As a Wildlife Photographer, I always seek opportunities to capture the beauty of nature and its creatures. One of my most memorable experiences was photographing a magnificent 6-point Whitetail Buck in velvet at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.
The Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge is a prime location for observing and photographing wildlife, including whitetail deer.
I arrived at the refuge early in the morning on July 26, 2022, eager to capture the first rays of sunlight as they illuminated the landscape. At 07:04 A.M., I spotted the 6-point Buck in velvet, and I knew that I had found my subject for the day.
I quickly set up my gear, which included a Canon EOS R5 camera and an RF 100-500 mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens. I set the camera to Aperture Priority mode and adjusted the aperture to f7.1 to ensure that the background was blurred and the focus was on the buck. The shutter speed was set to 1/400, and the ISO was set to 6400 to capture the fine details of the buck’s coat.
The white balance was set to auto, and the metering mode was set to evaluative. I made a slight exposure compensation of +1/2 to ensure that the image was properly exposed. The focal length was set to 500 mm, which allowed me to zoom in and capture the buck in all its glory.
I clicked the shutter, and the image was captured. The result was a stunning photograph that perfectly captured the beauty of the 6-point Whitetail Buck in velvet.