Spring Morning

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 5, 201286 views3 comments

In the Central Valley of California, it's spring when the living is easy. In the summer, it's too darn hot. This doe seemed to be enjoying the early morning slowly feeding as she moved along. Early morning keeps getting earlier, too. She looks quite peaceful and is part of a scattered group of about 5 deer. Judging by what appears to me to be a larger belly than normal, I suspect she is eating for 2 (or more?). I thought this was a nice habitat shot showing the lushness the deer have at this time of year. The side lighting is nice, too although it would have been better if it was in front of heer and not behind. Nevertheless, I like this image and would like to hear what you think about it so I can improve in my presentation as well as what I capture to begin with. This is a full frame image with nothing done to it other than a little sharpening for the web. Wild deer at the local nature preserve.

Tech info

Canon 60D with 70-200mm f/4L @ 200 with 1.4 TC = 280mm
1/160th @ f 6.3 and ISO 800
tripod mounted

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on May 6, 2012 at 11:54 PM

I actually like this light, Peter. It creates a nice rim light on the head and neck. I also like the diagonal highlight across the grass, too, along with that light stripe in the background. Altogether, I enjoy the habitat shot, but I think I might like the comp even more if there were a bit less showing on the bottom and a bit more on the top (or perhaps the other way around, depending on what either the FG or the overhead branches looked like), instead of the deer vertically centered.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on May 7, 2012 at 11:21 PM

Thanks for your input Wayne. I played around with it some and, to me, it looked better with cropped to favor the top and not the bottom. The attached is what I ended up with. Better?

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on May 8, 2012 at 8:51 AM

Hi Peter,

Interesting shot and I always like side-ighting. I am left wishing for something that was impossible for you to control, i.e., that the band of light just behind the deer is where the deer was! I realize a little of it is striking the head, but overall that light band catches my eye almost as much as the mostly in-shade subject does. I'm in agreement with cropping off the bottom (as you have done), but wouldn't have taken quite as much (and I would have cropped just from the bottom and gone more pano-like, as I feel the tree trunk on the left side provides a nice "edge" and balance to the frame).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

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