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My Best Side


My Best Side
Photo Information
Copyright: Paul Prince (PDP) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2964 W: 366 N: 3848] (11755)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-04-22
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Canon EOS 20D, Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX APO RF, Digital ISO 400, Hoya skylight (1B)
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/250 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes (Fill) Flash: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Deer of the UK [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-04-25 17:34
Viewed: 1492
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 80
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The Red Deer have shed their old antlers and the velvet covered new growth has began. Thier fur looks very messy at this time of year as they are shedding the winter coat to get teh redder summer outfit.

I shot this at the weekend, I was after a different shot altogether but it wasn't happening and the deer were in the shade, I thought I'd experiment. I hope you like it.

Red deer (Cervus elaphus)

The red deer is Britain's largest land mammal. They are most numerous in Scotland, but isolated populations occur from the Lake District to Cornwall, with a few small herds in Wales this young example is part of a controlled number that live in Bushy Park- the home of Hampton Court Palace and around 10 miles from central London. Venison from red deer is very popular with consumers in Britain. Venison from red deer has less cholesterol and fat than other red meat, and deer living in the woods do not have any artificial feeding.

Lifestyle
Habitat
Red deer originally lived on the woodland edge, but the large scale reduction in tree cover in Britain over the centuries has forced them to adapt to life on the open hill.

Breeding
Woodland red deer hinds (females) can breed at 16 months old. Smaller hill deer may not reach sexual maturity until they are 2 - 3 years old. The mating season, known as the rut, begins in mid September and continues to late October. Hinds normally give birth to single calves from late May to June. Twins are sometimes born, but they are extremely rare.

Diet
Red deer are herbivores and graze a wide variety of plants from grasses and heather to shrubs and trees.

Threats
Natural predators, such as bears, lynx and wolves, are now extinct in Britain. Eagles and foxes occasionally prey on very young calves. When numbers of red deer become too great for their habitat to support them, they can have a detrimental impact on plant species diversity and can cause damage to agriculture and forestry. They can also suffer from sickness and disease. Today, Forestry Commission wildlife rangers are managing deer populations sensitively and humanely.

Identification
Red deer are red-coloured in summer. This changes to greyish brown in winter. Stags are easily identified by their large antlers.

Descriptive notes are from www.forestry.gov.uk.

I hope you like it.
aido, Fisher, liquidsunshine, Janice, valy67, thistle, moustique, dew77, coasties, wkshelton, Luc, elefantino, anavazao, marhowie, Signal-Womb, SkyF, Demetrio, pablominto, Dando, metcher, cecilia, cpt_burak, Athila, maurizio50, annagrace, deud, Tommysugar, Finland_in_Eton has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

You are ok Paul.
I think you pick up the best side because it looks great.
Excellent colors and wonderful details.
Superb composition, POV and BG.
Congratulations.
Regards
JC

  • Great 
  • Fisher Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1540 W: 309 N: 2234] (8915)
  • [2006-04-25 18:19]

Hi Paul,

Excellent approach to this portrait. You captured wonderful lines for leading the eye. Well done on the artistic side, and nicely composed, it's a beauty, good for you.!!!

Mike

  • Great 
  • gari Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 37 W: 0 N: 11] (149)
  • [2006-04-25 18:23]

Hola Paul.Muy bonito primer plano.La idea del encuadre es acertada y original.Felicidades por compartir tu trabajo.

Nicely captured Paul,
I like this composition.
Good detail, colours and sharpness. exposure and lighting are good. Good POV and framing.

Thanks for posting, have a great week.

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1676 W: 5 N: 2144] (11878)
  • [2006-04-25 21:25]

Bonjour Paul!

Bravo pour cette prise de vue originale et les détails. J'aime bien cette composition.

Merci pour l'envoie.


joseph

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3451 W: 144 N: 5892] (17458)
  • [2006-04-25 21:30]

Beautiful half of the deer. Look at his poor old ears, reminds me of rugby players' ears! The colours and details are all nice and sharp, very real and natural. Well done
Janice

Great portrait of this deer ! As usual, verything's excellent : sharpness, details, colors, BG, POV... I particularly like the composition of this one, with just the half of the deer's face; it's quite unusual. And I love his poor ear, makes him look old.
Very well done !
Valérie.

Hello Paul,
So you did it? :-)
I love this shot. The framing is exceptinal and works great for me. Gives the opportunity to see the deer even more close than usually. The composition is excellent. Lines lead the eye in a very smooth way. I bet you must be "proud of the balance" here ;-)
Perfect details and very good DOF. The colours of BG are lovely.
Overall, superb half-portrait!

bonjour,
bien vu ce demi portrait
(qui avait il de l'autre coté ?) ;o)
Beau spécimen de cerf et vu les cicatrices et autres marques, beau mâle...!
bravo et merci

  • Great 
  • aido Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1097 W: 168 N: 1218] (4046)
  • [2006-04-26 3:39]

Hi Paul,
A great experiment! Excellent detail, I can almost feel the velvet on his antlers and that course, wiry hair. A sublime expression, perfect DOF and very dramatic composition/crop. Superb.
Cheers,
Adrian

