Nikon D300 500mm @ f4 ISO 800 Cropped for tighter composition
Is this too tight of a composition? I’m also interested in everyone’s technique for noise reduction. I have Photoshop and Lightroom (mostly use lightroom) and tend to try to do as little post processing as possible, but woud like to find a nice noise reduction technique. Thanks for any advice!
Sweet, intimate shot with bright eyes from both mom and fawn.
The crop works fine for me, as it emphasizes the fawn.
I’d also like to see an alternate crop with mom’s ears included, though.
Re noise reduction, I’m unclear if you did any - no noise is evident.
Actually, could use some sharpening - with animals and birds, I prefer Viveza…
A touch darker overall would be good, also, imo.
Very nice image!
Sandy
Thanks Sandy. I agree that it would be nice to have her ears included, but one of the reason that I cropped tight was to exclude the dark scabs from fly bites on the mother’s ears . They just felt too distracting to me. Thanks for your comments - I’ll sharpen a bit .
Hi, Jay - those are very easy to clone out or “heal” over. No need to crop them out.
If you wish to post a version with the ears, I can download it and show you how to remove the scabs (tomorrow)
Sandy
Beautiful interaction, I too would like to include ears in the frame.
Earlier, I used to have Neat Image for noise reduction, but hardly use it now a days.
What Jagdeep said…let’s see the ears and I would prefer more negative space in order for the scene to breath. Still, wonderful interaction that’s just heart warming
Thanks for all of the input on this one. I felt like the tight crop was not the way to go here, but usually try not to clone.
Here’s the shot with ears and ticks included - I’ll post another after “removing” the ticks.
Here she is minus the ticks and scabs. As a story I don’t mind the ticks, but as a visual element they were distracting to me, but I’d like to hear what you all think.
Thanks
MUCH better with either repost, Jay. Without knowing about the ticks and scabs, nobody would know. For me, a liberal allowance of negative space is absolutely essential for almost any photograph of any genre, gives the subjects a sense of place and valuable context to tell the story. There is nothing I dislike more in a photo than a close crop just to show more detail, that’s a “diminished return” in my book.
You know what? I’m going to go against the grain here, and say that I actually prefer the original version. It is much more intimate, and centers the image in that interaction between the mother and baby. The version that includes the doe’s ears really changes the balance to me; taking the emphasis away from that center spot where the fawn’s head is right in front of the doe.
That said, they are BOTH nice images, and yes, cloning out the scabs helped a lot.
Yeah. - I dunno. I’d have to also agree I like the tighter crop more. While I do like the wider crop, but it feels more observational while the tight crop is just more emotional. I don’t mind not seeing the ears, I know they are there and I’m focusing on the intimacy of the the deer.
Great work either way!
I can go either way on this. The mother’s ears certainly pop against that clean background, but perhaps that distracts from the interaction. In both versions, one thing I’d consider is a slight crop from the left. Not too close to the fawn, but just a bit in order to make the composition more symmetrical. And I agree that it does appear to need a bit more sharpening. Noise looks fine.
As for the scarred ears, obviously not everyone clones out imperfections, so that’s a personal choice. If your ethics lean toward presenting the scene as shot rather than presenting a piece of idealized artwork, you wouldn’t feel compelled to “clean” it. But Jay’s rendition certainly came out well, so it’s nice to know you have options.
Max
I have been looking at this one since it was first posted. The one with ear ticks has the best color of them all. The BG has adequate saturation. You may just give it a tiny amount of an increase in midtone contrast and sharpen it slightly. The reason to leave the ticks in the ears is that they are part of the scene. That’s nature.
I use Topaz DeNoise and it does a good job before first level sharpening. A very nice image and I do like the version with the tick-laden ears…Jim
Indeed, much better. I like the clean look with the ear ticks removed.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate everyone’s views.
Although each of the images has its advantages, depending on what one wishes to emphasize, the last repost is the most pleasing in my eye. It seems the most complete and the least distracting. Good eye contact.
