Late Autumn Colors

A little update from our colorful backyard "Jægersborg Dyrehave". Mornings are getting cooler, red tones are turning into yellow while the roaring ecco of rutting Red deers has ceased.

However, sika- and fallow deers are now busy showing of their antlers and impressing females.

 

Compared to its more impressive cusin (-red deer - scroll down a bit), male sika look rather chubby and clumsy... 

 


It took me some time get a clean shot of this great-spotted woodpecker. Only equipped with a 200mm lens you realize how much reach you are missing to catch these birds. Anyway, my patience was suddenly rewarded as this little fella came down from the canopy and started "pecking" only 20m from me.



I found a good hidden spot from where I hoped get some shots of male fallow deers fighting. It didn´t take long until a pack of males were gathered and started challenging each other. But my timing couldn´t be worse: the ridiculous sound of a toots horn indicated that the annual hubertus hunting (the hunting part is banned, by the way) had begun, and soon after the woods were filled with neon-colored raincoats (with people inside)...


So these poor deers were running around like crazy trying to get away from the noisy crowds...and my photographic opportunities did not increase as a chopper came about to document it all.



...do I sound like a grumpy old man?! Well, it´s because the point of sneaking around in mud dressed up like a tree kind of disappears when you have 20 people in yellow raincoats running up next to you with their little teeny weeny...OK enough for now :-) 

Autumn stags in Jægersborg Dyrehave

Days are getting shorter and cooler - time to step into the woods to enjoy the majestic red deers roaring throughout the forest. Since the late 1600 the danish kings used the vast area of Jægersborg Dyrehave (just north of Copenhagen) as hunting grounds for themselves and their royal pals. More than 400 years selective breeding has ensured that you may come across some of the largest and strongest red deer and fallow deers you´ll ever see.

The size of the rutting males attracts hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts from all over Europe, carrying 600mm tele lenses and photo equipment I can only dream of. Some of these guys dragging their heavy bags and tripods never make it all the way to the real "biggus" due to their heavy gear. I found it quite nice and easy to carry the relatively small Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L on my bike together with a Manfrotto mm294a4 monopod. What a great way to cover huge distances and enjoying the ride all along!

Although not a super tele the lightweight kit with the 70-200mm still allows you to get pretty close to your subject without scarying them away. It´s all about being light on foot - and a whole lot of patience...

Even though sun sets at 6 p.m. there´s still a couple of hours to enjoy the autumn lightshow..

Lakeside wedding

It has been a while since I last updated my blog...which means I´ve been buisy taking pictures instead: a few weddings, a large product photo assignments and building up my portfolio on  www.istockphoto.com 

Anyways, here are a few wedding pics from a lovely couple I photographed around Sorø.

Just love the way the bridesmates come out of the church! They were absolutely fantastic!!

 

Whoops, small supprises built into the wedding dress..you just never know what to expect on your weddingday :-) 

We basicly had it all: rain, a weddingdress breakdown, more rain, a small storm.... but this super-relaxed couple just seemed to have a great laugh whatsoever came along. Thanks for a great day! :-)