Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Buck Whitetail Deer, Bedded

Here is a mature buck whitetail deer bedded in the woods in late fall (one week ago, actually). The antlers have eleven points and are both tall and wide.
The sun never gets very high this time of year in Michigan. The angle was alright, then, even though the photo was taken at about 3 o'clock. I normally prefer softer light but I was struck by the strong rim light on the side of the buck's neck and on the top of his head. Also, because of the backlighting I didn't have to deal with uneven shadows on the face or body. The antlers show well against the darker background. The deer is alert with both ears pointed forward. 100-400 lens at 400mm, 1/400 second at f/5.6, ISO 1000, handheld with image stabilization.