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2006-04-26 4:56]

Hello Paul!
Excellent capture.I liked details,sharpness,clear eyes,simple BG and unusual framing a lot.TFS...:-)

  • Great 
  • viv Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 302 W: 3 N: 621] (3122)
  • [2006-04-26 5:34]

Hello Paul,
What a very special portrait, its is a wonderfull capture full of sharpness and details. I like it a lot.
TFS
Vivian

Excellent work, Paul, Excellent details POV, BG, DOF, great work. TFS Kyle

  • Great 
  • osse Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1029 W: 0 N: 90] (7745)
  • [2006-04-26 9:21]

Hi Paul
great portrait. Good sharpnes, details, BG, POV and DOF.
Well done

osse

Original! Well composed and detailed.
Andrea

Super capture Paul, the composition works very well here. This is excellent work, well done.

Had to laugh reading your note. I went down to Arne looking for the Sika deer there, and when I found them they looked really moth eaten and patchy, not quite how I wanted to show them, so they got left in peace.

Very good detail in this, even down to the green blade of grass sticking out of the mouth!

Hi Paul

Fantastic idea. Wow... there have been some great shots posted recently that have very different crops and POV. Very creative and eye catching. Thanks!

Hi,
very cute capture, my friend!
The My Best Side... Awesome!
Great colours, composition, light and POV!
Thanks Ana:)

Hi Paul,
Interesting presentation mf. I appreciate your creativity..
So, are you going to post the other half soon? ;-} Very well done.

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2006-04-27 13:45]

Hello Paul,
great shot, excellent sharpness and nice colors. THE POV is great and a nice eye contact. Excellent crop and well presented.
TFS..Sky

Hiya Paul, Like the half shot here its really good, very good detail and sharpness. Well done.

Take it easy.


Demetrio

Hi Paul,
Very interesting composition, the details and colours are superb.
Well done and thanks for sharing!

Hello Paul -
So well captured... The details, the colours, textures, everything is top!
Bold cropping but all right with me (I feel at home in TL too)....
Greetings,
Pablo -

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 643 W: 32 N: 790] (3052)
  • [2006-04-28 4:38]

Hi Paul, sorry I haven't been able to crique your photos recently due to ongoing work commitments. This is a great shot my friend with excellent detail, colour and POV. I like your choice of unusual composition here of having half the deer which provides a bit more interest to the shot. TFS.
Dean.

Hi, Paul.
Very interesting crop/composition. Thanks to well used fill flash superb good details everywhere. Excellent sharpness and exposure.

  • Great 
  • halki Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 253 W: 8 N: 105] (467)
  • [2006-04-28 18:29]

Hello Paul
Very nice capture.Great composition.Thanks for posting.

Wow!I like the compo. on this well thought out...with great bg,detail and colours...
Very nice...

Hello Paul,
Lovely portrait.It seems half of Mona Lisa and hope to see te oter part soon:).Excellent capture and idea!Thanks for posting.

Hi Paul!

Nice half portrait. I am tempted to give only half the points for it ;o)
Just joking, I like the effect. Image is sharp and well exposed. Blured BG is splendid. However I tried a WS just to check if it's really its best side.

Great shot and TFS.

Original composition, great detail, well done Paul!!!

Just catching up with my critiques, sorry for the delay :)

I like it a lot. The tall crop is very effective. Super sharp as we've come to expect from this lens. DOF could be a little deeper but I guess you had to watch the settings.

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1654 W: 79 N: 1456] (4742)
  • [2006-05-09 15:47]

Excellent portrait Paul. Very sharp details and very wel exposed. Great POV. I like this image a lot. Well done & TFS!

Regards,
Pieter

Hi Paul, the haf deer is particular but I like your choice.
Great focus, details and colours.
Maurizio

Great image, the focus and direct eye contact is amazing. I'm not sure if I like seeing half the face but it kind of works anyhow.

Well done Paul!

Alli

  • Great 
  • deud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 500 W: 2 N: 466] (2121)
  • [2006-05-18 6:36]

great supporting note. great portrait of this animal! amazing details, focus. very well composed. great job. tfs

Nice portrait. Very good the idea to make an half part!
Bye Tom

Hi Paul,

I had to think about this one for awhile, I just didn't get the half head thing? to some people it might be art but to me, the thing is missing half it's head. Technically everything is perfect about this image, creativly you had control over the DOF and in my opinion is fantastic. Dont hate me. :)

Nice to see you being creative with this composition. It's different and exciting. I love it.

Hi Paul,

This is a fantastic picture. I really like it. In focus, sharp, good BG, just no nits. What I like most is the artictic value of the picture. Well done.

Jan-Hendrik

beautiful composition, everything sits so well within the crop. Crystal clear details and DOF is perfect. Background color sets the subject off very nicely.

I like the way you cropped to half the head. You've cut it down to the basics which gives the viewer the opportunity to really SEE the details of the face... the eye, the notched ear, the texture of the velvet and the way the muzzle is constructed. Not to mention the rough coat. I like to draw animals, as well as photograph them, and this piece adds to my knowledge of facial anatomy in deer. TFS

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