Morning Kiss

Nikon D500. Nikon 200-400. ISO 500. F5.6. 1/1250th

Found these two bucks during the time of the rut giving each other a morning kiss. No aggression here. Never seen this before during the rut. Siblings perhaps ?? Part of the rut ritual I am unaware of ? They were moving around in and out of the light. So grabbed this at 1/1250th quickly. No time to adjust to maybe F8 for better DOF. Slight NR in LR and selectively darkened the background. I like the mountain top in the background. !

Comments and critiques. Also looking for input on the rut ritual.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

Very cool behavior, Andrew. I have no idea what’s going on here. I like your processing.

I just love the pose and the POV , great body language!
May prefer some more canvas on the top and you may crop some at the bottom.

Afterword on the behavior, Andrew. My wife has a very good feel for animal behavior and is particularly fond of the Cervids. Despite the fact that it was the rut, she thinks these two individuals were not in rut themselves. Had they been, their necks would have been more swollen, there are glands on the hind legs that would have been weeping and others just below the eyes. There are any number of reasons why they might not be, despite looking like they’re in fine condition. Since they probably weren’t participating, this is probably just mutual grooming.

Excellent behavioral capture Andrew, I find the animals just a little bit high in the frame, cropping to vertical would be another option here.

Great information. Thanks for sharing this.

Andrew: this is an excellent capture of behavior (even though we don’t know what it is with certainty :grinning: ). My only suggestion would be to add some canvas at the top. Fine otherwise. Richard

Love the shot Andrew. I’m noticing a pretty bright circle surrounding the two deer. I can’t quite tell if its just a natural coincidence or if its from masking yet, but it does pull might eye away from the deer and more too the tall grass.

The behavior and interaction between the two subjects is fantastic!

Great shot!