He Ain't Heavy He's….

Gallery: WildlifePosted June 14, 2014121 views5 comments

I was at the Fort Worth Nature Center when I spotted this whitetail doe browsing close to the river. I noticed that there were several cattle egrets close by taking advantage of the insects the deer scared up. I was taken by surprise when one of the egrets flew up and landed on the back of the deer. I have seen this happen with cattle, buy never with deer. The deer didn't seem to mind. A little later on, the deer turned and smelled the egret and the egret didn't seem to mind. The image is far from ideal, but I thought it showed an interesting interaction.

Processed using Photoshop CS3, NeatImage and LightZone. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f7.1
1/400s
ISO 320
Focal Length560mm (Teleconverter engaged)

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 14, 2014 at 11:28 PM

Neat photo Jerry. I do wish there was so much OOF stuff in the FG, but you got to work with what you have! Maybe a slight increase in contrast. This must have been fun to see and capture. Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Karen Kane on June 15, 2014 at 10:47 PM

What a wonderful interaction to be able to see Jerry. You could probably crop a bit of that OOF - FG (and still leave enough room for those "virtual" feet), but as you've noted - the strength of this image is the story about the interaction between these two species.

Very neat - thank you for sharing it!

Registered on August 4, 2012, 66 Posts, 726 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on June 16, 2014 at 11:17 AM

Hey Jerry,

Hmmm...looks to me like a deer egret (not a cattle egret) - this might be the first photo of this little known species!

Cool interaction captured here - did you happen to get a shot when the deer turned and smelled the egret? While I agree that the foreground OOF grasses obscuring part of the deer but to me this is more of a documentary shot (and not intended as a work of art) and with that in mind it's real easy for me to look past the grass.

Cheers and thanks for sharing this...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on June 16, 2014 at 11:23 AM

Brad,

I did indeed get a shot of the deer sniffing the egret. Enjoy.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on June 17, 2014 at 10:42 PM

Although the original is more classical in presentation, I have to say the second post of the "smelling action" elicited the greater emotional response. Hmmmm.

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