The month of October sees one of the great spectacles that can be found in the UK get underway which is the Red Deer Rut. This is a fantastic time to photograph these majestic animals as the action and the drama can be exhilarating. It is one of my favourite subjects to work with and I have been photographing this spectacle for 35 years now and it is an annual event that I always look forward too. I have always photographed the herd at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire, an area I know well as I only live about 10 minutes away, so it really is my local patch.
I have been running workshops at Bradgate for many years now and this blog shows a small selection of images from this year’s Rut. This season the Rut was excellent with lots of Deer dotted all around the park, so it made it easier for me to locate them. We had a good number of dominant Stags in there prime and a few younger Stags just hanging on to the edges of the Rut.
It was very warm in early October and that pushed the Rut back a week and in those early days it was quite during the day as most of the activity was during the night. Things picked up though and as most of the action was on the slopes of Old John it was easy to predict the deer’s movements. The weather and therefore light plays a big role in any photography, and I had a mix of everything this year.
What I always want is a few cold mornings, where it has been clear through the night and so the temperature drops. As the sun rises then you stand a chance of some mist hanging around in the lower valley or as the Stags roar you can see their breath, a Classic Red Deer shot. I had a couple of mornings for those opportunities. When the conditions are like this I then try and position myself to shoot towards the rising sun and then look to position myself so the Deer will be against a dark background, perfect for highlighting the Stags breath.
Another classic Stag shot is when they roar. This year I was trying to get the shot where it looks perfectly straight down at you and so you get this perfect symmetry with the Antlers. Anybody that has photographed Red Deer before will know what I am talking about as at one point of the Stags roar, he will have his head completely back. This is the point I want to capture and by looking up at him slightly you can then see the full splay of his impressive antlers. If he turns his head an inch to the left or right, you won’t get that perfect symmetry. Anyway, that’s what I was working on and managed a few shots.
I always like the challenge of photographing the Deer in the rain and I managed to get a few days this year. It wasn’t the short burst heavy rain which you can sometimes get which is the best rain to photograph in, more a light constant rain. It can still work though, especially when they get wet and then shake that water off their backs. It is difficult to predict when they are going to do it but over the years, I have noticed that they lower their head slightly and then shake.
The other shot that most people want to get is of the two Stags in combat. This is not a common scene to witness, and it really is the case of being in the right place, right time. I had a few opportunities this year, but one was good as the fight lasted for over ten minutes which is unusual as they are usually brief affairs. I would like to thank everyone that joined me on my workshops this year, I hope you got some nice pictures and hopefully learnt some things about the deer. I love doing them and so if you haven’t been on one before or if you have and would like another go then please check out the workshop page, as Liz has put next year’s dates online. Roll on next year I say. Anyway, just thought I would finish off with this shot, my favourite from this year’s Rut.
