Trying to take a good photograph of a wild animal is like taking a portrait of someone who won't follow directions. I heard from a friend that there are some really nice bucks in the Waterton townsite in November for rut. I found a really nice 12 pointer, but he wouldn't cooperate and get in a location that I liked. I probably took a 100 shots of him. This 8 pointer was smaller, but I like the photograph more.
Here is what I learned about photographing mule deer:
- I don't think mule deer look good in profile, they aren't as elegant as white tails - photograph them head on
- Like all good portraits, you need a background that isn't distracting and the subject needs to pop off - photographing with a simple dark background looks good
- Get a good angle - I squatting down to look up at him and make him more majestic
- Look for good light - It was raining lightly when I took this so the light is very diffused
- Make the eyes sharp - not much of a catchlight here though - I am at f/8 to get some depth of field since I am quite close and at 135 mm focal length. The camera was set to vary ISO to maintain a shutter speed of 1/320 of a second so I could hand hold.
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