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Prince or King
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Prince or King

by Peter Cross

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 2, 2013114 views4 comments
Another image from yesterday at the local nature preserve. I tried to do something a bit different utilizing selective focusing to depict a scene. What I have here is a King and a Prince or a Champ and a Challenger. But which one is which? In retrospect, I wish I had a good one with the front deer in sharp focus and the back deer in a more fuzzy rendition but still recognizable. I was wide open at f/5.6 so this was the greatest difference I could get. Kind of a chance alignment here. There actually were another 2 large bucks within 50 feet of these two but they were screened more by vegetation. Nevertheless, quite an assemblage of bucks. So, my question is whether this concept works at laying out a bit of a story line? Warmed slightly in PSE and sharpened for the web. Your thoughts would be very helpful.

Tech Info

Canon 60D with EF 70-200mm f/4L and 1.4 TC = 280mm
1/200th @ f/5.6 and ISO 1000
tripod

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Michael Cothran on January 3, 2013 at 8:43 AM
IMO, and with all due respect, this image does not work. By default, the buck on the left is the dominant subject in this image. The viewer's eyes want to go directly to this buck's eye. And the fact that he is the brightest part of the image, oof, PLUS cut off weakens the shot too much. The oof branches are also distracting. I think you hit the nail on the head with your assessment of DOF: While the aforementioned parts are oof, they're not oof enough to be discounted.
I just don't think this is a keeper.
Registered on December 5, 2012, 31 Posts, 730 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on January 3, 2013 at 12:58 PM
IMHO your intent was good, but this one just does not work. In this case the front deer was the one which should have been sharp. Your eye goes right to it and being OOF puts it in delete. If you get a chance try this again, also if at all possible have the back deer facing the front. At least you are out there trying, I have not had a chance to photograph any deer so far this fall/winter. Thanks for sharing, we can all learn from the ones that don't quite make it.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on January 4, 2013 at 8:50 AM
Hi Peter,

While I agree with the comments already posted on this image, it should be acknowledged that attempting to define or reinforce relationships between animals using selective focus and thin DoF's is very challenging. It is so easy to have the out-of-focus subject simply become a distraction. While positioning of the in- and out-of-focus subjects in the frame is problematic, so too is their actual head positions - if the in-focus subject was looking towards you (or the other buck) and its eyes were visible, and the out-of-focus buck was looking at the in-focus buck (and thus without its eye visible), you might have had a bit more success with this.

Cheers and kudos for taking a pretty big step "out of the box"...

Brad
Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on January 5, 2013 at 5:47 PM
Interesting concept, but I agree with others that the near buck with better angle on face would have made for a more successful capture. As is, he functions as distraction.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments