Mary Ann Carrasco  


Mule Deer Resting by Mary Ann Carrasco

February 2025 - Mule Deer Resting

February 2025 - Mary Ann Carrasco

Original

About the Image(s)

We went to the coast in late November and one morning while in the kitchen of our rental, I spotted this buck in the brush. I grabbed my camera and went out to take the photograph. The deer let me get very close, almost posing for me. I spent quite a bit of time editing as there was quite a bit of shadow on the head. I used the Nikon Z9 and settings were ISO 500, f/8, 1/125 at 200mm.
I look forward to your suggestions and comments.


3 comments posted




Michael Hrankowski   Michael Hrankowski
Hi Mary Ann,
How nice that your subject was cooperative! Not always the case with wildlife. It's a nice portrait of this buck in repose and you were on the right track with your edits...but I think you needed to go a bit farther.

In my visual feedback I brought up the exposure on the buck and then chose the background and reduced clarity, texture, sharpness and exposure. I added a diagonal linear gradient from upper left down to the animal and repeated those same adjustments. Finally, I did an inverted radial gradient over the animal and repeated those same adjustments once again. What do you think?   Posted: 02/04/2025 18:23:52
Comment Image



Andres Valdespino   Andres Valdespino
Mary Ann, great shot and good for you that the buck stayed still. Good job in processing, both in cropping and removing shadows and highlights.   Posted: 02/06/2025 02:17:24



Ruth Sprain   Ruth Sprain
Mary Ann, how fortunate that the deer is "posing" so nicely with his head turned towards you. The lighting is challenging due to the deep shadows across part of the buck. You've done a good job of bringing up the shadows for more even light. An example is how much more even the light is on the deer's ears. I agree with Michael that selecting the background and making adjustments on it separate from the deer allows further focus on the buck. Kudos for your work on post processing.   Posted: 02/06/2025 16:55:27



 

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