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Shy & Cautious
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Shy & Cautious

by Peter Cross

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 2, 2012109 views3 comments
This fawn black-tailed deer at the local nature area was being shy or cautious with me. Probably a pretty good instinct. This was taken the same morning as my previous buck post. Sort of testosterone vs. estrogen way of categorizing these photos. I cropped this some to eliminate some negative space not contributing to the photo and also lightened it by +0.5 stop and added about 500 degrees to the white balance. As I looked the photo over, it became apparent I missed the focus some as the fawn is slightly soft and the best focus seems to be in the grass directly behind it. Still looked okay for use here but I don't think I'll blow it up and print. Comments and critiques welcome and appreciated.

Tech Info

Canon 60D with EF 70-200mm f/4L @ 200 plus 1.4 TC = 280mm
1/1250th at f/5.6 and ISO 1000
tripod

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on October 2, 2012 at 8:40 PM
I think you pretty well covered it.
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 3, 2012 at 12:59 AM
Peter, I like the subject, pose, background and comp, and the dappled light is beautiful. Phil, noted "you pretty well covered it" when you provided your own critique, but I don't think you mentioned the positive aspects that I noticed, and sometimes the positives outweigh the negatives, unless you are entering a contest that concentrates on technical aspects of photography (which is a relatively uncommon use for photographs).

Even though it's soft, I would not delete it, because it is still useful as a "scrapbook/memory" shot, or even published, if not printed too large. That will sound crazy to NPN photographers, who focus on technical perfection and "wall hangers." In the world that you and I know, however, the subject matter trumps all else. I have seen (and supplied) many "imperfect" images for brochures, printed and online educational publications, and magazines because the subject was right. I even recall one image I submitted on the request of an editor looking for a specific subject. I attached a note saying something like "terrible photograph, but this is the subject you wanted, just in case you can't find anything else." Well, that one ended up on a magazine cover because it was what the editor needed, even though it would have gotten no comments by polite NPN members who would prefer to say nothing when there is so much wrong with a photograph. But in the information publishing world, (as well as the personal memories world) what is right about an image is often much more important than what is wrong with it.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on October 4, 2012 at 11:57 PM
I like the expression you caught on this fawns face. Sharpness is OK, except for the OOF stuff in the LRC. I also wonder if you could crop some off of the left side and have the fawn more prominent. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments