alexjevon

Backlit Bellow

A red stag bellows for a mate in Bushy Park near London, UK.

A red stag bellows for a mate in Bushy Park near London, UK.
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Canon EOS 7D

settings

Aperture f/4 ISO 400 Shutter 1/800 Focal Length 200/1

upload_date

Oct, 2015

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2333

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+655

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People's Choice in Horns And Antlers Photo Contest

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Behind The Lens

Location

This was taken in Bushy Park, one of London's Royal Parks. It's a handy bus ride away from my house so it's kinda a regular stomping ground. I'd taken a long walk from one corner of the park practically to the other and hadn't come across many red deer. Suddenly I spotted one and went about positioning myself for ideal lighting.

Time

It was mid afternoon in October. I'd seen the forecast was for sunshine and it being autumn, that would mean a relatively low sun. With Bushy Park being quite an open space in places, it's easy enough to get a clear path between the sun and the subject. There's something about autumnal sun in England that I find interesting.

Lighting

This follows the principle of good backlighting, keeping the sun at either 10 or 2 o clock. In this case it was off towards the 2 o clock mark. I'm a sucker for backlighting, something that many photographers steer clear of. Personally I like the way it highlights the edges of the subject helping it stand out against the background. The blue of the distant shadows helps the red deer pop out of the background too. To get this lighting I had to position myself the other side of the stag from where I first spotted him. I moved slowly, at a long distance, keeping an eye on him and other deer in the area, making sure not to get in between him and the hind he was after. Naturally enough I didn't want to upset the hind either so I think it took me a good 10 minutes to get around them!

Equipment

My Canon 7D and Canon 70-200mm f/4L is my usual choice. I don't like to get in too tight as I like to show some of the subject's habitat, rather than get in close and obliterate the background entirely. Sometimes I take a tripod with me, especially in the darker months, but I believe this to be mainly an unnecessary weight, especially with the 7D's images being fairly clean at higher ISOs.

Inspiration

As it was approaching the rut, the time of year when a stag has something on his mind that isn't discovering the next morsel to eat, I decided to see how the stags were getting along in Bushy Park. To the left of the shot is a hind, munching something she's found to eat in the grass. The stag in this shot was interested in her and had been bellowing in her direction for a while. I'd seen him get nearer and nearer so just sat in the grass myself eating lunch waiting til he'd walk into the sun. Eventually he did and I got the backlighting I was looking for. Shots taken after were less successful. They had many other park visitors in, unsightly fences and so on. I try to avoid including anything that draws attention away from my intended subject.

Editing

A backlit shot will often cause flaring across the lens, even with a hood attached, so the resulting shot will appear hazy. Added to the hazy atmospheric conditions of the day, this shot needed a bit of TLC to bring it into a presentable state. That being said it was really just a case of adding some contrast in Lightroom, but not by adjusting the contrast slider alone. I normally leave that be as it pushes the blacks down at the same rate as the whites up. I underexposed a bit, raising the lights and highlights of the tone curve to bring attention to those backlit edges, then raising the white level up to a point that wasn't too garish. In terms of the colours, I normally import my RAW files with a Camera Neutral calibration as I find the Adobe Standard profile to be a bit too punchy compared to my intentions. Next I'll adjust the white balance and shadow tint to appropriate levels for the lighting and shift the colours about in the HSL panel if necessary. In this shot I desaturated the cooler colours a bit to allow the warmer ones to come through stronger

In my camera bag

Travelling comparatively light is kinda my thing. My 7D, my 70-200mm F/4L, perhaps my Tamron 17-50mm 2.8, are regulars to the camera bag. I always take spare batteries, a spare memory card and a lens cleaning pen. I normally pack a flask of tea, a banana, and something like oatcake biscuits as they provide energy without a crazy sugar spike. Also as I spend a lot of time doing things like walking through long grass, photographing those in long grass or sitting in it, there's a risk of ticks carrying Lyme's Disease. As I don't like the idea of my bones rotting from the inside out, I carry a tick removal tool and antiseptic wipes for the inevitable day when I have to deal with a tick or two.

Feedback

Get to know your subject's behaviour - the times it likes to eat, drink, move about, which times of year it breeds and so on. Will there be times of year when you want to keep your distance? Don't get close to a red deer on heat! Ideally research the location, the way the light falls at certain times of day, from season to season, the way weather affects the light or the whereabouts of the animal. Apps like the Photographers Ephemeris will help you judge where the sun will be, but it's not a patch on getting down on the ground and experiencing it firsthand, seeing where shadows fall, where you can dip down to be more on a level with your subject and so on. On that note, try not to shoot downwards from head height. It's very boring - most people take pictures that way. Get the camera to the head height of your animal. To get my shot here, I was sat on a rather large tussock of grass. Be aware of your surroundings, especially with large subjects like deer. Just because the one ahead of you is a safe range, don't take your eye off the one you passed 5 minutes ago. The first time I went out to get a shot like this I found myself surrounded by deer chasing each other. Have an exit strategy, even if it's up (deer can't climb trees I'm told), and if you do find yourself surrounded, stay still, stop taking pictures, and if you have a tripod, leave it firmly rooted to the ground in case it's mistaken for antlers. Don't get between a stag and its hinds. Bare in mind that deer are also aware of their surroundings. If you're in a group you might find it hard to get a shot like this as it may very well just walk away from you all. If this happens, just accept it. No wild animal wants to move away from where it wants to be/reproduce.

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alexjevon

alexjevon

Backlit Bellow

A red stag bellows for a mate in Bushy Park near London, UK.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow alexjevon

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