master, once you get the hang of it.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but I thought you might appreciate it. No, I don’t work for Topaz Labs! Wish I did!!! :c3:

Thanks for the information about what you do with Lens Effects, Mark. I've used it, occasionally, for the motion blur effects but hadn't paid much attention to its other capabilities until you mentioned it in connection with this post. It certainly has many capabilities.

Nice image and processing. The position of the deer in the frame is just right--they have room to walk on through the frame. The light or glitter on the grass is lovely. I like the curve of the fence and the trees. However, I find the trees keep pulling my eye away from the deer. A minor thing.

Dennis, There are a lot of items that I haven't used in Lens Effects either. It is so packed with options, they could have sold it as a number of separate plug-ins! ; > )

Thanks for viewing and comments, Anita. Appreciate it. I originally had cropped out the trees, but felt the scene was too bland without them, as they added color to the background area. But understand your comment.