Just A Doe?

IMHO this photo needs to have the top cropped off to remove the green stuff. It is too busy and detracts from the doe, who is in a nice pose. I like the vertical format, but IMHO needs a tighter crop. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with John on the overhead foliage. This should crop out nicely to 4:5. Since you have already whacked more than 50%, I would hesitate going for a tighter crop, but in a virtual world, it would help.

Nice to see a doe for a change! (I admire the dedication of some trophy hunters, but never appreciated the attitude that the rest of the population was "unworthy.") I don't have a problem with leaves framing a composition, but in this case, that big fuzzy curve on the left side is distracting. Glad you didn't burn down the highlights; I agree totally that the rim lighting in both the doe and the grasses is what makes this image shine. Good job on the shadows, too.

Hi Peter,

Your first sentence doesn't apply to me - I have no more desire to see bucks than I do does. Actually, what I'm always looking for in here is good wildlife photographs, regardless of the subject!

I'm in agreement with John re: a crop from the top - both because of the distracting nature of the leaves (and even if they aren't viewed as a distraction they don't - in my opinion - add anything to the shot), and then you could return the shot to closer to a 3:2 aspect ratio (tall thin crops like this rarely work well for me). I made a comment earlier this week on a shot of a moose that I thought a wonderful image was hiding in what was presented - I think the same thing here. There's some really nice nuanced lighting going on here, but over-exposure is hiding it (and masking some beautiful contrast). While this image would look BEST with some careful selective work on the light, even a global exposure reduction of about 3/4 of a stop would add surprising appeal.

We shoot so many images in early morning or at dusk when light levels are low, but seem to want to let their cameras just do their thing with exposure - and their thing is to make it look like a mid-day shot (the cameras always try to force the histogram to the middle, which turns low-light shots into those with "mid-day" brightness). Embrace contrast and the low light look that the image was shot under...and I think your images will LEAP in visual appeal.

Cheers...

Brad

Nice and great sharpness in this image.

Well done, Peter. I agree you can improve it a touch with some crop off the top. I like the depth of field control that lifts her from the background.