Ok ..... I really need some feedback here because I am very confused about something that happened last evening. I appreciate it when people are honest ...... kind ..... but honest so I am not really looking to just be simply consoled. I truly am trying to understand if my thinking is way out to lunch or if I am reading the situation correctly. And I do understand that art is absolutely subjective so everyone is not going to feel the same way. So I am not wanting to just stir up some shit or anything .... I am just really confused on this one.
I recently posted what I thought was a unique shot of a Mule Deer Buck doing what they do best ... hide. I don't know what other people have experienced but from all the years of watching these wild deer that coexist around this lake (50+ years) I find that the Bucks are VERY skillful at hiding themselves. The does and young ones are often seen grazing off on a hillside or even occasionally, late at night, wandering thru the yard. But not the bucks. They're there .... you just don't see them. Unless you happen to accidentally walk up on their hiding spot. Then they explode out of there and thus startle the crap out of you since you had NO IDEA they were there. At that point all you see is ankles and asshole quickly heading over the top of the next hill and that wouldn't be the photograph I was hoping to get.
So when I saw this 250 lb buck disappear behind a tree I was very hopeful. Now I knew he was there ..... I just couldn't see him! But he couldn't see me either. They have an amazing sense of smell so he may have THOUGHT I was there but wasn't sure maybe? I dunno. But I thought all I had to do was be really really still and quiet and simply wait him out. And sure enough after about 4 mins or so he HAD to sneak a peek. And I was ready with the camera and got what I thought was this pretty decent shot ....
behrfeet.deviantart.com/art/Sn… that was the only image I got cuz once he realized he had blown his cover he was GONE!
So when I received this response after submitting the image to a group I was kind of confused ....
"Hi,
I am really sorry, but this one won't be able to make to the group's gallery. I do like the details around its eye/ear, but that tree branch in foreground is too imposing."
It was a very nice rejection and I actually happy they did tell me why. Most don't and then you have no idea how to improve. Although I do know it's probably just a lack of available time to respond to each rejection so that isn't upsetting either. But it's the explanation that has me confused. Isn't the tree (they said "branch") the whole point of the image? Or is the fact that I am so happy I captured the behaviour clouding my judgment to see that it is not a very good shot?