Battered Warrior

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 22, 2011295 views5 comments

I was out early this morning at the local nature area checking on the deer and turkeys. Cool morning but no frost or fog for the first time in ages. But we had wind. I had set up watching deer at a particular spot and they seemed to be coming and going, grazing, and what not. This guy came into view and I was able to get this fairly decent image of him. On closer inspection of this image and others I'd taken, it became obvious he had been in a major tussle with another buck. The area on his right shoulder and ahead of it on the neck which looks roughed up when viewed from another angle shows what looks like bare skin. And the "thing" hanging down from his chest, which I thought was a growth of some sort, on closer inspection looks more like part of his hide. Victor or loser? Hard to know. Seems to be doing okay. This photo isn't the most dramatic but still is a pleasant rendering of this buck. I didn't do anything to it except to sharpen for the web and reaize per the rules. Missed a better shot of him moving into a shaft of light like he was in a spotlight but turned out to be soft focus. Dang. Comments and critiques welcomed to help me improve. Happy Holidays to all and best wishes for the coming year.

Technicals

Canon EOS 60D with 70-200mm f/4.0L at 200mm
1/125th at f/4.5 and ISO 800
tripod

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on December 24, 2011 at 12:46 PM

Neat pose, composition and a clean backdrop as well. But the larger version looks soft and i cant imagine why. The results should be much sharper given a relatively static subject at the given settings on a tripod. The first thing i would do is to look at the raw file and see if its sharp to rule out the possibility of something going wrong in the processing. I suspect it could be because of the face being marginally out of focus (especially given it was shot at f4.5).

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on December 24, 2011 at 2:17 PM

Given the uneven lighting, you have done pretty well, imo. I would consider selectively darkening that single bright background branch hanging above the antler tips to keep it from pulling the eye.

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on December 24, 2011 at 5:21 PM

Very nice specimen with an impressive rack. I like the dappled light, just wish some of that nice warm light had come to strike the head, tough break. I agree with the previous commenters.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on December 25, 2011 at 6:48 PM

Peter, I like your composition very much and the pretty colors in the background and the grasses. I would also suggest toning down the bright tree branch above the right antler.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on December 28, 2011 at 10:27 AM

My comments almost echo Lon's, except I would most likely just clone out the small branch.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments