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A Buck's Tale
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A Buck's Tale

by Peter Cross

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 16, 201264 views3 comments
I got enough photos from my visit to the preserve yesterday to create a story line surrounding a buck and his experience during a part of the rut. The photos are in sequence and are the actual characters in this story. Any error is solely from me in trying to interpret the behavior shown. As I moved on bit from where I was for yesterday's photo, I came upon 3 does feeding. I decided to stop and see if anything developed while taking a few shots. Sure enough, about 10 minutes went by when a doe rapidly walked behind the group closely followed by a young buck. She moved a couple hundred feet beyond this group of does and the buck shown here stopped about 100 feet short of her and just watched her feed. It appeared he was quite interested in this doe (and not the others). So the script unfolding seemed to be a patient buck waiting for his doe of choice to urinate so he could determine whether she was ready to be bred. Tomorrow will be a continuation. Not all great images but they do tell a story and that is a big part of photography for me. Not much done to this image other than to slightly warm and sharpen for the web. Comments and critiques welcomed and are very appreciated.

Tech Info

Canon 60D with EF 70-200mm f/4L with 1.4 TC = 145mm
1/200 @ f/5.6 and ISO 800
tripod

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on November 17, 2012 at 7:30 AM
Some lovely subtle light here on the scene and subject Peter. Nice pose and composition as well, I do find the bg to be somewhat busy for my taste,so I might try and darken the bg just slightly. :toast:
Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on November 17, 2012 at 8:51 AM
Nice one Peter. I do like the light you caught this guy in. Looking forward to seeing more. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on November 17, 2012 at 8:54 PM
Works for me. Because the pattern in the scene is very fine I don't find it at all distracting. In fact, I see the image in terms of blocks of color and tone. I would prefer if that shapely and dominant tree in the upper left wasn't arising from the bucks back.
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments