Busted Buck

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 25, 2009174 views7 comments

Very late in the day and this buck was locked down with a doe. He had fought for the doe and broken a brow tine. He was leaving his scent on the leaves of this oak tree.

Thanks for looking at my picture and for any comment.

50D
fl 400
F5.6
1/160
ISO 1600

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on November 25, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Although the deer is quite centered in the frame, the inclusion of the dark tree on the left and the dark band at the top serve to move him into a nice position in that natural frame. Nice buck!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 26, 2009 at 10:28 AM

Hey Jack,

Whoa - this is really nice! The thumbnail does NOT do it justice! I like the softness of the image and this is one of the few cases where having two out-of-focus zones (and thus two focus transitions in a single scene works well for me). I normally don't like "dead-centre" compositions (and some may argue to crop a little off the right), but I tend to agree with Lon that two dark bands in the image make the subject placement work well (at least for me). I love the "dangling" branch coming down from the tree (the one that's at close to head level of the buck). I'm not sure what to think about the green foliage in the lower left corner, but overall it couldn't have bothered me much (because it took my eye a while to get there).

For me, this is my favourite "Jack Neal" photo to date - by a wide margin. Congrats on producing this fine image...

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on November 26, 2009 at 12:30 PM

I like the light and the soft colors. Like the inclusion of the habitat as well. Could use just a little rotation.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by JACK NEAL on November 26, 2009 at 3:15 PM

Thanks for the very nice comments! It means a lot coming from you guys.

Registered on September 26, 2009, 131 Posts, 554 Comments

Comment posted by Carl Donohue on November 27, 2009 at 2:29 AM

Hey Jack

This is great - a lot of cool triangles in the frame, which make it more dynamic than a centered subject typically is. The transitions of focus area are compounded with the tones of the grass changing, which also make it a strong image.

Cheers

Carl

Registered on November 1, 2003, 46 Posts, 589 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on November 27, 2009 at 12:57 PM

I so agree that the thumnail does not d this justice Jack! The lighting and textures in the grass are lovely. The subject has a nice catchlight which sure helps a lot to pull attention to that eye. My only nit would be the green OOF bush in the grass in front of the tree trunk. I feel it does not 'belong' there. Maybe a sliver from the top will reduce this slight distraction to hardly any.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Rossmiller on December 1, 2009 at 9:11 PM

Very nice, Jack.
I disagree with Vincent about the green oof bush in the llc. I think that when I'm looking at the buck, the framing is completed by the bush. If you take that away, IMO, the composition would not be as strong.
Great work!
Neil

Registered on October 30, 2009, 156 Posts, 749 Comments