On the way to roost

[Stuart Philpott]

A roe doe browses as the corvids return to roost at sunset. A chance image as she suddenly became visable on the horizon, the crows fortuitous,if they enhance? Cropped to 16:9 full width of frame as the foreground is just more of the same and I felt the crop works better Processed in DPP4. Sort of ironic as we have tried repeated to grab a fallow against a sunset and failed and I got gifted this.


Canon 1div
300f2.8 extiii1.4

1/1000
f4
iso 4000

Thanks for all the help and thoughts on my previous posts

take care

Stu

[Ken Pollock]

Hi Stu,

I like the 16:9 aspect ratio but may have cropped out the tree on the right. Is the color of the sky accurate? Overall, a good picture.

Ken

[haseeb badar]

Hi Stu -- nice to see you posting for this months theme. I loved the colours in the image , beautiful ! But sadly the frame isn't grabbing me that much apart from the colours. To me the FG is a bit excessive and the subject looks a bit soft and lost here. The showing the back thing is not working here for me. Also the tree on the rhs is not adding anything here as it diverts from the main msg of your image. Sorry !

I see a dust spot in the darks of the sky and also some noise is visible in the same.

TFS !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Stu I can see why you took the image and under similar circumstances I would have done so myself.
Upon review (easy for me to say sitting here in the warm!) however I find the title a little misleading because the crows are not identifiable by any stretch, the deer is "nice" but too small in the frame, there is too much grass in the foreground for me and it has a red cast over it.
That sounds a but critical but I hope it helps, so how would it have been better, the answer is simple but achieving it is most certainly not. You needed to be closer. ( I have just had a look at Mike Poole's recent submission - this is the sort of distance/magnification I refer to).

[Stuart Philpott]

Hi guys thank you so much for the thought provoking replies. Ken yes very little done, colours are essentially as shot,it's after sunset. Haseeb well spotted I am aware of that dust bunny I have to learn how to clean sensors VERY SOON but am a bit scared.

John honest genuine replies are crucial to me,please don't ever worry about hurting me,you won't, it only makes me want to try harder. I don't in any way feel this to be a finished image,but I felt there was much for me to learn from it via the groups thoughts. John this is a site we visit regularly and oft see a couple or maybe three roe in this area. There are owls here John,so there is a fair chance of repetition as we are often here at dusk.


I pretty much concur with every word you have written. I shot this from a lane John,I did actually contemplate whether I could close that distance but sadly there just wasn't the time it was just seconds .


Guys I think the biggest thing that concerns me is that the choice to include the tree was a deliberate one: I mused that it would add some vertical interest but it appears more to distract.

Thanks so much, the thoughts will arm me for a hopeful next time and have given me reassurances in some areas, but made me ponder failings in others especially how I framed this

Cheers great stuff

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Stu,

Just think for a moment, what happened if you aimed your lens more to the right, to include the tree on the RHS and have the doe more to the left? Would you have had a more "balanced" image? Do you perhaps think this frame could do with an "anchor", such as the tree? I mean the whole tree?

Love the colours here and the atmosphere and I can see clearly what grabbed you. I'd say when not sure, try various compositions and later see what works best? With regard to the deer, he was probably grooming himself so not the best pose, looks more like a cute little rabbit to me:) I would have waited until he straightened up and looked to the side.

Stu, I think you have a great ability to see the beauty in nature. Your love for the environment and its wild creatures is evident in your images. What you need to do is tap more into your creativity (I know it is there) and try to convey your message more clearly to others - not always easy to please everyone, I know:) A photographer, like any artist, should see any given scene with a critical eye, and the placement of subjects - or rather elements - is essential. A great image IMO is one that draws the viewer's eye to the main point of interest, or points of interest. You can stick to the rules or break them but in the end it's all about lines, colours, patterns, POV, depth, framing, whatever makes the image. Spending some time studying compositional rules might come in handy right now, if you have a library nearby I would suggest you borrow Umberto Eco's " On Beauty" and " On Ugliness" - you'd be amazed how much you can learn from those books.

Hope you have fun on your next outing and share more images,

Kind regards,

[Stuart Philpott]

Dear Stu,

Just think for a moment, what happened if you aimed your lens more to the right, to include the tree on the RHS and have the doe more to the left? Would you have had a more "balanced" image? Do you perhaps think this frame could do with an "anchor", such as the tree? I mean the whole tree?

Love the colours here and the atmosphere and I can see clearly what grabbed you. I'd say when not sure, try various compositions and later see what works best? With regard to the deer, he was probably grooming himself so not the best pose, looks more like a cute little rabbit to me:) I would have waited until he straightened up and looked to the side.

