Of Muleys and Porcupines

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 20, 2015213 views9 comments

Hi all! Finally got around to processing this one from the late-summer. These two adorable mule deer fawns were just too cute to pass up as Jenaya and I headed out from our home for a drive in the Porcupine Hills in SW Alberta. I always ASK my subjects to stop and look back as they crest a hill or ridge like this, but rarely do they listen to my softly-spoken pleas (prayers?). Not only did these two stop and give us a thorough inspection before moving on, but they struck this pose for so long that I had time to play with a few approaches to the scene! This ended up being my favourite, and is actually a focus stack so to speak of two frames both shot wide open...one with the foreground fawn as the focus point and one with the background fawn as the focus point. I bumped the ISO and tried some at a higher aperture, but this one rendered the background the nicest as well as maintaining a little higher IQ overall.

So, just to be crystal clear, this is a composite of two identical frames with different focus points (one for each fawn)...it is an exact representation of the scene...in fact the ears didn't even move in any of the frames in my series!

It's also a little different composition perhaps, so I am indeed interested in hearing your thoughts on the image! If you have time to check out the LARGER VERSION that would be great...not only is there better detail but the colour is MUCH more accurate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 2200
1/250sec @ f/4
resting on truck window

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Minor adjustments to colour temperature and overall colour balance, contrast and tone in Nik and PS CS5
Composite of two identical images as presented here with focus stack for sharpness on both fawns
natural lens vignette (just decided not to correct for it on this one as I liked the effect!)
Full frame

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on February 20, 2015 at 8:27 PM

Nice image, I think the composition works well. I do think it is a bit soft. I have not tried focus stacking, so don't know if this is why it looks soft or not. A pleasing image. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 21, 2015 at 9:31 AM

I love the fawns and the setting is just great. I agree with John that it is a bit soft. For some reason, this just doesn't jump out at me like some of your other images. Perhaps the subdued light makes it somewhat flat. Regardless, the cuteness factor is off the charts.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on February 21, 2015 at 2:09 PM

Thanks for the feedback, John and Jerry! This is one of the first images prepared on my new system with a completely new monitor and I am still struggling to get comfortable with it. I think I may have just completely missed something here. Will have to take a look when I return from the coast (out looking for owls with Jenaya and Josiah). Thanks again!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 21, 2015 at 3:04 PM

Hi John,

You're going to laugh at this - when I first glanced at the thumbnail I thought "...uh oh, this one has uncorrected lens vignetting!" I read above that you liked the vignetting (which is why you left it), and it's definitely a "each to their own" thing. I'm torn on it - I instantly reacted negatively to it, but that was mostly a "technical" reaction - when I look at it creatively I can see why you liked it...but still thinking I'd prefer this one vignette-less!

Anyway...vignette aside - definitely VERY cute fawns. I love fawns at this age - right when they're transitioning from the "baby deer" look to a "young deer" look, if you know what I mean. Amazing they held the pose for so long that you were able to shoot the images needed for focus-stacking. I'm guessing the image with the front-most fawn in focus was your base image (including foreground and background) and that the image with the rear-most fawn in focus was used ONLY for that fawn? Anyway...I think you did a good job on the compositing of the two images - can't see any sign of the blending on the 1200 pixel image and guessing even on the full-res one it's hard-to-impossible to detect.

Composition works fine for me...and I'm not seeing any of the softness of the in-focus areas that John mentioned...

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on February 21, 2015 at 8:45 PM

Hi John,

I like the composition that resulted from your image stacking. The soft lighting is ideal, but I think you can work the image some more to get a little pop with those colors...................................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on February 25, 2015 at 10:39 PM

I like the composition and that both fawns are looking at you. Nice color, but I think is just a touch dark and might use a little white adjustment.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 26, 2015 at 7:45 PM

I like the composition and the setting here John, to me the image quality doesn't look that great probably as a result of shooting wide open without a lot of shutter speed and a fairly high iso, unfortunately you just didn't have much light to work with. The fawn in the rear's face doesn't look very sharp despite the focus stacking, I think your focus probably wasn't on the face on that one.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on February 26, 2015 at 8:26 PM

I like the comp on this one John, but it seems a bit soft compared to your normal work. I'm sure the lack of light wasn't on your side here looking at your settings. As far as the vignette...I'm not usually one for a vignette unless it is barely noticeable....I think this one seems a bit strong, but that is simply my particular case, may not be others.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on March 16, 2015 at 5:05 AM

Thanks for all the constructive comments! Interesting observations. Not looking to provide excuses ;) but this is the very first image I processed with my new computer system and brand new monitor...I'm still working to get the feel of it, and it seems I may have gone a little light on the capture and output sharpening. That being said, I think my second image (of the rear fawn) may be slightly degraded by motion/vibration from the slightly inadequate shutter speed for a non-VR (IS) lens in low light. I'll have another look and go at this one. Thanks again for your suggestions!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments