Almost

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 6, 2011141 views4 comments

Out last Friday checking on the course of the rut at the local nature area. I was walking down a path when I got a whiff of the unistakable aroma of a rutting buck. Was it my friend Stinky? Well, just around the corner, there he was. I quickly set up my tripod and zeroed in on him. Quickly snapped a shot before trying to recompose by decreasing the magnification and thus I almost got the shot but missed the bottom of his legs. And he moved off just after I snapped the shutter. This turned out to be the best of the bunch. I'm fairly pleased with it, despite the cropped legs, as it is a good close-up with no FG vegetation and good separation from the BG. He has the appearance of showing the strain of the rut as his muscle mass seems decreased and he just looks shaggy and tired to me. Minor edits in PSE10 to darken a few hot spots in the background and to sharpen for the Internet. This is a full frame image. Comments and critiques welcomed and appreciated.

Tech info

Canon 60D with 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm
1/160th @ f4.0 and ISO 800
tripod

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on December 6, 2011 at 12:28 AM

Peter, as this is full frame, I think I would have been tempted to try this as a portrait comp. Granted that would not show the wear and tear of the rut, but would help overcome the cut of legs, IMHO. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on December 6, 2011 at 3:15 PM

I like the soft light and the separation from the BG here. I do wish the feet weren't cut off, Peter...

A tighter crop is definitely on the cards.I would go horizontal with the head and antlers and empty space on the LHS...

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on December 7, 2011 at 3:13 AM

Hi Peter, it sounds like you and stinky are close friends

I agree on your self-assessment of the image, but have to say that this would have been even better as a whole if the legs were not clipped off. I think Morkel came up with a good crop suggestion to make this a stronger presentation.

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

Comment posted by Peter Cross on December 7, 2011 at 10:50 PM

Thanks for the helpful input everyone. I'm going to play around with a vert. crop and see what I can come up with.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments