A few days away for R and R was just what the doctor ordered for us New Forest Photographers!
We spent a few days away at The Acorn Inn in Evershot where we had a lovely room - small but perfectly formed! The food was fabulous! Fine wine and ale were also available if you like that sort of thing! Oh OK then we do like fine wine and ale, but purely for medicinal purposes and we were on holiday! I think it helps to recharge the batteries - we never touch the stuff otherwise you understand!
Our first day we decided to go and shoot a few deer Melbury deer park! Oh no! Not shoot a few deer - take some pictures! Apparently it was a round trip of 4.5 miles and I began very enthusiastically, pulling on my big boots (well after the rain I was sure to need them) and really getting in the mood for a long walk!
Malcolm was the first to see the Stags! (No surprise there - Mr Observant never misses a thing!)
Oh my word they were magnificent, so many in one place! Unfortunately we were unable to get in very close but had our heavy zoom lens on our cameras (became much heavier too by the end of the walk) and were able to get a couple of shots.
At first they were a little inquisitive but very soon, realising we were not close enough to be a threat....
....got bored and turned their backs!
Well, as I said, I began with great enthusiasm and whilst taking photographs I never really feel the weight of my camera! However, once I realised we weren't going to get any more deer suddenly my camera and lens felt incredibly heavy - and oh was that my feet and legs beginning to ache too? Yes, I could definitely feel the pain! So poor Malcolm got the 'how far have we got to go' and 'are we nearly there yet' and 'don't think I can walk any further' routine! Well, as you can imagine there wasn't much sympathy coming my way, things like 'you knew how far it was' or 'oh not much further' and 'it's good for you'!
So suffice it to say that I sat down at the first seat we came across! Let me tell you that was right where we started too - no sitting down in the deer park! I know what you're thinking - she doesn't look that worn out? Well, ask yourself, am I really going to show you in a photograph just how I felt? Certainly not! I am grimacing really but very good at post production!