Richmond Deer Park in the mist, London
15th October 2023
I rose before dawn to travel to Richmond Park with two camera buddies, and we were delighted to find a low mist hanging on the ground as we arrived. We could hear the red deer stags bellowing for attention, so just followed the sound until we saw them, and many other photographers as well! The mist did wonderful things to the early morning sun as well, but these events were fleeting as the morning slowly warmed up.
When I had visited the park last year in September, I saw herds of deer and a lot of rutting activity with noisy clashing of horns. However, today I mostly saw a fair bit of mating activity and the large stags resting in the bracken, made visible only by the sight of their steaming breathe.
As we walked further, we spotted the smaller fallow deer in the bracken, often with a bird resting on their head and cleaning their ears!
This ancient forrest has much more to offer in addition to the deer and I envy the people who live near this park and can visit frequently. So after a coffee to warm us up, it was back on the road for the 90 minute drive home keen to discover exactly what images we had captured on this glorious morning.
