Deer in Rut

Venue: Surrey

Dates: Tue 4 Oct 2012 Overspill Day Wed 5 Oct

Duration 8.30 am - 2.30 pm

Places 6

Cost £99.99

 

 

The deer, both Red and Fallow, are in rut at this time of the year and will be looking their absolute best especially the larger mature stags and bucks. The actual rutting period for red stags is relatively short whereas the fallow rut lasts longer going later into the month.  There will be plenty of opportunities for the more pictorial images like this one below showing a master stag with his harem of hinds.

Master Stag and his harem of hinds.

There will also be great opportunities for some super individual shots especially as this Royal Park boasts some of the best Red stags in the UK so you will need to be ready for plenty of action with the males roaring and fighting around you.  Often the stags will come very close but you have to keep your nerve and hit the motor drive and hope that the bike clips are working!  Below you see a classic portrait of a male in full bore, antlers draped in bracken trying his best to keep his adversaries at bay.

Don't mess with me!

Often these threats are unsuccessful, the testosterone levels are at their peak and the stags will fight in an effort to dislodge the king and take over his females.  When you get to males locked together like this it is important that you try to get at right- angles to the plane of focus to maximise your depth of field.  Once in the correct position concentrate on making sure you get the eyes of both stags showing as you see below.  Often one eye or both are hidden by the tines and your image will lose much of its impact.

Red Stags with Antlers Locked.

Clearly in a situation like the ones above the longer the lens you have the better and part of the tuition on the day will be directed to using long lenses especially when coupled with extenders. Are you reluctant to use an extender because when you do you lose critically sharpness? This is often a fault that shows up more with a 2x extender. Remember the more you magnify the subject the more you magnify any faults in your technique. You will discover just where you are going wrong with what I reveal on this workshop. Tripods and tripod heads will also be discussed in detail, both being integral elements for successful images especially when using telephoto lenses.

Don't forget the Fallow Deer as they too are in their best livery and look fantastic like this young buck.  In deer parlance he is referred to as a prickett due to the tiny spiked antlers grown in his first year.  Even so he still makes an attractive picture here photographed towards the end of the day when the light is warmer.  He had made his way towards me from the herd that you can see, out of focus, in the background.  He was inquisitive but at the same time displays his nervousness both in his eyes and the flick of his tail.

A juvenile Fallow Buck called a Prickett.

As well as deer there are large ponds where you can often photograph Grey Herons and Mute Swans flying around along with an assortment of waterfowl looking their best as the come into winter breeding plumage.  There is also a large colony of Ring-necked Parakeets and these often can be photographed feeding on the autumn seeds and berries hanging from the trees and in the bushes. I have a great location for them where, using your car as a mobile hide, you can get up really close for frame filling shots like this one below so make sure you bring a beanbag to facilitate this type of photography.

Ringed-necked parakeet - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Incidentally the beanbag could be dual purpose because the parks have some interesting and rare fungi, so if this subject is one of your passions you might want to bring along a macro lens.

One to One Workshops

If you would prefer to have a 6 hour 1-1 workshop on the deer the cost is £175 per day (weekdays only) and that includes my traveling expenses.