I’ve been thinking about making the most of opportunities, no matter how fleeting they are. I know that sounds cheesy, but bear with me!
I consider myself to be an opportunistic wildlife photographer because I rarely have the chance to plan my wildlife encounters, so I carry my camera around with me on the off-chance. This isn’t the way the pros do it, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this approach, but needs must. And sometimes it does pay off!
I’ve been taking my camera with me on some of our lockdown walks across the local golf course and we have seen the local roe deer there a few times – unfortunately not always when I’ve had my camera with me! However, one evening last week when I did have my camera with me a couple of roe deer bucks were flushed from the cover of one of the wooded areas at the edge of the course and ran towards us before veering off into another area of cover. I didn’t get the time to get any images at that moment as it was a pretty fleeting glimpse.
So, we decided to continue on our walk, came around the corner and there was one of the bucks on the opposite end of the path through the trees. This was a split-second opportunity to try and capture something. It felt like the deer was bounding off into cover before I had even registered it was there. This image was the only usable shot of the three that I got. My instinct was luckily to try and get myself low to the ground as quickly as possible and this, combined with the rising ground in front of me, led to a nice ground-level shot in some warm, dappled evening light. My partner was keen to follow the deer to get a better view, which led to some ‘debate’ and a bit of a loss of my fieldcraft in the process…but I think we now have a good understanding between us as to what we do if an opportunity like this springs itself on us again – he follows my lead! My preference is always to get low, stay still and wait for the animal to settle before deciding whether to move or stay put. That said, I completely understand my partner’s excitement. It is wonderful to witness the beauty that surrounds us and I am only too aware that these walks across the golf course may be over soon.
For now, I’ll continue to make the most of these opportunities to spend time with wildlife like the roe deer and to share these experiences with my partner. I’m not taking anything for granted right now.