Noxubee Refuge

[Judy Howle]

This is my favorite image made from the Goose Overlook at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi. Definitely one of my favorite places! It's about 35 miles from here and I go several times a year. I was just about to leave the overlook when the group of deer entered the water among the lily pads. It was a very rewarding experience seeing so many and the twin fawns! (There were 2 other does also.) The water in this location was very low in August due to the summer drought. It was an unusually cool day that persuaded me to go.

Topaz Adjust, Topaz Simplify, Nik glamour glow, vignette and vignette blur, several layers and tonal adjustments.

[Brendan Dozier]

Lovely scene you captured, Judy. I like how the deer are posed and positioned creating a diagonal line, and their orange brown coats contrast nicely with the light green of the lily pads. Wish for the face on the furthest one to left was a little more focused and the others head has more separated from the hind leg. However, this is not easy when photographing a group of animals that are moving, and I think overall you did a good job getting separation between each of them. Just the right amount of filtering to make a pleasing composition.

[Mitch Carucci]

Beautiful family scene!

[Paul Lagasi]

Nice capture..getting the complete family in this image is a bonus...bucks usually don't hang out with does...except during that time of the year...Well Done

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Brendan, Mitch and Paul!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Judy, I love everything about this image. It is perfect and beautiful! Love it and the processing too!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Judy, Great capture. The whole family, quite unusual to see them all together. Nice subtle use of filters. The deer still retain great detail. Terrific wildlife shot!

[Judy Howle]

Hi Judy, I love everything about this image. It is perfect and beautiful! Love it and the processing too!

Thanks so much Andrew!

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Jay! Yes it was quite a thrill to see such a large family group.

[Dennis Bishop]

There's a lot I like about this image. As Brendan said, the deer family makes a great diagonal. (Thanks for being first, Brendan. ) The contrast between the warm and cool colors works very well. The overall composition is really good. And catching the image with the doe's attention on the flower is another nice touch.

It's the deer that really make the image feel so special, but they're vying with the lily pads for attention, so I decided to see what could be done without detracting from the appeal of the image. The first thing was to use Alien Skin Bokeh and some masking to pretty rapidly take the background behind the deer out of focus. Warm seems closer than cool, so I added a warming photo filter only to the deer. Both of those things helped, I thought, but not enough. Next step was Nik Color Efex Classical Soft Focus on everything but the deer. Finally, I used Color Efex Lighten/Darken Center to lighten the area with the deer somewhat and darken the rest of the image a bit.

Then, I asked my wife which one she preferred. The original post. No question.

Oh, well.

[Indranil Sircar]

Judy, this is wonderful! I too like the diagonal as well as the beautiful light. I like the OP; maybe a tad more darker vignette to get the focus on the whole family.

[denise ippolito]

Judy, I can see why you love this place. Sweet scene with the entire family. I like the idea of what Dennis did but for me maybe somewhere in between the two.

[Judy Howle]

There's a lot I like about this image. As Brendan said, the deer family makes a great diagonal. (Thanks for being first, Brendan. ) The contrast between the warm and cool colors works very well. The overall composition is really good. And catching the image with the doe's attention on the flower is another nice touch.

It's the deer that really make the image feel so special, but they're vying with the lily pads for attention, so I decided to see what could be done without detracting from the appeal of the image. The first thing was to use Alien Skin Bokeh and some masking to pretty rapidly take the background behind the deer out of focus. Warm seems closer than cool, so I added a warming photo filter only to the deer. Both of those things helped, I thought, but not enough. Next step was Nik Color Efex Classical Soft Focus on everything but the deer. Finally, I used Color Efex Lighten/Darken Center to lighten the area with the deer somewhat and darken the rest of the image a bit.

Then, I asked my wife which one she preferred. The original post. No question.

Oh, well.

Thanks Dennis! If you saw the original image you would realize how much I toned down the sharpness of the lilies mainly with Simplify which I erased off of the heads of all the deer and spots on the fawns. I tried to strike a balance between the vignette blur and the rest of the image and also the darkness of the vignette as I didn't want it to be "obvious". You had a good concept but I think your version does have a bit too much blur.

[Judy Howle]

Judy, this is wonderful! I too like the diagonal as well as the beautiful light. I like the OP; maybe a tad more darker vignette to get the focus on the whole family.

Thanks Indranil. I'll add a bit more vignette.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Denise!

[Anita Bower]

Lovely capture. Congratulations on the win. I see why you love this place.