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01 GET IN THE RIGHT POSITION
To turn the unmistakable profile of a stag and its antlers into a dark and
striking silhouette you first need to get yourself into the right position.
You’ll need to move around until your deer is between you and the sun, so
that it’s being lit from behind. This backlighting will also give the stag a
wonderful golden rim light and loads of warm flare to inject a kick of
colour into the winter landscape. Use apps like The Photographer’s
Ephemeris or PhotoPills to work out the angle the sun at your location.WINTERWILDLIFE
Take great shots of a deer’s breath in the
chilling air of a nippy winter’s morningEffective
backlighting
hooting at sunrise requires being up at the crack of
dawn, but the good news is that it’s easier to shoot a
sunrise in winter. Thankfully, the sun rises much later,
at around 8am in December, as opposed to 4:42am in
the middle of summer. The early start is worth it
though, as you’ll be able to shoot in the golden hour,
the hour after sunrise and before sunset, that bathes your scene
in a stunningly atmospheric golden light, caused by the low
angle of the sun. For this technique you’ll learn how to backlight
a deer to give it a wonderful rim light effect and also illuminate
its breath on a frosty morning, all possible at a local deer park.S
Capturing a silhouette
shot is surprisingly
straightforward –
once you know how!