Deer at Holkham, Norfolk

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Patrick
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Any photographed the deer at Holkham?
This is a new area of photography for me and any advice gratefully received. Best spots in the park? Time of day etc
 
How did the Deer day go Patrick?
 
I've only shot deer once and that was quite by accident. I was shooting a 10k fun run at Tatton Park in December last year - had to be there early, and was sent out on my spot on course to wait for the runners. Before that happened, a tractor came along with the deer herd's breakfast, and about two hundred deer came out of the woods, straight by me. This was probably around 8.30 am shortly after dawn in December.
 
Any photographed the deer at Holkham?
This is a new area of photography for me and any advice gratefully received. Best spots in the park? Time of day etc
Best time of day for deer will be sunrise then sunset. If you time it for the peak rut then activity can be good throughout the day but generally sunrise/sunset to coincide with the best light.

I've never been to Holkham and whilst getting peoples ideas sounds good it can impede making your own decisions based on just getting out and visiting yourself. It also depends on what peoples styles are and the images they like and their expectation level. With wildlife I find I get better images once I've visited a place several times. You can work out and notice where the light is best. During the rut it can be a case of head towards the noise. Then its a case of noticing the light and how it changes to be in the right position at the right time. Sadly there isn't a quick route with getting good wildlife photos unless you pay to go on a workshop/hide where a pro has already done the leg work.
 
Best time of day for deer will be sunrise then sunset. If you time it for the peak rut then activity can be good throughout the day but generally sunrise/sunset to coincide with the best light.

I've never been to Holkham and whilst getting peoples ideas sounds good it can impede making your own decisions based on just getting out and visiting yourself. It also depends on what peoples styles are and the images they like and their expectation level. With wildlife I find I get better images once I've visited a place several times. You can work out and notice where the light is best. During the rut it can be a case of head towards the noise. Then its a case of noticing the light and how it changes to be in the right position at the right time. Sadly there isn't a quick route with getting good wildlife photos unless you pay to go on a workshop/hide where a pro has already done the leg work.

Cheers Rob. Good advice. Just looked at your website. Some stunning images there - looks like a lot of skill and patience went into those. May I ask what lens you used for the red squirrel shots?
 
You won't have any trouble finding the herd of fallow deer at Holkam Patrick there are loads. When i've been the red deer have nearly always been to the right as you drive in and up around the ice house behind the hall.
 
Cheers Rob. Good advice. Just looked at your website. Some stunning images there - looks like a lot of skill and patience went into those. May I ask what lens you used for the red squirrel shots?
That’s very kind of you saying that but be aware only peoples better images get on their websites. Got equipment details check my Flickr pages as they are all listed. Quite a few of the images would have been taken with a 200-400 f4 or 70-200 (f2.8 or f4). There is some 300 f2.8 in there too. To be honest for squirrels and deer the equipment isn’t as important and doesn’t have as bigger effect than most would think. Most Dee and squirrels have been fairly static. You could take majority of the images I’ve taken with an older Nikon 300 f4. I’ve recently moved away from the big and heavy fast pro lenses like that because 1/ they are not really needed for what I do and 2/ they are big/heavy so carrying them is much fun. Granted the Sony 100-400 I now use isn’t exactly cheap but it is compared to lenses like a 200-400 or 300 f2.8. I can’t see took much difference between image quality. The light gathering is of course less and that can mean higher ISO but generally modern cameras are pretty good at high ISO.
 
Had a day at Holkham yesterday. Lots of opportunities to photograph the deer. The light wasn't great as I was there over the middle of the day, but at least the deer are relatively tame and used to people.
Good learning experience as my first go with wildlife and a long lens. I'd like to go back at dawn and/or sunset.
 
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