Roe Deer
Award-winning wildlife photography project documenting the natural history of Roe deer.
Location: Norfolk, England
Species: Roe deer
More info on photographing Roe deer in Norfolk
By spending a year with Roe deer in the English countryside, my goal was to gain insights into their secret life. My objectives were to capture intimate behaviour and portraits of Roe deer.
In order to achieve any level of success it helped to understand how Roe deer perceive the world around them. Being territorial they are intimately familiar with their surroundings. Any abnormal sounds, smells and sights will make them suspicious.
Habituation was my chosen approach instead of camouflage and hides. The Roe deer’s acute senses of smell and hearing makes visual camouflage redundant. I also wanted to photograph across a number of male and female territories so a more mobile approach was needed.
Spending a year with deer allowed me to develop relationships of trust with them. With perseverance and patience I was able to gain the confidence of two bucks to such an extent that when I appeared, so would they. It was a humbling privilege to have been allowed into the hidden world of an enduringly free spirit.
My images from “A Year with Deer” have been published in the UK in books (The Ash Tree By Oliver Rackham), magazines, calendars and newspapers. My work photographing Roe deer resulted in winning first prize in the British Deer Society’s open photographic competition.
