Autumn Buck

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 6, 201481 views4 comments

I found this nice buck at the Fort Worth Nature Center. The late afternoon sun made for some nice fall colors in the sagebrush and trees. This was hand held as I had to shoot quickly. The angle of the deer is not ideal, but I thought the colors made up for it. I found out later what this buck was fixated on. A few minutes later, a much larger buck emerged from the woods. Processed using Photoshop CS3, NeatImage and LightZone. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f6.3
1/100 s
ISO 640
Focal Length 560mm (Teleconverter engaged)

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on November 7, 2014 at 1:13 AM

Jerry,
I agree that the head angle is not perfect, the "look away" does however make you wonder what he is looking at?
Is it possible to darken the rather bright spot in the upper left?

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on November 7, 2014 at 8:44 AM

Ken, I toned down the bright spot.

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

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on November 7, 2014 at 9:41 PM

Jerry, your image clearly shows that this good looking buck is totally focused on something over to the left, so while it's not a portrait pose, it is a good behavioral shot. Those fine background colors add a nice sense of fall.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 9, 2014 at 8:30 AM

Hi Jerry,

Those colours are pretty brilliant and certainly do say "autumn". I prefer the toned-down re-post - amazing difference for just toning down a small area of the frame.

I don't mind the buck looking away, but I'm not sure the head angle and type of pose is optimal for a tightly-framed subject. To my way of thinking this shot would work better if the subject was occupying much less of the frame (more of a 'scape) and the deer was looking into the distance - leaving the viewer to wonder what was attracting its attention so strongly. I think the "story" would be more effectively conveyed in this way. There's always a temptation to go down the "closer is better" road with our subjects, but in this case I'm not sure it was the best road to follow!

Cheers...

Brad

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