Incidental Deer

I was in the back yard checking on my plants when I spotted some deer in the alley.
Grabbed my camera and went to the corner where I can stand on a railroad tie and poke my head over the fence.
The deer were spooked as I took a few pictures, but true to their nature curiosity made them come back.
I talked and sang to them, and made gentle noises until they came quite close.
I was only a head and camera from their viewpoint, so they felt relatively safe.

Then I noticed that a squirrel was also coming towards me along the top of the fence.
He kept getting closer and closer until I was able to compose this shot:
The idea of having deer in the background of a squirrel photo was too good to pass up, and I even opened-up the aperture to blur the deer some more. They soon became incidental, as if I hadn't realized they were there.

When the squirrel got within five feet of me I could see he was about to jump for a hackberry tree, but the autofocus didn't know what to do and I got a bad one. I'm posting it anyway because it's so much fun:
I used my new 50mm F1.8 lens all day, and I really like using it.
In fact, it hasn't come off the camera since I opened the box in the car to play with it on the way home from the Sony Style store.
It's just right for much of what I do.
Hope I don't forget how to use zoom lenses.


I did a quick photoshoot early today for a young man who's graduating from high school next month.
The mom was nice and he was a great kid.
The pictures turned out well and they are happy.
I'm happy because they paid in advance--a 20 pack of beer, and not the cheap crap I usually drink at home.
There are 18 left.