This was the second or third time I had been to the Deer Park at Dunham with my camera and actually found the deer. This beautiful creature was sat near a wall and was quite comfortable with me getting close. I hadn’t ever

seen a deer sat down like this before. Just as I captured this photograph the deer got up and walked away from me, turning around I noticed another two photographers had joined me and we were obviously too close.

I have photographed dozens of animals but one of most frustrating has to be birds on water. In particular swans. You need the patience of a saint to capture them perfectly. It seems that every time I

come across them on a pond like this they are in a great position, but by the time my camera is to my eye they either have turned their back on me or have their heads under the water. Still at least I got one of the swans in the right pose!

The deer of Dunham Park are difficult to find, let alone photograph, but a friend spotted a couple through these trees, so rather than try to stalk them to get closer (which usually makes them

run away before I even get a single photograph) I chose to zoom in and frame the deer between these trees. Sure enough as soon as he heard the click of my camera’s shutter he moved off.

Living only a couple of miles away from Dunham Massey Park near Altrincham most of my life, I have been there more times than I can remember, with family, with friends and even on my own with just the camera. In my experience it is only about 50% of the time I see the deer. The day I took the above photograph I was lucky to see them a couple of times. Although this deer clearly had his eyes on me as I got closer and closer with my camera it was worth it for this photograph.