Re: Shoot first, ask questions later.

[Eactivist]

Today, coming home, I saw some deer go into the little woods on top of the
hill in our neighborhood.  There's never kids in the playground when you
need them, but I got my roomie to help.  I set up on one side of the
woods, he went into the other side and just walked through.  Deer came
running and leaping out in side view.  Then some kids walked by on the
sidewalk on the other side, and they ran back into the woods and gave me
another chance.  I've always wanted to try that.  I'll see how the
pictures turned out tomorrow.


Kewl. Team effort. A bush beater/deer driver. Wish I had someone to do that 
for me.

Every wonder why I call myself Doe? Well, it started years ago, when I joined 
a group where I wanted a handle. (A lot of people on the Internet know me as 
Doe, so I use the name here so if people go to my web pages, they will know 
who Doe is). My last name is Parker. My ancestors were Scottish, so I figure 
they were named by the British for the job they did. Just as Miller was so named 
and Smith was so named -- Parker was keeper of the parks. Essentially a game 
keeper. And probably a game keeper to make sure the local Scots didn't kill any 
deer, so when the English landlords came to visit they had some stags to kill.

My great grandfather came from Scotland to California for the gold rush. I 
never knew him, but he finally settled down in Northern California and had his 
own cattle ranch (none of my ancestors ever found gold, my other great 
grandfather opened a general store). The Parker ranch became known far and wide as a 
deer preserve. My great grandfather allowed no deer hunting on his land. And I 
guess, just like here -- in this large housing development -- somehow over 
time the deer figured out they wouldn't be hunted there and ended up 
congregating. I've always wondered if he knew the origin of the name Parker and what 
his 
job had been when he came from Scotland. But based on the story about his 
ranch, I think he knew full well what Parker meant. I've seen a photograph of him 
wearing a tam with a Scottish plaid.

Anyway, my family helped deer be killed for decades, so now I am Doe and the 
only deer shooting I am interested in is capturing them on film.

Marnie aka Doe   ;-) Deer karma. Hehehe. Not that this has anything to do 
with anything, and it's probably a long, boring story, but, oh, well... I felt 
like telling it.

Shoot first, ask questions later.

[Gregory L. Hansen]

I missed what might have been one of my best shots so far.  I was at the
construction site working on the fox kits that live there, but I didn't
see anything.  Finally gave up and walked out, using my tripod as a
monopod just in case.  Just in case happened, one of the kits was ahead
of me, I took a photo or two and he started moving away.  I don't know if
he was running from me or if he just wanted to be somewhere else.  At one
point he went right past the front end loader that was sitting there, and
I was so busy trying to fine-tune the focus, which was probably fine, that
I didn't think until the moment had passed to hit the shutter release.

A fox skulking past a front end loader.  That would have been a great
juxtaposition shot: the big, hard, and man-made contrasting with the
small, fuzzy, and natural.  Even Marnie's photography teacher might have
approved of that one.  I'll be watching for a second chance at that one,
but it's not going to happen.  I can only hope I'll be alert to the next
opportunity.  When a second recognizable thing is in the viewfinder I
should just hit the shutter release as by reflex.  Maybe it won't be a
great shot, but it's more likely to be than one that doesn't have a second
recognizable thing in it.

I've discovered the camera can act as an impromptu blind; animals don't
recognize humans as easily when there's a camera in front of your face.  I
noticed that with the neighbor's cat, who hesitated to come to me until
I'd lowered my camera.  I got very close to a woodchuck because I was able
to keep a big tree between us, and I leaned over and took some shots while
the woodchunk just sat there and stared at me, until I'd lowered my
camera, then the woodchuck ran.  At the construction site before the event
I'd described above, I was standing out in the open on razed ground, using
my tripod as a monopod, and a doe didn't know what to make of me.  She
actually started walking right toward me!  Until I hit the shutter
release, then she ran.  I should have waited to see how close she'd get.
I guess that's one instance where shoot first, ask questions later
doesn't really apply.  Since the doe was also on open ground, I was
essentially in control of the situation and could have afforded to wait.
But the damned flies kept biting my ankles.

Today, coming home, I saw some deer go into the little woods on top of the
hill in our neighborhood.  There's never kids in the playground when you
need them, but I got my roomie to help.  I set up on one side of the
woods, he went into the other side and just walked through.  Deer came
running and leaping out in side view.  Then some kids walked by on the
sidewalk on the other side, and they ran back into the woods and gave me
another chance.  I've always wanted to try that.  I'll see how the
pictures turned out tomorrow.

I was going to send this to Marnie by e-mail because I know she likes
animals, but then I thought maybe someone on the PDML would be interested.
And even if I'm just being totally stupid, at least it's bandwidth not
used on abortion, homeless people, or the death of Pentax.