Martha, My Deer - The White Albumby
GrahveComment by rjkstesch: Greetings from the Critique Club:
John, you have an engaging portrait of a deer which captures a personality. Congratulations on your new personal best score.
Composition: You've used the rule of 1/3's with this shot to create an overall pleasing image. The background row of trees and bright sky is fighting for attention from the delightful doe eyes. There are several fixes to this problem. One, done during shooting is to raise or lower your shooting angle in order to have that row fall well above the deer or well below the eyes. The second fix would be to use a gradiant fill in the sky to tame down the brightness and add a natural color. This must be use carefully however, in order to keep from creating a major element.
Another item that detracted is the appearance of a crooked horizon line. The image does appear to be tipped to the right as evidenced by the tree trunks that also tip to the right.
This tutorial will help with how to rotate the image to the correct angle. While it is a small detail, it is rarely tolerated at DPC without a lowered score.
Technically: The DOF adds to the separation of the deer from the background, helping her "pop." The sharpening is well done. There are no halos or artifacts, and the individual hairs create interest and depth.
Meeting the challeng:The title added to the shot with a pun which matched the character of the deer. It also meets the challenge.
Overall: You've captured a nice shot which is interesting and captures a character. Small changes in the angle of shooting and post processing could make this nice image even stronger.
Becky
Photographer found comment helpful.