CABERFEIDH

Beautiful animal, nice pose, nice light but (sorry to say) still a shot that is (at least for me) not much more than documentary.

Reading the comments above, indeed it could be LCE (or clarity as it is now called, used to be local contrast enhancement before they "automated" it) was just a bit more than absolutely needed.

Best Regards, Tibi

You could be right, I used the Tamron lens that you are off course familiar with, and it is very sharp, so perhaps I should have made some allowance for this. I can live with "documentary" but maybe a fuller flavour of the surroundings was called for here, although that would be quite difficult to achieve without losing some impact of the primary subject. I have somemore distand shots I shall look at them again. Many Thanks for your interest and  insightful comments, very much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

Wow! Absolutely stunning. I also like the B&W version that Dave did.

Ahhh you found it!

Thank you so much!

Yes I think I can get a couple of good pointers from Daves version, it is a good example.

Best Regards

Alf

Hello Alf,

I have been away from PN for awhile so I am way behind with my comments.  Many times (such as now) I get very confused by the comments left by your many PN friends.  Makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that I know so little. 

For example:  This photo and also the BW version.  I like them both alot. This one looks especially fine in the larger view - really great detail.  One of the critiques mentioned that the image  would be better at F5.6 than at F8.  In your response, you seemed to agree.  I would have thought that a greater DOF would be preferable so as not to cause distracting blur such as seen in the grass stalks on the chest.  F5.6 should make it worse, no?  

Regarding the BW submitted a few days later:  I saw very little difference between your shot and the modified one displayed in a critique.  I did see a slight difference in the background but not in the deer or foreground although nearly all of the posters saw and commented on their preference.

Makes me want to go back to full automatic.

In any case, I can see that you are getting really good feedback that is helping you to become even better.  Keep posting and maybe I'll be able to learn from the posters.  You certainly have a great many valuable sources.

Cheers...

Jerry

Great to see you back!

I can quite understand your confusion.  But to understand some comments, you have to appreciate from what perspective they come from. One of the critiquers pretty much always comments from a purely scientific viewpoint and he is very well qualified to do so. The merticulous calculations of image quality cannot be denied form a wide open aperture. But thats where it starts and ends and has little to do with the aesthetics. The next thing I consider is the subjective nature of the comments, as some arise purely from a like and dislike perspective. They all have a bearing on my responses and whilst I don't always agree with them, I do encourage honest feedback good or bad.

As for the dof issue, the comments made I thought was quite accurate for the following reasons. Firstly though, Ok I agree the out of focus foreground grasses would become more pronounced. But the wide open aperture suggested would have provided a faster shutter speed and blurred the background to a greater degree. So overall the image of the deer may have stood out better between a blurred foreground and background. Don't get me wrong I'm quite happy with the image I produced, but I could see a certain logic in the comment also.

As for the B & W rendition and the subsequent suggestions and alterations. Well I admit I was somewhat confused myself, some people seemed to love it, whilst others seemed to think I'd made huge errors, I took on board everything that was suggested and on balance I would change the way I processed it, with less emphasis on the contrast.

Do not be dismayed or discouraged in any way Jerry and definately don't go back to "automatic" : - ) You have progressed much too far for that my friend.

Always good to hear from you Jerry and my sincere thanks for your thoughful feedback.

Cheers Jerry

Alf

Alf, nice capture of this magnificent deer. The contrast really worked nicely with the head and antlers.

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words

I was reflecting on this image and I'm quite pleased with it in most aspects. But I just realised how out of character the Laurel bushes of the background look, not much I could do about it though.

Cheers Mark!

Alf

If that were Western Pennsylvania, Allegheny Mountains area, a deer in the Laurel would not be uncommon. All the best.