Red Deer

Ian, I would suggest cropping out the deer in the LRH corner, IMHO the main subject is enought to make the image.

Very nice composition and colors. I really like the proud pose.

You do seem to be in the middle of them Ian, I found that Scottish red deer are far more wild than Colorado elk (which will walk up to you).

Nice and regal pose ! One of the pleasures of fall months in the mountains is to listen to deer bells and calls in the mist... On the small version, the out-of-focus second stag does disturb a little IMO, but in the large version it seems to me that is does not - in fact, I do like the presence of the second deer in the larger version.

There is a real sense of their habitat here Ian as i believe they spend a lot of time at the higher level. I agree that just being present in the company of these majestic animals is quite an exhilerating experience and don't they stand with their heads held proud. The larger image looks really good and on balance i think it may look more regal if the main stag was isolated on it's own. Graham

Some wonderful tonality and the deer is crisp and sharp, excellent image, a pleasure to view.

Hi Ian,

Another "regal" shot of a Red Deer! I really like the pose the stag is giving you and the backdrop is great. The second stag is slightly more of a distraction than an addition to the image for me. I'm wishing the closest out-of-focus grasses in the lower left corner weren't there as this patch is considerably more out-of-focus than anything else in the frame and thus, at least for me, stands out a little too much. But this is more of a personal preference issue than anything else (and I'm sure others have differing opinions).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Great pose here, and love the backdrop (was this shot at Alladale?) altough it's not really disturbing I do think I'd prefer a version without the oof deer.

Many thanks for the very helpful comments

Jorne

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/largephoto.cgi?ref=137890

No, further south, guided by a very helpful professional wildlife photographer, Neil McIntyre.

Ian

Thanks Ian, sure does look a lot like Alladale with the mountains in the back

Took a second look at this photo after reading others comments. Still think the image of the stag by itself would better, very regal. Would you consider a re-post with just the one deer?