The Happy Couple

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 24, 2014296 views12 comments

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in the wildlife gallery in a while, so here's a new image from a couple months ago!

My dad and I were driving the back roads near our new home looking for bucks to photograph, when we happened upon a big herd of deer. After we were photographing for a bit, the biggest buck started to walk down a slight incline in the hill. I was watching him walk away while taking some neat-looking "going away" shots. Sure enough a doe from the herd started following him and was soon beside him! They slowly walked off and disappeared behind the incline. All I could see after that were the bucks antlers peeking out from behind the slope.

Thanks for lookin'!

Nikon D7100
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8 IF-ED VR lens with 1.4TC
ISO 800
1/320sec @ f/7.1
on beanbag from truck window

cloned eartips from a doe bedded down in a depression on the left side

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 24, 2014 at 1:56 PM

Hi Jenaya,

Nice to see "Team Launstein" back in action - welcome back!

I kinda like this one - tells a nice story. Effective use of selective focus and DoF. Good "seeing" and good idea - well done. I suppose an argument could be made that perhaps they're a very little bit too tight to the right side of the frame, but that's really splitting hairs. Works for me as posted.

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on February 24, 2014 at 7:17 PM

I'm generally not a fan of the south end of a north bound critter, but in this case the lighting and your composition showing the space they were walking into makes it work very nicely. Well done.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Reed on February 24, 2014 at 8:36 PM

Jenaya, I like the environment of this shot and the idea, DOF, and composition. Not so sure about the back end of the deer. A slight side profile would have been preferred. Well captured as we all know nature doesn't give a hoot about how your shot turns out....

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 25, 2014 at 12:24 AM

Nice concept, Jenaya, and well executed. Kind of an "into the sunset" feel to this that's appealing.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on February 25, 2014 at 3:38 AM

I love this composition Jenaya. It seems the deer "couple" are looking over their beautiful kingdom. I like your placement of the deer which emphasizes the wide open spaces to their left and above them. Really nice.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on February 25, 2014 at 3:47 AM

Great environmental image with the deer and their habitat. The wide open spaces. Amazing how they can hide. But as you found out sometimes all you see is the ears sticking up. I like this. Deer butts are fine and in this case mandatory to show them going away. I like your comp for this and the DOF is just right with the focus on them but still enough for the MG and BG to see what it is but without fine detail. Works well for me. Glad to have you back again.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on February 25, 2014 at 7:09 PM

Jenaya, Nice deerscape. I like the going away pose here. Dave

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on February 25, 2014 at 8:06 PM

Nice shot. I like the look of them heading down into the wide valley. Wish we had back roads close to home around here like this.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on February 25, 2014 at 11:17 PM

Jenaya, I really like the fact you are always trying to tell a story with your work. For me, one of the most important things I know I try to do is tell a story and/or evoke an emotion from the viewer. I like your mindset and this works with the story you are telling. Nicely seen.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 26, 2014 at 4:19 PM

Nice to "see" you again, Jenaya! I like this posting, especially for the sense of place and warm tones in a winter setting. He is a dandy buck, too!

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

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on March 1, 2014 at 7:03 AM

I like the story told here and the compositional depth adds to it, Jenaya.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on March 2, 2014 at 2:08 PM

And off they go to a private place, away from all the onlookers…good shot, well balanced. At first I thought it would be nice if one of them would have turned their heads towards the camera, but then the message of the photo would have been different. A tiny bit more side-on would have been a bonus though, imo, but apart from that a very effective shot.
Grt, Ingrid.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 138 Posts, 780 Comments