She came in fast from the roadside grass, angling past my truck. A few seconds later, she had eased into a walk like nothing happened.
Wildlife Notes
I was parked along the auto tour route at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma when a lone whitetail doe ran straight toward my position, but she stayed off the road in the grass.
As she closed the distance, she slowed down. After she passed me, she settled into a walk and kept moving through the field.
Her body language stayed alert, but not panicked. Ears up, head high, and a steady look into the distance. I could not see what started her run. My best guess is a sound or movement farther out in the field, or maybe another animal she wanted to avoid. Once she got past me, she seemed to relax.
This was February 24, 2019 at 9:07 AM, so the light was still soft and low. That kind of morning light can bring out a lot of coat detail, especially on the face and shoulder.
Photography Notes
I made this photo from my truck with the camera resting on a bean bag over the open window. That setup is simple, but it is steady. It also lets me react fast without fighting handheld shake.
For a moving deer, shutter speed matters. I was in Aperture Priority at f/5.6 and landed at 1/1600 sec, ISO 800, with +1/2 exposure compensation at 400mm. That shutter speed helped freeze the stride as she came through. The slight positive compensation kept the coat from going too dark in the morning light.
Gear used for this photo:
- Camera: Canon 7D Mark II
- Lens: Canon EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II
- Focal length: 400mm
- Mode: Aperture Priority
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Shutter speed: 1/1600 sec
- ISO: 800
- Exposure comp: +1/2
If you like photographing wildlife from a vehicle, a bean bag is hard to beat. It is stable, quiet, and fast.
Closing
Encounters like this are why I keep my camera within reach on the refuge roads. You never know when something will come running right into your frame.