Close encounters in the deep of the forest

Close encounters in the deep of the forest

As a photographer, I’m usually looking for perfection, the perfect shot, the one where I can see the minor details, clear and sharp because I got the ideal exposure, focal aperture and shutter speed right. But as a photographer, I know that all this is often impossible.

So, perhaps, the perfect shot is not the perfect one – allow me the pun – but the one that tells a story and, above all, communicates it.

It’s red deer’s bellowing time, and I know where a herd of about a hundred deer can be found. I went to look for them, following their paths in the thickest forest and moving to surprise them in those few open spaces, let’s say about a couple of meters, which could allow some shots.

And here, the whole herd runs across that path, some specimens even watching me as they run to hide in more remote areas.

But then I hear the roar, now stronger and closer than ever. And I move forward to get closer.

I feel it’s coming towards me, and I smell the acrid and wild smell; its “roar” is almost frightening. I wait with my heart in my throat, panting. A branch breaks, a great commotion and a large male splashes a few meters from me.

I don’t have time to check and tweak the camera settings, I shoot. A moment, silence and then again the roar of the king who runs to take back his harem.

Probably not the perfect shots, but a perfect encounter. Inside Mother Nature.