The Wildlife Photographer

Yes, that’s me. I’ve been inspired by the BP gang (not the petroleum folks) who haves been risking their lives to bring us so many great photos, so I thought I should jump on the wildlife bandwagon. Thorough preparation is the key to great wildlife photography, and I did not want to mess up my adventure before even starting. Here is my checklist:

1. Find location on map. BP found.
2. Identify means of transportation. Train.
3. Find departure point. Waterloo Station
4. Find nearest station to location. Teddington
5. Bring glasses to be able to read Teddington when buying tickets. I didn’t bring glasses and asked for a ticket to Toddington. This got me into a verbal fight with the guy at the ticket office, only to be saved by a gentleman in the cue.
6. Bring camera. OK
7. Mount a long lens. OK
8. Get padded camouflage protection for camera and lens. OK
9. Bring portable camouflage hide. OK
10. Bring survival kit in case the weather turns nasty including tent, sleeping bag and flare gun. OK
11. Dress up in full camouflage suit, including hat with deer horns, to integrate with the fauna.
12. Last, but not least, spray yourself with a high quality deer scent fragrance. I can recommend “Buckunique” or “Magic Doe”. They had run an out of “Buckunique”, so I had to go for “Magic Doe”. This turned out to be a problem. (it gave me plenty of space on the train though)

I doubted between a selfie and this shot, but thought that this would be less harmful to my reputation.