To the Veluwe

Peter and I went to the Veluwe (again) today for a day filled with photography. The weather was a bit grey and dull, but with what we had in mind that didn't matter. In fact, it might even add up to the atmosphere of the subjects we were thinking of.
What were we thinking of? Red deer in the forest, in moody and dark conditions.

Our first stop in the morning was the forest near Rheden and Velp. No deer here, but the trees should give us some nice compositions as well.
Well, that didn't work out the way I hoped. For me that is. I just couldn't find any compositions and found myself still struggling with the settings of my new camera.

By the time  we were done in the forest, it was almost time for lunch, so we headed to Rheden. Once there we noticed a carnival parade was about to start. At 13:11 to be exact.
Why not take some photos here. Good plan.
We finished our lunch on time and went to the starting point of the parade. What we saw there didn't give us much hope of what was to come. A rather pathetic bunch of dressed up people and just 4 or 5 vehicles to form the parade.
Of course, as northerners we aren't used to carnival, so who are we to judge, but still, anyone could see this parade wasn't going to be spectacular.
Anyways, at 13:11 we had positioned ourselves and the carnival party kicked off with a lot of noise and cheers. Again I was struggling with my camera, leaving me with just a few acceptable photos.
Peter had more succes. He'd chosen a much longer lens, so his close ups looked really good from what I saw on his little screen.

We then went back to the car and rushed out of Rheden, to avoid getting blocked by the parade once more. Our destination: National Park De Hoge Veluwe. This is what we came for.

We'd been here quite a few times already, so we knew where we wanted to be once the second half of the afternoon would start.
But: A toilet and coffee and apple pie first of course.

Around 15:45 we arrived at our location, and lo and behold, the deer were already present. Lying calmly under the trees. We took position and took off with our photography. Perfect! No hassle with camera settings anymore. Things were turning out quite well.
After a while the deer, a group of approximately 15 to 20 male deer, with their antlers still on and complete, set course to an open field nearby. We followed and changed position and kept on shooting, getting happier by the minute. The carnival was by then already long forgotten. This is comfort zone.

Dinner at our usual restaurant in Otterlo afterwards (with really bad sate...not) and the 2 hours ride back north finished our day at the Veluwe.

As my main blip I choose the carnival after all, just because chances are little I'll ever be in such a parade again soon. (Although there seem to be some plans for next year, Maastricht. Who knows)
In the extra section there's a deer-photo. The first one I processed. Haven't had the time yet to do some more.

Update: there's a second deer photo in the extras.