Sunrise yesterday was at 5:59 and I managed to get this shot of a beautiful little fawn in the cattails at 6:05, when there was just barely enough light for my camera to focus.
Summer weather in the Washington D.C. area is often miserable—hot and humid—and I decided to visit my local marshland park really early to avoid some of the oppressive heat. When I left my house in the pre-dawn darkness, however, it was already 80 degrees (27 degrees C) on a day that was forecast to reach 96 degrees (35 degrees C).
I could hear a lot of movement in the marsh as I made my way along the board walk and occasionally would catch a glimpse of some activity as it grew progressively lighter. I encountered another photographer and he was the one who spotted the fawn and pointed it out to me—I am pretty sure that I would not have seen it without his help.
We didn’t see any adult White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with the fawn, but their presence could easily have been hidden by the thick stand of cattails. I had time to snap off only a few photos before the fawn slowly turned his back on us and slowly faded into the background.
What a wonderful way to start my day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Wonderful capture. That must have been a thrill 🙂
Beautiful photograph. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve encountered deer, it always feels magical.
Beautiful shot and start to the day. My goodness you have miserably hot temperatures there.
That’s a great shot. Definitely worth braving the heat for.
Fawns are so precious. When they grow up an eat your landscaping they lose a bit of their appeal. Nice photo, a gentle touch like the fawn.
Beautiful shot!! It must be amazing to see one so close.
Thanks. I was relatively close, though I should note that I was shooting with a pretty long telephoto lens.
They are such beautiful animals…especially the fawns.