It's all in the timing...and luck.

The most challenging part about wildlife photography is that you need to have all the ingredients to make a great photo lined up, amazing light,  location, steady place to shoot from, and your subject looking perfect right where you want him. But the reality of having all of these elements at once is minimal, but when it happens, its magical. If the subject ( in this case a deer ) is not willing to work with you, and is more interested in chasing does and playing hide and seek then you are left with some 'could have been' great photos that are just a little 'off'.  Antlers hidden behind trees, or even worse, the eyes or head blocked by a tree make for a unusable image. I wanted to share a few of these shots which normally live as ones and zeros on my backup drive.

This morning in November 2012 is a great example..I remember this day like it was yesterday. A nice frigid cold morning,  I had bucks running around me so often I could not decide where to point my camera. After a few close calls with smaller buck this big boy shows up and I had to put the stalk on. I followed him just out of his sight for about an hour.

A few times I got within range,  the light was EPIC. The rising sun was in my face and the cold morning promised that I would get backlit steam exhaling as this big buck took deep breaths little colorful underbrush lit up like splatters of impressionistic paint. Unfortunately my scene was not cooperating.

Although I got some shots, I missed a few stellar shots, I knew it at the time too. And he left me.

Soon after I heard some deer really going at it, " my first chance to photograph two bucks fighting!!" I was excited and hurried to the location of the sound ...again, I was in a spot that was blocked by some mountain laurel with no opportunity to move...the frustration continues.

At that point I had determined that I had lost him. Bummed out, I started to head back up a ridge that I had descended when I heard some noise in a briar patch to my right. All of the sudden, he stood up less than 20 feet away, the buck I had been trailing for hours was right in front of me! Now the timing was in my favor and I was ready. My efforts had paid off, I was happy.

You just never know, that's what I love about getting out in the woods, it's always a surprise!

Happy fall

Bill