While sitting in contemplative silence (or "dozing off", if you will) on a Sunshine Coast beach, this deer emerged from the bushes about 20 feet away from me and casually walked around the beach for a few minutes before disappearing back into the woods. I only managed to get a couple of shots of him, mainly because I didn't want to move quickly and scare him off. (He didn't seem too concerned about me, though!) The original colour photo has some nice yellow foliage, but I'm somewhat partial to black and white because the deer all but disappears into the background. Of course, that could a big fat mistake. What do you think?
Comparing the two images I find myself more drawn to the black and white because I find in the original (colour) version that there are too many colours to look at and the deer stands out too much. That said, I was wondering if you played around with desaturating it, and then bringing back a touch of colour throughout the entire image (Desat -> History Brush set at 15%) It might be a nice mix between the two and give me a reason to search the foliage more. When I first opened this image I was wondering what you were taking a picture of, and only after reading your "about" did I take a hard enough look to see the deer. So, it might need just a little bit more to hold attention.
Had you not mentioned that there was a deer in this shot, I don't know that I would have seen him at all - definitely good camouflage! I find it a little hard to focus on this, though - my eye keeps jumping all over the place. The deer would be a nice focal point, but there's maybe not enough to differentiate him from the background - I keep loosing him! Of course, you said that's what you like about it :) in which case it works very well! (like a "where's Waldo" pic!) Could you post the color version, too?
I think the b/w is a great idea, turns your photo into a puzzle. The deer jumped out at me right away but somehow it seems that it shouldn't. I enjoyed the background story too :-)
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