5 Frames with a Friendly Deer

Too friendly, if I’m honest. But this is why I carry a camera with me nearly everywhere I go. It’s usually something like a Nikon F2 loaded with Tri-X (rated at 1600), with my 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor attached.  This kit can elicit old guys waxing nostalgia and the interest of young film shooters alike. And the wildlife would appear to be just as interested in my camera. If you can still call them that.

I get it, they’re cute.  They’re also tasty.  I suppose that if the apocalypse happens and the food runs out, these deer will be the first to go.

I’ve lived a couple places where my landlady fed the deer in the neighborhood and I can see the attraction though I’m probably more on the “keep the wildlife wild” side of things myself.  Obviously not in a militant way though, because when the opportunity presents itself who wouldn’t want a picture like this?

I’m a lot less likely to get mauled unlike those tourists in Yellowstone that go after bison, which I would definitely not recommend.  I don’t recommend feeding the deer either but I suppose I can’t control other people as much as sometimes I’d want to.  I can understand why some towns are passing ordinances forbidding residents from feeding the wildlife and also discussing the possibility of in-town bow hunting to curb the growing number of deer; of course in the country anything goes.

I just happened to be at my friend’s house when it was deer-feeding time (yes they’re regular customers) and what I had on me was close to what any photojournalist would have carried in his bag.  I can definitely see how the 35mm f/1.4 would be a photojournalist’s favorite tool because it’s fast and (for my purposes) focuses pretty close.  Ever since buying my first 35mm focal length I’ve understood just how perfect it is, it’s almost become an extension of my body.  I was trying to find a good picture of this lens to use for the header and of course I don’t necessarily have one because it’s almost always on whatever Nikon body I happen to be shooting.  It does everything I need and within a few steps can get from decently wide to very close indeed.

Now I’d say this counts as wildlife photography like shooting at the zoo does.  While I’m not ready to start a one-man crusade against it, I’d say I have mixed emotions about the outdoors being treated like and actually becoming someone’s personal zoo.  But when the opportunity presents itself with some unpredictable animals, the photojournalist’s tools from 50 years ago are still up to snuff: The Nikon F2A, a 35mm Nikkor, and of course Kodak Tri-X.

Lab-developed and pushed to ASA1600.  Scanned/finished by myself using the Pakon F335 and Affinity Photo.
You can find my varied work at The Resurrected Camera or for strictly photo project work, my Instagram: @thefamouspdog.

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