This is how we roll.Brown hare Lepus europeas (UK)

A behaviour I didn't know existed until this year and one I can't believe I have missed out on ,considering how many times I have seen it this year. That said I suspect the hares of the wolds are made of tougher stuff than I am,you can now clearly see why I come back from a hare sortie slightly broken and last time with skin loss. Me old bones might be groaning:w3 but the hares think the scree is a wonderful back scratcher. The light is harsh I'm not quite as close as I want to be still in the process of closing in . I'm super aware of just how white that belly is and how easily blown, in full sunshine. So I might of over compensated,as there wasn't time to really check a histograme,so exposure was very much by eye,. It's an unusual shot I've now tried to get many times,but taking place literally on the surface of the ground so many times my efforts have been thwarted by vegation,so for now I'll share this. the complete lack of veggies,the field has been sown with maize which is proving to be hare gold at the moment make for quite a stark image,I'm quite interested in how you all view this. Good stalk the fieldcraft great.... unbeknown to me I have an adult grazing not ten yards to my right she didn't know I was there either .

A slightly unusual shot that really I'd like to revisit, I don't really feel my work is done on this one yet. But one that I hope fits the theme, and also makes me smile,something wonderful about a belly in the air and those feet..... I love those feet:bg3:.

Canon 1Div 300f2.8is ext 1.4 iii
1/6400
f9
iso 2000

Processed in dpp4;6;10 so all processing gllobal. Cropped from portrait width kept to fullframe but felt the square option suited best. Deliberate choice the very high ss,possibly overdone,but these movements are fast and jerky so I was trying to play safe. A slight insecurity about IQ possibiltiy of heat hazes or pilot error,maybe distance ?? Thoughts here greatly appreciated Added slight overal sat and adjusted WB beyond this little work to colour i'm fairly happy with this A touch of NR again in dpp

Thank you all so much for the honesty and help with my previous posts,apologies another hare,I have taken little else for months and will be back with them shortly. I wish I could share more with you all. Still the utter disbelief that all this is happening and continues. It's looking very much like new leverets will appear shortly and we are still seeing boxing/breeding behaviours

take care all

stu

Hey Stu ...this is great , never seen a hare on its backside !!!
So thumbs up just for the creation of the photo ....
Tone and tonal depth looking good , likewise the detail and sharpness , keeping in mind you are just using DPP .
I am not too fuzzed about the overall warmth , i might personally go for a overall cooler WB and drop the oranges :w3:bg3: in DPP .But your call
What is not ideal for me ,is the crop , i think the pose is crying for 3x2 or even pano , but not the square crop .
Too much space in FG and BG for my liking ...but for sure a matter of personal pref ...

TFS Andreas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann

Hey Stu ...this is great , never seen a hare on its backside !!!
So thumbs up just for the creation of the photo ....
Tone and tonal depth looking good , likewise the detail and sharpness , keeping in mind you are just using DPP .
I am not too fuzzed about the overall warmth , i might personally go for a overall cooler WB and drop the oranges :w3:bg3: in DPP .But your call
What is not ideal for me ,is the crop , i think the pose is crying for 3x2 or even pano , but not the square crop .
Too much space in FG and BG for my liking ...but for sure a matter of personal pref ...

TFS Andreas

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Hiya Andreas,
I suspect not many have seen this Andreas,It'll be really interesting to see what Keith and Jon say if they see this as they make a few hare images too.It is fairly frquent wit these hares Andreas,but it might be the stony ground that they like to use,so on other more "normal" soils,they maybe don't do this so much...I simply don't know,but personally have never seen this elsewhere. Incidentally we saw it this morning,they do do it alot here,but it's very rapid and short lived, ie not on their backs for long


Cheers for the reply. It's funny I was editing and every image bar this I pulled back the orange and used the colour temp for WB. But the eye dropper seemed to work for me,points noted though my friend ,thank you:S3:!!

I somewhat agree on crop,hares demand landscape one minute and portrait seconds later,I'd prefer this to be in landscape ,but am simply too slow,no excuses,they tie me in knots. It must be funny to watch me and a close hare...really funny:bg3: Mind the grooming shots were ok before this. This is linked to grooming buddy, the behaviour always seems associated with it,but I can't read when it will happen as of yet,so I keep getting caught,one day maybe,I'll sort it out.

Many thanks Andreas,I hope your having a cracking weekend

take care

Stu

Hi Stu, lovely 'behavioural' aspect here and top marks on your fieldcraft too.

Like Andreas, the crop is crying out for landscape, not sure why you chose square, perhaps you were too long out in that heat we have, 36.5 degrees in our conservatory this afternoon!!!
Kudos on the high ISO and output, well done. :cheers: Colour I'm not too hung up on here, but I do feel you need to create more separation between subject and the environment, easy if you have PS, not so if you just have DPP sadly.

Just my take, but perhaps something along these lines, like the low POV too.

TFS
Steve

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Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski

Hi Stu, lovely 'behavioural' aspect here and top marks on your fieldcraft too.

Like Andreas, the crop is crying out for landscape, not sure why you chose square, perhaps you were too long out in that heat we have, 36.5 degrees in our conservatory this afternoon!!!
Kudos on the high ISO and output, well done. :cheers: Colour I'm not too hung up on here, but I do feel you need to create more separation between subject and the environment, easy if you have PS, not so if you just have DPP sadly.

Just my take, but perhaps something along these lines, like the low POV too.

TFS
Steve

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Many thanks Steve,heat will do:bg3: ,but excuses aren't really me. Simply, it never occurred to me to change back to landscape,essentially was concerned of loosing so many pixies,but it just didn't occur to go further than square.Hey ho Steve, I should have got to landscape in the first place,I knew it at the time,just not fast enough yet....I'm getting faster though:w3
Steve incredibly briefly could you just outline the basics of what you have done with the BKG,nothing grand or technical SteveI can't apply that,but a base concept will stay with me

It's one of those images where the colour aspect is all so similar Steve betwixt subject and bkg,it's almost a bit boring,but hares rolling aren't and it's no easy shot to grab so not all bad.

Haha warm it is my friend,no place for camo hat and face cover,man it was hot stalking this morn took the easy way out and sat hoping for LO's this evening way more civilised than hares,ok just plain easier on the old bones :w3

Cheers for all the help Steve and the edit means the world, enlightening, I like the idea you have put forwards:5

thank you

stu

Hi Stu -- A nice behavioral shot ! I think the technicals are well covered above and Steve's RP has improved this one to a certain extent. Your field techniques has certainly improved but overall the settings are quite busy or rather making the subject camouflage in it , in a way it depicts that aspect of nature nicely but from the image point of view it is somewhat difficult on the eyes. Sorry just my thoughts .

TFS !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by haseeb badar

Hi Stu -- A nice behavioral shot ! I think the technicals are well covered above and Steve's RP has improved this one to a certain extent. Your field techniques has certainly improved but overall the settings are quite busy or rather making the subject camouflage in it , in a way it depicts that aspect of nature nicely but from the image point of view it is somewhat difficult on the eyes. Sorry just my thoughts .

TFS !

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Hiya Haseeb,I hope you are well buddy?

I agree completely the hare just doesn't really stand out,it is how it should be, they do blend in. But artistically and as an image for a viewer to look at it doesn't really float my boat either.

In this case it's sort of a work in progress shot,of a behaviour,I strongly suspect few have even seen, let alone made an image of . I definitely want to better this Haseeb,but by the same token I want to contribute to the theme if I can and it#s nice to share something a little different

Cheers for your thoughts buddy as always honest and appreciated,the next themed image might be easier on the eye,We'll see:S3:

Stu

Hello Stu,

Really cute your Brown Hare rolling, very nice POV and I just love the behavioural aspect of this frame. Is 1/6400s correct - not complaining, just asking!

I agree with Steve and Andreas regarding composition. Colours look good to me, sharpness is there. Overall another successful capture, soon you'll be writing that leveret book and I'll be the first to order my copy, very well done mate:5

Kind regards,

Really like how this has the same earth tones throughout it. The square or horizontal both work for me.

Stu well caught an unusual image for sure. The DPP colours - you have my sympathy! Orange really is a pain at times
I much prefer the landscape shape it emphasizes the hare being in a lying back position.

Thanks Jon and John for your comments

Gabby yes 1/6400,i've checked myself just in case. It was very considered,maybe it could be honed?? The roll is very fast,it's not a protracted thing like say a horse and also quite jerky

many thanks all

Stu