Stu, I think you have a great ability to see the beauty in nature. Your love for the environment and its wild creatures is evident in your images. What you need to do is tap more into your creativity (I know it is there) and try to convey your message more clearly to others - not always easy to please everyone, I know:) A photographer, like any artist, should see any given scene with a critical eye, and the placement of subjects - or rather elements - is essential. A great image IMO is one that draws the viewer's eye to the main point of interest, or points of interest. You can stick to the rules or break them but in the end it's all about lines, colours, patterns, POV, depth, framing, whatever makes the image. Spending some time studying compositional rules might come in handy right now, if you have a library nearby I would suggest you borrow Umberto Eco's " On Beauty" and " On Ugliness" - you'd be amazed how much you can learn from those books.

Hope you have fun on your next outing and share more images,

Kind regards,

Hello mate,Gabby I do hope you are well,it's so cool to have first up your images and presence here,plus you are always so kind and thought provoking with your posts.

I have a copse (small group of trees in case that doesn't translate) to the right. On framing I felt that a hint of them might add height to the image,but felt that showing more would completely unbalance things with a pretty dark solid mass to the right. Point taken if single then i'm as sure as I can be that it would be a whole tree to the right.

Gabby the appraisal that followed is lovely thank you i'll have a dig for umberto. I also think you are bang on with those words I do need to consider more it's these tiny chances that last seconds that really undo me. But that said posting this was done with almost next time in mind there is so much wisdom in the posts here . I slowly dijest what's been said it almost forearms me when a similar chance comes again. which has possibilities at this spot. Gabby it's why i'm always so grateful,i'm an incredibly slow learner,but I am so aware of what is happening,even if this isn't my best attempt. The critique is getting me nearer to where I want to be as the next chance comes along.

Gabby we'll see little steps forwards and back for a good while yet I feel,but the reality is I love doing this my lass too,she's my spotter and unbeliveably good,Once the use of the tools becomes more instnictive I feel the other guy might start to show up a bit more. Gabby, we shot over the weekend essentially in the most horrible wet cold grey gloom but it was an incredible learning experience really I didn't even hope to keep a single shot. We just went to learn.We spent a lot of time with probably two (could be one) very special birds maybe some form of bond is forming and studied high iso with the images made . Cold wet horrible no light but it was joy !! if that love stays with me mate (which I can't see changing) then more chances will come. I have to be stronger with my techs Gabby I am not there yet. Once I can use my tools properly. I really feel that will unburden me and the creative side which is essentially inate will show much more.

Least ways I hope so.

Thanks as always you always pick up on things that are of incredible use to me, so value your words kiddo


So wonderful to see your recent pictures

Stu

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu good that you go out and shoot .....
I really like the red/pink overall coloration of the image ,it would work better IMHO if the deer had been parallel to the viewer .
As presented i would honestly say this does not work , sadly .
I would like to echo the guys above with good suggestions and wise wording.
Just keep up trying ....

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - It really has all been covered above with excellent suggestions and critiques. I too like the sunset color but the comp isn't working with the partial tree and the soft doe. Unfortunately the doe didn't cooperate here with her pose either. I bet if you keep visiting this location, with a lot of patience, eventually you'll get a full profile on the ridge and perhaps a bit closer/bigger in frame. Also from a tech standpoint with sunset pictures you want to underexpose them to make the colors pop so you don't need to pump up the ISO as much.

TFS,
Rachel

[Stuart Philpott]

Andreas Rachel thank you both so much, guys more than anything i value your honesty,which you have always given. This is a special little spot for us sooner or later i'll have another chance . When that happens I'll have all this wisdom with me.

Great little tip there Rachel about underexposing on sunsets,i'm aware actually ,I guess I found that,although I didn;t know it was a widely accepted practice. The colours seem to saturate more. It's the specifics that need honing Rachel, with time that will come. Rachel where would you have gone iso wise on this one please?

Many thanks both

Stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Stu - It would depend on the shooting conditions and whether I was standing, kneeling, what type of support I had, etc. I would probably have played around with different shutter speeds and had the ISO at 1600, maybe 3200.

Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, cool colours and I like the fact you have shot towards twilight with that great pink sky, something rarely posted here.

If the opportunity came up with the deer side on (like Mike P), that would have been better for a silhouette against the sky. I also wished the subject wasn't centrally placed, for me it needs to be more to the LHS. Good call on the pano crop.

Keep them coming and just take a moment to think about the techs.

TFS
Steve