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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eight: Light and shadow shape meaning > Mule deer, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007
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08-AUG-2007

Mule deer, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007

Walk anywhere along the rim of the Grand Canyon just after dawn and you will see mule deer grazing on hotel lawns and in the high grasses that line the trail. I saw this one just off the Bright Angel Trail, framed in beautiful backlight. The light was streaming through the trees, creating pockets of sun and shadow. I waited until the deer move its head into the brightest spot of the picture to make this image. The light illuminates that head just as it begins to move towards a meal. It is almost a halo – a brilliant exclamation that underscores the point of the image. By exposing for the brightest part of the picture, I also darken the rest of it. In doing so, I reduce the visibility of the large scars on its back, no doubt from a predator, that mars its otherwise smooth coat.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/160s f/4.0 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis19-Aug-2007 18:21
You are right, Jenene -- the natural world comes down to the survival of the fittest. This deer has developed instincts, temperament, and the strength to heal and remain alive. In a sense, that halo of light testifies to its spirit.
JSWaters19-Aug-2007 03:49
A gentle creature, who's very survival depends on it's ever wariness, glorified by the halo of light. Nature is a tough taskmaster, as witnessed by the scars on the deer's face and body, and the deer is tougher than her docile nature lets on.
Jenene
Phil Douglis16-Aug-2007 23:05
Thanks, Ceci, for noting the importance of spot metering here. And for confirming my hunch that those wounds were caused by mountain lions, which live in the Grand Canyon and its surroundings. This photograph is all about illumination -- it provides the color, the emphasis, and much of the meaning.
Guest 16-Aug-2007 22:40
A lovely, peaceful, tentative pose by one of the most wary creatures in all of Nature. That you managed to surround the deer's head with bright light (while avoiding the dreaded "burn out") teaches me a great deal about the efficacy of spot metering. This is a gorgeous shot, emphasizing the huge "radar ears", the delicacy of the legs, and even hinting at the violence of predators -- probably in the form of mountain lions, which attack these deer from above. I love the grass colors, and the movement of the brush all around. This photo has a zen-like quality that I like vey much!
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2007 17:38
Yes, Charu, that is a reflection of the light bouncing off the grass on to the face of the deer. When I shoot, I am always conscious of the effect of reflected light on my subjects.
Guest 13-Aug-2007 04:27
beautiful! it looks like the light on the grass is being reflected on the face of the deer - the way sometimes the color of the cloyhes we wear somehow reflect on the face...
Phil Douglis12-Aug-2007 18:22
Deer are always ready to run away. As the scars on its back will tell you, the deer is hunted by wolves and mountain lions here in Grand Canyon National Park. Life is often a matter of run or die.
Alina12-Aug-2007 11:44
The deer looks like ready to run away.
Phil Douglis12-Aug-2007 01:37
We do glorify wild animals, when we are not hunting them or eating them. The more I look at this halo, the more saintly this deer appears to be. We not only love nostalgia, we love anthropomorphism.
Tim May11-Aug-2007 23:43
I think the halo speaks to the halo we put around wild animals. We glorify them, unless they eat our roses.
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