Red deer stag and hind

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hand held Canon 1DX Canon 500mm f4 Auto ISO 1600 1/1000 sec f7.1
Not too sure if you will like this one, it sort of grew on me, I just liked the scene and the stag was bellowing to another stag to keep away from his girl who had just strayed away from his harem. I thought the jackdaws just helped complete the scene.
All comments welcome.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jonathan - Great bugling pose and the inclusion of the doe really takes this up a notch. There's a 3D feel to the image. Nice detail but it feels a bit light to me, particularly in the midtones. Here's a rp where I punched up the midtones in a levels adjustment and also added a couple of points of black to the blacks and neutrals. WDYT? I might also back off on the sharpening on the neck area.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Jonathan - Great bugling pose and the inclusion of the doe really takes this up a notch. There's a 3D feel to the image. Nice detail but it feels a bit light to me, particularly in the midtones. Here's a rp where I punched up the midtones in a levels adjustment and also added a couple of points of black to the blacks and neutrals. WDYT? I might also back off on the sharpening on the neck area.

TFS,
Rachel

Thanks Rachel I appreciate your taking time to do a repost. You set my mind thinking, my original post was using DPP, having seen your version I decided to go back to the raw file and process with ACR using my standard approach, I have not done anything at all in CS6 other than sharpen. I am not intending to start a great debate over which raw conversion method is best because either method can be used to produce the result required, it just turned out in this case this case the ACR produced a more punchy image. In other bird shots I have taken I think the DPP version is better, sometimes I wish there wasn't a choice and I would then just standardise on one method!

[Rachel Hollander]

Jonathan - the rp looks better to me but I would still give it a slight boost in PS. Are you trying to do everything in the RAW converter and then only sharpen in PS? It is my understanding that no matter what RAW converter you use, you'll still need to do final optimization and adjustments in PS (or another PP program). Granted the better the image IQ, exposure, etc, then the less you should have to do in PS. Btw I prefer the comp/crop of the op with the stag less centered.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jonathan, my first impression of the OP was that it was one of those dull, misty days we seem to have occasionally, but seeing Rachels RP, having a bit more 'Tonal Contrast' does give the image a bit more depth, although I am using the word as a descriptive rather than suggesting an adjustment. I'm not sold on the framing, I just feel the deer are floating, too much space all round and would have perhaps worked towards isolating the Stag or going for a detail part. Unless you know what the Jackdaws are doing, I don't think they add much personally. I might, if you have applied it, back off on the NR/LR, the BKG just looks a bit too smooth and lacks definition, ISO1600 is fine without it IMHO.

Hope you get more with the rut.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Jonathan - the rp looks better to me but I would still give it a slight boost in PS. Are you trying to do everything in the RAW converter and then only sharpen in PS? It is my understanding that no matter what RAW converter you use, you'll still need to do final optimization and adjustments in PS (or another PP program). Granted the better the image IQ, exposure, etc, then the less you should have to do in PS. Btw I prefer the comp/crop of the op with the stag less centered.

TFS,
Rachel

Rachel I usually perform adjustments in CS6 regardless of the raw converter used, I was just illustrating how the conversion varies from the same starting point.
Steve I see your point but I still quite like the composition, I don't think it is spectacular or anything like that I just found it appealing. Regards the mid tones, maybe I could have applied a little more but I try to reflect the scene as I saw it rather than how I might have wished it looked.
Thanks to you both for your comments I am always pleased to receive them.

[Katie Rupp]

Johnathan,

The calling pose really makes this for me and I understand your desire to keep the Jackdaws, especially as this is a moment/scene that has meaning for you.

Best,
Katie

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice pose and setting here, Jonathan! Rachel's repost does it for me colour/contrast wise.
Tough call to get a "level" bearing here, but I think you leveled it nicely given the sloping treeline and the way the deer are spaced/oriented.