Pushin 'n Shovin

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 24, 201396 views3 comments

Haven't posted in a while due to a problem I was having with my new Lightroom 5 program in that I couldn't find the photos in my Windows files to export. I had my photog friend come over this am and he got me squared away. In the time since my last visit to the local nature area a week ago, the deer have finally begun the rut. Another photographer told me he saw lots of action here over the weekend. So, what we have here is 2 bucks that were having a round of sparring. This is not a dominance thing. It only happens between 2 obviously mismatched bucks. It seems to be a form of practice to me in that it isn't all out physical but more like a friendly game of pushing back and forth. Also, neither animal risks getting injured. I watched them do this for about 10 minutes and they would take breaks and eat a bit that start over again before finally quitting. From the original image, I made a crop to a more pano type by eliminating a lot of bright FG that didn't add to the photo. Then I did some exposure and WB adjustments and tweaks in saturation and the like. I know it could be better still, but I'm pleased to just get it this far. Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

Tech Info

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

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on October 24, 2013 at 3:14 PM

I like the action and your narrative of it. The lighting situation is problematic. I wish that the bucks were better lit and the grass before and behind less so. If this was from the RAW image, perhaps some adjustment in LR would help.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 25, 2013 at 1:01 AM

Looks like the same type of habitat I often see deer in around here, brush and tall grass, provides cover and food I guess. Unfortunately, that grass, brush and cover made for some challenging shooting. Don't know you could have done much more to improve the photo. I was looking at the lower right area below the deer, the delineation from sharpened deer to foreground grass is rather abrupt and shows the sharpening artifacts. Might work best to just sharpen the entire foreground with the deer.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on October 27, 2013 at 1:54 PM

This is fine documentation for a series of your ongoing meetings with these deer. I think the bright foreground in the lower right is extremely unfortunate.

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