Mule Deer Encounter

This picture is one of my favorite shots.  Not just because of the quality of the image.  But because of something that happened before.  Once upon a time, I met up with another lovely deer with long antlers, in the same park.  I came around the bend, camera in hand, and suddenly we were face to face.  He was stunning and quite calm and un-bothered by my presence.  I had never met deer in the park that were not skittish and prone to running off – sometimes quite dramatically.  That fellow was only interested in eating from all the abundant leaves and tall grass; not at all concerned about me being as close as my lens would allow.  The two of us spent a good half an hour together, with him eating and me taking beautiful close up shots.  Once his tummy was satisfied, he walked off into the brush where it was not easy to follow and that was the end of our time together.  When I got home I found I had a large assortment of lovely pictures.  I was over the moon.

Alas, I lost nearly all the photos from that day.  I have three.  Don’t ask how, it’s a sad story that makes me want to pull my hair out!   To ward off utter depression over the tragedy, I told myself that I would have another encounter with a beautiful deer as long as I was patient and expectant of good when visiting the park.  Sure enough, I did have more deer encounters.  Unfortunately, most of the deer were not as keen on having my camera three feet away.  

The deer pictured here was there with four others, and several times they bounded off across the park and into the bushes to hide.  Determined to get a nice, clear shot, I was persistent in following.  After a time, this one became a bit curious about me.  I was briefly concerned when he stopped running off and instead came to look me over.  I wondered if he might decide to show me his antlers closer then I wanted to see them, but he actually just stood gazing at me and posing ever so nicely.  Perhaps God asked him to hold still for a moment.   While I remain a bit sad about the pictures I lost, this experience helped take the sting out of it.

A note of caution: I do not want to encourage anyone to get too close to wild animals,  it can have dire if not fatal consequences.  I  try to maintain a safe distance when shooting creatures with large teeth, claws or horns, knowing that I might have an unpleasant experience if the animal decides I have stepped over the line.  Unfortunately, I tend to lose my sense of self preservation when I put a camera up to my eye. Some photos I may share might be taken from less than safe distances.   Those pictures may come with the warning: ”Don’t try this in the wild!”

This picture is one of my favorite shots.  Not just because of the quality of the image.  But because of something that happened before.  Once upon a time, I met up with another lovely deer with long antlers, in the same park.  I came around the bend, camera in hand, and suddenly we were face to face.  He was stunning and quite calm and un-bothered by my presence.  I had never met deer in the park that were not skittish and prone to running off – sometimes quite dramatically.  That fellow was only interested in eating from all the abundant leaves and tall grass; not at all concerned about me being as close as my lens would allow.  The two of us spent a good half an hour together, with him eating and me taking beautiful close up shots.  Once his tummy was satisfied, he walked off into the brush where it was not easy to follow and that was the end of our time together.  When I got home I found I had a large assortment of lovely pictures.  I was over the moon.

Alas, I lost nearly all the photos from that day.  I have three.  Don’t ask how, it’s a sad story that makes me want to pull my hair out!   To ward off utter depression over the tragedy, I told myself that I would have another encounter with a beautiful deer as long as I was patient and expectant of good when visiting the park.  Sure enough, I did have more deer encounters.  Unfortunately, most of the deer were not as keen on having my camera three feet away.  

The deer pictured here was there with four others, and several times they bounded off across the park and into the bushes to hide.  Determined to get a nice, clear shot, I was persistent in following.  After a time, this one became a bit curious about me.  I was briefly concerned when he stopped running off and instead came to look me over.  I wondered if he might decide to show me his antlers closer then I wanted to see them, but he actually just stood gazing at me and posing ever so nicely.  Perhaps God asked him to hold still for a moment.   While I remain a bit sad about the pictures I lost, this experience helped take the sting out of it.

A note of caution: I do not want to encourage anyone to get too close to wild animals,  it can have dire if not fatal consequences.  I  try to maintain a safe distance when shooting creatures with large teeth, claws or horns, knowing that I might have an unpleasant experience if the animal decides I have stepped over the line.  Unfortunately, I tend to lose my sense of self preservation when I put a camera up to my eye. Some photos I may share might be taken from less than safe distances.   Those pictures may come with the warning: ”Don’t try this in the wild!”