Here's a few from friday. . .







And a few from last weekend. . .

Awesome -just awesome. Shots are just plain inspiring. What are you doing / how are you getting so close.

Cooperative deer, the right light/conditions, it's the rut, and I've spend a lot of years studying mule deer habits as well as following this particular heard, so I know where they live and how and where to find them during certain periods of the year. . . I also know my equipment very well and how to get into position to get the shot that I know I want.

I think about what shots I want before I go. I do shoot a lot of off the cuff stuff, but I have a mental list of the shots that I want and the conditions under which I may find them. AND, I'm in the field a lot AND READY for the shots. Because I spend so much time with the deer, I have learned to anticipate their actions, which helps me to get into the right positions for the shot. It takes me DAYS to accumulate these kinds of shot. I shoot 200 okay shots for every 1 that is great.

I also am a very avid big game hunter, I shoot at least on mule deer buck a year, and sometimes more, and have always been fascinated with/by mule deer! So, I'm dedicated and persistent.

The snow shots were taken at 0 degrees F!! Ever spend 5 hours in zero degrees taking photos? The only tough thing is the hands. I use those disposable hand warmers inside mittens. I wear thin leather palmed glove liners and just slip my hands inside the mittens about every 20 minutes. A few times per day, when my hands warm up, the pain almost makes me cry! I'm sure you know the feeling when your hands get so cold that the acid builds up in them and then when they warm up, it stings like they are on fire!

I also carry two spare sets of batteries, just in case. My Nikon batteries do VERY well in cold conditions. I think I can get about 400-500 shots on one charge, in the cold, shooting a vibration reduction and AFS lenses, lots more if I were shooting manual lenses.

Thanks for your kind words, and for asking. . .

Just so you don't think I was slouching this weekend (:), I tried your nose focus technique on this doe, I keep trying to get a shot of the buck but he is to wiley- any time I get close he disappears like a phantom.



AND NOT SO CLOSE UP



Shot from about 3/4 miles away with 100-400mm zoom, also this weekend. It is mating season for these guys, to , I've read. I took these all on Saturday as well,,,,,,,





I took about 400 shots of the goats, it will take me awhile to sort/process them, but I defintly have some keepers. These animals are fascinating to watch, but they are on cliffs so high they are difficult to reach. I think they came down into the shade to cool off from the sunny side. We have a serious winter storm approaching here, so they will likely move out till next year, as they seem to appear this time of year just briefly. One of these days I'll get a 70 mm close up of them.............from the snout! And to top it off, after I packed up and was driving away, the biggest buck I ever saw meandered across the road and was into the brush before I could even think about a shot of him. I watched it from a distance, and he was gone. Thats why I am so amazed at your close ups of the bucks- they are pretty shy here! but man what a deer it was!

"I once spent 36 hours outside photographing a dog sled race when it was -25 degrees. I used a pair of liner gloves under a pair of Ragg Wool fingerless gloves with the mitten flap while I was shooting and inbetween racers, I stuck my hands into a pair of US Army Arctic Mittens. I have used this combo for down to -55 degrees and stayed warm. "

These are what we use when we shoot in the cold...mittens with a flip top that allows me to use my index finger. I also keep a pair of synthetic Mechanix Brand 2.7s for when the weather is not completely bitter. This allows me much more freedom in handling the camera and shooting. They provide open access for the tips of the thumb, middle finger and index finger. I cannot reccommend them enough.

Cheers
James

I wrapped pipe insulation around my tripod legs this week- plastic ties and a little duct tape- works great!

I dont think i could handle -25 for that long! I use those heat pouches inside my mittens. they are cheap and I wont go out shooting without them!!!

Thanks for the posts!

Take care, and stay warm, it's -20 with two feet of snow here!

We just got a heat wave and it went from 0 to 20 degrees with only 4 inches of snow.

It's up to 10 degrees at 1:30 pm wednesday!!! It was -25 last night. I think the big, cold snap down in the lower 48 is over and headed east and south. the wind now is kicking up and blowing all that wonderful powerder snow all over the place!