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Photographs and text by Elliott Neep
Copyright © Elliott Neep Wildlife Photography (ENWP)

 

Deer parks are frequently regarded with derision by some wildlife photography pros and enthusiasts who crow “they are captive, not truly wild.” My response would be “so what!?” What is a more worthwhile use of limited time? Traipsing after specks on the horizon across a moor, or nipping down to a deer park with the family and capturing cracking close ups and behavioural action sequences of the same subject? Not a tough choice for me and besides, it is most rewarding to be so close to our largest land mammals without them fleeing or feeling threatened.

Richmond Park

Although I seldom visit deer parks for my professional photography due to costly permits, it would be fair to say that I cut my ‘baby teeth’ at Richmond Park. This is probably one of the most well known deer parks and as I am London based, it is close enough to my home that I could easily be there before sunrise. Richmond Park can be a very peaceful place with the hum of London all but lost across the immense open space. However, during the rut, this stillness is frequently shattered by the bellowing calls of the stags and the sudden crash of antlers.

Behaviour & Ecology

As with any wildlife subject, it is advisable to understand some of the behaviours and ecology to capture cracking images. The more aware and prepared you are the better. Several key life-stages make for engaging photographs. These stages occur at different times and you will need to revisit to capture them all. NOTE: Antlers are shed after the rut and are re-grown each year. During the growth period, the antlers are covered with a highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone. Once the antler has achieved full size, the velvet becomes an itchy irritant. The stags thrash their headgear against sapling trees, bracken, and brambles in order to strip the velvet. Once stripped, the antler bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler.

1. A portrait of a resplendent sleek stag with velvet antlers (June & July)
2. A stag thrashing to remove the velvet (late July through August)
3. The Rut (From September through November depending on weather conditions)
   • The stag in rut - bare antlers, large neck and shoulder, shaggy neck mane
   • Stags posturing, walking parallel lines, whilst eyeballing each other
   • Stags battling and clashing antlers
   • Stags chasing females
   • Deer mating
   • Stags bellowing

As the days shorten and the nights become cooler, the largest stags will abandon their bachelor groups. The stags will then attempt to herd females together to establish a harem on an area of quality grazing pasture. They patrol the borders of the harem, protecting the females from intruding stags. The females will wait until the first frosts before going into oestrus. Each female can only mate for a few hours in a year, so the stags are always on standby, chasing them around the pasture ground.

The control over a harem sparks territorial battles and fights for the right to mate. When two stags confront each other, there is usually a phase of parallel posturing. If the stags are equally matched in size, then a battle ensues. They crash into each other head-on. Each stag tries to lock antlers to twist his opponent off balance and then shove him backwards. The stag that is pushed back a considerable distance is the loser. The loser will turn and flee, chased by the victor who will then prance and posture in front of the females and roar to confirm his dominance.

A quick word of caution. It is easy to be lulled into a false sense of safety with park deer. They do appear tame and in most respects they are. However, they retain their wild, hormonal behaviours, especially during the rut where they have been known to charge or gore pet dogs. Remain cautious and wary.

 

When to photograph

Early morning and late evening are the most active periods for deer. If you arrive for mid-morning, all the action will be over and the deer tend to just stand under shade or graze. The worst aspect of the 'late start is the high contrast with burning highlights and deep shadows. However, if you want gorgeous warm light, atmospheric mists, and the deer’s breath hanging in the air, you need to be there early and late. It is never a problem locating the deer and the action. Just follow the stag’s roar. If you spot a group of female deer (hinds), you can guarantee a stag will be close by.

 

The Approach

Typically, there is no need for camouflage or stalking with park deer as they tend to be habituated to people and everyday clothing. However, this does not mean that the deer are confiding enough for you to walk straight up to them and set up a tripod. Indeed, some caution and a more subtle approach maybe required for a lengthy photographic session.

It is advisable not to stress a stag in rut! I have observed some photographers working in pairs to push / herd deer towards each other. Personally, I favour the ‘fly-by’ technique as I find it less stressful for the deer since they are not being driven away from their pasture ground.

The Fly-by: If you always appear to be moving past or away from the deer, they tend to stay relaxed. You can make multiple passes, with each pass being closer than the previous. It may take half an hour or an hour, but the deer are seemingly unaware of your increasing proximity. Meanwhile, you can spot the best-looking stags.

Consider the light direction and background. When you pass at your closest, the sun should be behind you with the best light on the deer, preferably a nice uncluttered view of a stag. With this approach, frame-filling shots are easily achievable with a 300mm lens or less. In many parks, especially those with tame deer, you could use a 15mm and a handful of food.

Wilder Parks

However, for parks such as Bradgate and The New Forest, the deer are virtually wild and will require a different approach. In this case, it is best to wear dull or muted clothing and take extra care when walking about. Approach downwind and move as quietly as possible. Keep your back to cover and try not to expose your silhouette to the horizon. Use trees and vegetation to stage and cover your approach. Only move when the deer’s heads are down and feeding and stop when they look up.

Deer cannot focus on your location unless you make a noise. Their ears will pan around like a pair of radar dishes aiming to pinpoint your location. Wear soft fleecy materials to avoid excessive noise as you pass through vegetation. A deer’s eyesight is limited as they only see in shades of black and white. They can detect unnatural material by the way the light reflects from its surface and it is this rather than bright colours that alerts the deer to danger. However, most deer are supremely equipped to detect the slightest movement at a considerable distance.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Generally I use Aperture Priority (Av) as this mode gives you perfect control over the creative depth of field and the shutter speed in the same instance. If there is a great opportunity for a portrait, typically I’ll shoot on f/8, maybe higher, but the moment the deer starts to move at any speed, I can dial down to f/4 for a faster shutter speed and freeze-frame the action. For lowlight conditions, ensure you get rock steady-support with a tripod, but even more importantly, learn to make the most of any situation. For example, rather than packing up early, I work on silhouettes and motion panning either with the trotting stags, or with the moving herd. For creative motion pans, a shutter speed of 1/15th to 1/30th is ideal.

EXPOSURE

Exposing correctly for deer should not pose too many issues, especially with modern evaluative metering. The only problematic conditions I have found are snow, hoarfrost, and dried grass which is probably the most common issue to throw the metering. You can get round these issues by spot metering off the deer (careful not to meter off the white areas on fallow deer), or by taking a test shot and reviewing the histogram. Without altering the manual exposure compensation (MEC), your images may be underexposed with these bright conditions, so adjust the MEC to compensate. If the light and conditions are constant, I take a test shot and then enter the exposure details in manual mode. I can then happily shoot away, knowing the exposure is spot on.

EYE-LEVEL

Always try to photograph deer at eye-level or below as this produces a more intimate view of the animal. For a more formidable image, I usually set up the tripod without extending the legs, or if it is bright enough, I will just kneel down. I have even resorted to lying flat in grass to create a diffused haze of colour around the lower half of the image. If you photograph deer in thick bracken or long grass, be sure to leave enough room for the legs. Although you may not be able to see them, simply cropping them off will make the deer look disproportionate and dumpy.