I really need to get out and shoot more. Ummm, with my camera I mean. It’s been a super busy year and I just haven’t gotten as much practice with my camera as I would like to.

In the middle of October each year, I join the Mountain Club of Maryland and head out to Shenandoah National Park to enjoy the beautiful fall colors. Staying at Big Meadows Lodge, deer are abundant and very accustomed to tourists stopping by for picture taking.

Last year was when I purchased my first DSLR, a Canon 60D and I began the process of learning not only the art of photography, but also the technical aspects of the camera and post processing software. I feel like I’ve learned quite a bit in the past year and half, but there is so much more to learn.

I had purchased a 70-200mm L USM lens with a 2X zoom, to go with the 60D body, only to learn quickly that I MUST have image stabilization. I wobble so much! I took this kit out to Shenandoah in the fall and was excited about being to capture Bambi in the wild. Semi-domesticated as they may seem to be.

Heading out in the late afternoon to the meadows near Big Meadow Lodge, the deer were abundant. I was quite pleased with the zoom reach that the 70-200mm with 2X lens had as they were a bit of distance. But boy the kit is heavy. I also decided that overall the photos from the Canon 60D are soft, and it was time to start thinking of a camera body upgrade.

I tried my best to get a photo in focus, which is an ongoing challenge that I have. Opening up my f-stop to the widest at f/5.6 with ISO 100, my shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. Now I realize, not nearly fast enough to freeze motion, but regardless I kept snapping away.

I managed to capture this little girl chasing after a deer which seemed to prefer to be left alone.

In reviewing these photos, the orange saturation came out due to a setting that I had placed within the camera. Using the “Landscape” picture style, I have discovered that a monochromatic scene becomes over saturated. Blue water and blue sky = really blue photo. Green forest = green photo..orange meadow with tan bambi = orange and brown photo. You get the idea.

But during this photo field trip, I hadn’t figured that out yet, so I kept snapping away. This time getting closer to the bambi by laying down in the grass. Here are my favorite photos of the series.

With my new-found knowledge and understanding of my equipment, I’m excited to be heading out to Shenandoah again this October to attempt once again to get that Bambi gallery shot. Of course, I had a picture perfect Kodak moment when heading back to the lodge and this buck was along the road way. He stood for nearly five minutes and posed for the tourist paparazzi. He then decided that we had enough of his time and wandered off. Looking at these and seeing the grays due to the shady location, exposure compensation would have helped.

This time I will have my Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM lens, and will take along the 70-200mm this time with a tripod. Fall is just around the corner!