Whitetail Buck in velvet

[John Mack]

Whitetail buck in velvet on a summer evening. Had to wait a little while for this guy to come out in the open. Image adjustments in Lightroom. Hand held, full frame.

Canon 5D MarkIII
Sigma 150-600 Contemporary
600mm
ISO 3200
F6.3
1/50sec

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi John, nice to see a deer posted and perhaps more of a 'local' too?

For me there are three issues here:
- At 1/50 unless absolutely rock solid, I doubt the RAW is pin sharp and going for a higher ISO the IQ will also diminish
- The image is heavily saturated, if you get the correct WB sorted first then address the Colour you will have a better platform in which to work on. The subject stands out more, greater depth within the habitat too.
- You need more room below, it's just too tight for the legs.

Saying that I do like the stance of the deer, although positioning better 'in camera' would have helped, slightly lower and a tad more to the LHS and the FP would have been better placed and closer to the centre point ish. The image does look a bit soft as presented, if you are Exporting from LR I assume you are applying sharpening then or are you adding any 'pre sharpening' within LR prior?

TFS
Steve

[John Mack]

Thanks Steve, I apply pre sharpening in Lightroom with the detail panel, also when i export.

[Jonathan Ashton]

John I think I understand your situation, you spent a lot of time trying to get this shot so you wanted the best quality you could get (?) but I would suggest that 1/50 sec is not going to deliver even with a still deer and IS, or at least it is an unlikely scenario. I would have certainly gone for a faster shutter speed say as a minimum 1/250 but preferably 1/500 or faster.
I think the colours are a little too saturated - perhaps a little too much yellow? I admire you field skills and patience and look forward to seeing more.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi John - I totally agree with Steve and Jon on all counts. Btw I went to Cornell and lived in Ithaca for 4 years. I hope you also experiment with some landscapes up there. Afterall, "Ithaca is Gorges."

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

John, FWIW here is a version with a hint more below, wished for more, addressing the overall colour for more 'standout/definition' both for the subject and the environment with another round of USM applied to the subject only, but still not enough for sharpness.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello John,

Apologies for coming in so late. I love the pose you captured from this White-tailed Buck and the separation between subject and BG. Framing would be perfect with a bit more space at the bottom, if you have it.

Beautiful lush environment, overall frame a tad saturated in terms of colour but Steve's RP addresses this issue.

There is little for me to add as most aspects have already been covered above. I certainly look forward to see more from you and hope you keep experimenting. The week-end is around the corner, let us get out there and have some fun

Kind regards,