Yesterday I had lunch with two artist friends, Bea and Meg. Meg has a farm where among other things, she has deer and horses. I had the opportunity to spend some photographic time with both of these great subjects. It was amazing to be in such close proximity to fairly large bucks who were still in velvet. Meg’s horses are beautiful and a bit pushy. I really had no idea what to expect and so my photography was more of a matter of sketching ideas for future visits.
I needed to get a sense of how the bucks would react to me, what the layout of the land was, and to try and visualize the kind of imagery I would want to create. I’ve also never really spent any time with horses and was really overwhelmed by their beauty and power. I fell in love with their eyes but also their coloration. These are painted horses ranging from white to tan to black with various markings on each. I wouldn’t call any of the animals, buck nor horse, cooperative. In fact most of the time I needed to separate myself from them in order to make any kind of image. Maybe in time, they will ignore my presence. I’m not sure I’ll go back during spring though, as my allergies did not seem to like something I was close to. Thanks to Bea for letting me use these pictures!
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Wow, how cool! What a great opportunity for some study.
As you say, the eyes are so amazing. It almost seems one could swim there…
I think that deer in the bottom photo is trying to chimp your camera, and see how he looks on the LCD. Deer are funny creatures. Shy yet inquisitive. Sweet looking, but can turn mean if you look at them funny (At least that’s true of our New Jersey deer – I swear they carry switchblades.)
Hey Dan,
I think your analysis is right on. “Shy yet inquisitive” is exactly right. Once these guys start going into rut they will be impossible to deal with. As it was, they were either too far away, too close, or moving too fast to really do much with. One was very curious of my camera bag which I laid down. I’ll watch for the blades next time as I’m pretty suspicious that your jersey deer cross the river during droughts.
I think all encounters like this end up quite memorable. Nothing like getting to know another species in a relaxed environment. Looks like a lot of fun Paul.
Wow Paul, I can’t believe how close you were able to get – what a treat!
Ron