I have several deer that bed down daily in my yard only a few feet from my front door. They usually arrive at night and seem to enjoy laying on top of a yard of dirt that was delivered years ago for a garden project that never happened. I think the mound holds the heat from the sun even late into the day so it must be comfy to lay on at night.

I still remember the day this handsome and rather worldly-looking buck walked into my yard and laid down only a few feet from my front door. I recognized him by the scars on his face and realized I had seen him just up the street before only a couple of weeks before. I stopped to just absorb his majestic presence before deciding to grab my camera and before he lay down. The late afternoon light here in the Spring in the Pacific Northwest is lovely for portraits of all kinds including people and animals. The light reflected on him and showed off the texture of his antlers. Counting the points of his antlers led me to believe he was perhaps fairly young. Viewing the variety of scars on his face made me ponder on how tough his life had been and how hard it must be to survive with so many coyotes in our area, stray dogs, and traffic. To stop and take a few moments just to watch him so close to my house was magical. 

Port Townsend Photographer