At Sundown

While parked in front of an Eagle’s nest, at sundown, I noticed some geese on a nearby creek.  The Eagles weren’t doing much, just sitting on their nest and not really giving me much to shoot, so I took a few photos of the geese.  Eventually, I heard these same geese beginning to fuss about something, so I took out my binoculars to scan the area around the geese to see what they were fussing about.  With the sun below the horizon, the available ground level light was terrible, but if you folks remember, terrible light never stops me from trying to take a picture.  Here’s what the geese were fussing about.

A dozen deer cautiously approached the creek in order drink.  The didn’t react well to my attempts to move closer either.  As soon as I moved they scattered back into the hills, and deeper down the valley.

And the Eagles sat safely watching from the comfort of their nest.

Deer Photography

Most of you should be familiar with the story of how my development with deer photography began.  For those who aren’t, it bears repeating.  My first deer photographs didn’t impress me, nor would they impress many people.  So I asked a friend, who happens to be a professional photographer, what I could do to get better shots?

Her befuddling reply has, over the years, both annoyed me and made me chuckle.  While I hoped for insights on how to take better pictures or how a camera works, instead, what I got was a question.  “Can you get closer?”

Recently, someone asked me for advice on how to get better deer photos.  So I decided to write this post, which, hopefully, will help her and anyone else reading this to get better deer photos.

First of all, accept that you will make mistakes.  It was frustrating knowing I completely blew this shot of a pair of fawns, especially since I was so close to them.  Yep, even when you get close enough, things will go wrong.  All you can do is learn from it and do better the next time.

Secondly, learn their behavior.  This big fellow liked to come out in the evenings to feed, which presented me with opportunities to get buck pictures.  I hurried this shot and basically missed the photo because another hiker was approaching, so I popped the shots before I was ready, knowing as soon as he saw the other person, he would split and he did.

Thirdly, know your gear.  If you know what your gear is capable of, then you won’t be disappointed by those times when you know you’re pushing your gear to its limits.  I’m currently using a Canon 7d and my primary lens is a Canon 100x400mm.  For deer photos, if I’m within fifty yards/meters I can get some pretty good deer photos.  The above photo was taken at about twenty yards/meters.

Fourthly, forget everything you’ve ever learned about light.  Most of the time the deer will be so far down inside brush there won’t be any direct lighting.  Also, you’ll have to learn how to adapt to light, because wild animals will not cooperate.  They won’t stand still.  They won’t approach from the lighted side, so you’ll have to break the rules of lighting with deer photos to take shots that shouldn’t but sometimes do turn out.

Like this shot, which is directly into morning sunlight while shooting through grass.  It shouldn’t have turned out, but it did.

Fifthly, this could be included with knowing your gear, but most digital cameras have multiple ways to set the autofocus, from multiple focal points to single point focus.  Set the focus to single point focus, that way when you have your camera pointed directly at her nose, it will be using her nose as the focusing point, and that way when you catch her chewing on some leaves it will show up nice and clear in the picture.  Go ahead click the image and you’ll see the leaves.

Lastly, and this should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.  Have fun.

I would like to thank Kristin (the professional photographer) for her patience and help.  Had I not met her, I probably wouldn’t be photographing anything.  Also, I would like to thank Shutterbug Sage at http://ayearofpics.wordpress.com/ who had to ask.

A Fawn in the Bush

So you’re still hanging out here.  Well, thank you for your patience.  I have many photos from this Summer to share.

The Whitetails are getting more active now that the heat has let up.  Especially the little ones.  They get more active because they’ve begun exploring their surroundings.  Whitetail mothers leave their fawns hidden when they feed.  They’re still doing that, but now the little ones are old enough and beginning to get brave enough to explore, which makes them especially vulnerable to cars.  Fortunately, if you have a camera handy, they make for some nice shots.

Whitetail Doe in Tall Grass

I surprised this doe while on vacation.  She is actually standing.  The grass in some fields is that tall.  I took this shot of a Whitetail doe in a field west of Clam Lake, Wisconsin.

Okay, so I took more than one shot.  You never know, the first one might not turn out.

Of course, this time of year, the Horseflies and Deerflies are as thick as the tall grass.

Whitetail Deer at Necedah

I saw many Whitetail Deer while at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, with over a dozen sightings on Thursday.  Some were far away, some were up close.  Some were skittish and ran away as soon as they saw me, others were curious and hung around to see what I was up to.

I spotted these two deer as soon as I got to the observation tower road.  There had been four deer, but two of them ran away as soon as I stopped.

I watched this doe and her two fawns roam up and down the shoreline for over a half an hour until she crossed below me to my right.

While her and her two fawns crossed below to my right, a second doe and her two fawns crossed below me to my left.

Taking shots directly into rising sunlight doesn’t always work.

But I’m not about to let poor light stop me from taking a photograph.  Of course not all the shots were taken from a distance.  I had several opportunities to take close in shots.

I could hear this doe working her way through the brush down below the tower.  I knew something big was moving through the brush and was kind of glad it was a deer.  Her belly fur is wet and she’s been nursing, so this may have been the doe who crossed below the tower and to my right.

I climbed down from the tower then and went back to my truck to get my lunch.  On my way back to the tower she was still wandering around in the brush but decided to run away when I stopped to take pictures of a second doe near the tower.

The second doe stood watching as the other doe decided to run away.

Then she watched me return to the tower.  I spotted many more deer before I left the refuge that afternoon.

Sunrise Crossing: Good Morning