In a Family Way

In my  Yearling in Flowers post earlier this week, I told the story of a extraordinarily considerate dump-truck driver who alerted me, last Saturday morning, to three deer feeding just down the road from where I was at the time in Acadia National Park. You have seen the Yearling. Here are the two adults, one clearly pregnant with this year’s fawn. The deer, while aware of my presence at the edge of their field (though I attempted to blend into the bushes at the edge of the road as much as possible) were not overly concerned, and I enjoyed one of those peak moments for a nature photographer, when everything just came together: light, subject, foreground (I love the flowers), and background, to create a memorable experience and memorable images. One of those camera-don’t-fail-me-now moments.

Canon SD1400IS Digital Elph behind the eyepiece of a ZEISS Diascope 65FL spotting scope for an equivalent focal length of 1500mm (top three) and 3500mm (bottom). Exposures ranged from 1/125 at ISO 125 to 1/200th at ISO 200 (last shot). Programmed auto. The combination of the little pocket digital point-and-shoot camera and the spotting scope allows for these intimate portraits from distances that leave the wildlife pretty much undisturbed.

In Lightroom 3, some Fill Light and Blackpoint right (which with this camera and scope combination introduces way too much yellow, so Auto White Balance to restore the tones), added Clarity and a tiny amount of Vibrance, Sharpen narrow edges preset. The last two images are cropped for composition.

From Acadia 2010.