2311_1089 Bounding Whitetail Buck
The deer was across a field when I came around a corner in the rolling red Toyota blind and spotted it. I set my exposures manually, and this shot illustrates why. Had I been on auto-exposure, the meter would have factored in all that dark shadow behind the leaping buck, and resulted in overexposure. Having preset my shutter and aperture for a sunlit subject, all I had to do was lift the camera and focus. The deer broke into a run, I fired a burst. Perfect exposure!
Shooting RAW, I probably could have rescued a slightly overexposed frame. But it's so much better to nail it. During processing, I upscaled the shot using ON1 Resize; the slightly tighter framing works better, I think.
White-tailed Deer are not native to this part of the province, but in the late 1800s and first half of the 20th century expanded their range from points south and east. They have become a huge problem for many ranchers and farmers, as they browse on planted trees, damage fences, despoil livestock feed by defecating and urinating on it, and attract coyotes. Our native Mule Deer generally subsist on wild forage and are not considered a nuisance. I recall my first winter in Val Marie, in 2000-2001, when one evening I counted deer while driving home from the 70 Mile Butte trail. A six minute drive. I counted about 200 deer: roughly 60% muleys and 40% whitetails. I was stunned! I had no idea the prairie supported so much wildlife!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2311_1089 Bounding Whitetail Buck
The deer was across a field when I came around a corner in the rolling red Toyota blind and spotted it. I set my exposures manually, and this shot illustrates why. Had I been on auto-exposure, the meter would have factored in all that dark shadow behind the leaping buck, and resulted in overexposure. Having preset my shutter and aperture for a sunlit subject, all I had to do was lift the camera and focus. The deer broke into a run, I fired a burst. Perfect exposure!
Shooting RAW, I probably could have rescued a slightly overexposed frame. But it's so much better to nail it. During processing, I upscaled the shot using ON1 Resize; the slightly tighter framing works better, I think.
White-tailed Deer are not native to this part of the province, but in the late 1800s and first half of the 20th century expanded their range from points south and east. They have become a huge problem for many ranchers and farmers, as they browse on planted trees, damage fences, despoil livestock feed by defecating and urinating on it, and attract coyotes. Our native Mule Deer generally subsist on wild forage and are not considered a nuisance. I recall my first winter in Val Marie, in 2000-2001, when one evening I counted deer while driving home from the 70 Mile Butte trail. A six minute drive. I counted about 200 deer: roughly 60% muleys and 40% whitetails. I was stunned! I had no idea the prairie supported so much wildlife!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.