First Attempt at Deer

Had a visit to Bushey Park on Tues, light was ok but backgrounds not the best, lots of fences in the way, here is my first attempt though ...C&C very welcome

Nikon D1H
Sigma 500mm F4.5
AP
IS0 400
1/350th @ F4.5
Tripod

its amazing what the d1h can still achieve isn't it? I'd try to focus on the eyes if i were you. At f4.5, the dof is often rather shallow. Might also want to try a different approach, going at a 45deg angle to try and give a bit more of a head on view. Just my 2c worth! Also, with deer, you can prob try going down to 1/100 so try and close down the aperture to maybe 5.6 or 8

well done on capturing interesting behaviour

and you did the hard part in avoiding all the fences

Although semi-tame these are not as easy as may be expected. Like you say fences and man made backgrounds are a pain, as are ear tags and dog walkers in the deer park near where I live. Getting them doing something is a challenge and you certainly did that.

Nice image, i think it vould be improved by having less body of the deer. In other word having the head more to the left of the image and adding space on the right.
Rene de Heer

Looks good, I agree with with Rene re the cropping, sharpness also looks fine on this web sized image, perhaps another round of USM at a low setting just to crisp things up a little...