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Thread: Deer in Spring

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    Default Deer in Spring

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    Shot this in the Smoky Mountains over the weekend. I tried to incorporate the budding tree in the BG. The deer had other ideas and kept its head down buried in the grass for very long stretches. I had to maneuver several different times to keep the deer comfortable and keep the tree somewhere in the frame. This was easily one of the best poses/expressions I got. All C&C appreciated.

    Techs:
    D3S
    200-400 with 1.4 at 280mm HH
    f/5.6
    1/640
    ISO 800
    Aperture priority -1

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Lyle - nice look back pose and I also like the budding tree in the bg. With EC of -1, the light must have been pretty harsh. Looks like you handled it well. I think I would crop about half of the oof grass from the bottom. I also think the deer can use some more sharpening as to me the grass immediately to the left of the deer looks like the sharpest point. I would also burn the one bright, taller grass stalk on the lhs so that it doesn't draw the eye as much. Overall, very nicely done.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Lyle, firstly would you mind checking your settings, as the file is ProPhoto RGB and for web you need sRGB to display your image correctly, think it was just quickness of hand.

    Rachel has already made some excellent points and I don't think as presented it has any main issues re cropping, I would perhaps look at coming in a bit tighter? Looking at the grass perhaps the RoT's may help with a third of grass the rest as is, with a little less to the LHS too? I also like the 'look back pose, but do feel it needs some more selective sharpening. It has a nice vibrance of colour and the 'buttercup' (?) heads add to the pasture. Be interest to hear about the EV-1 as it looks to be shot late afternoon around fourish, so was it quite bright or were you comping for the brighter BKD parts and or whites? Re metering, are you using Spot metering?

    Hope to see more.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    This gives a nice feeling for the deer in it's habitat. The flowering trees add an interesting layer to the bkgd. I like how they are blurred. Agree that some of the front OOF grasses could be cropped and the deer sharpened more.

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Like the pose and the BG, it shows a nice depiction of the meadow/forest edge habitat. Just a touch more off the bottom for me.

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    Thanks everyone for the feedback. Agree on the selective sharpening, looks like I need to finetune my autofocus. I was spot metering, and trying to protect the white highlights in the BG. Light wasn't harsh, this was shot at 4:18 pm--right on the money Steve. I usually shoot in Manual, but I was switching between shooting turkeys and deer that were all in the same pasture and changing positions frequently, so I chose to shoot Aperture priority while controlling highlights with exposure comp. I checked the histogram and blinkies several times before arriving at -1. I tried several different compositions but wasn't able to come up with one I particularly liked.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Lyle, firstly would you mind checking your settings, as the file is ProPhoto RGB and for web you need sRGB to display your image correctly, think it was just quickness of hand.

    Rachel has already made some excellent points and I don't think as presented it has any main issues re cropping, I would perhaps look at coming in a bit tighter? Looking at the grass perhaps the RoT's may help with a third of grass the rest as is, with a little less to the LHS too? I also like the 'look back pose, but do feel it needs some more selective sharpening. It has a nice vibrance of colour and the 'buttercup' (?) heads add to the pasture. Be interest to hear about the EV-1 as it looks to be shot late afternoon around fourish, so was it quite bright or were you comping for the brighter BKD parts and or whites? Re metering, are you using Spot metering?

    Hope to see more.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Thanks Lyle for the addition info, all makes sense now, although I'm still not sure about going for Spot, if it likes Canon, you really are just using a very small area, but would welcome your thoughts. Good luck with your fine tuning.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Some good advice given already, Lyle...(good to see you in Wildlife as well)
    I personally would have liked to see the whole BG tree and perhaps a bit less FG...not sure if you have the space?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    For me the biggest issue is the BG, with the tree trunk running straight down into the body of the animal.

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