It is raining lightly, the wisps of fog are moving through the forest, the sun will not rise for 15 minutes and it is still semi-dark. You don't hear any birds, the deer anyway, and it's eerily quiet. I step into a small clearing to explore the area, take a few steps and suddenly a deer steps into the clearing across from me. Although I am in a camouflage suit, I am standing in front of him on the meadow, completely surprised, without any other cover. I think of slow withdrawal, but would probably have frightened him and driven him away (I NEVER do that with animals). My adrenaline level is at the top, I get down on my knees and so I take photos. He looks at me and can't place me. I snap. He approaches curiously. I keep shooting and have to reduce the focal length. He's getting closer again. I'm already down from 600mm to 300mm, look past the camera and the blow hits me how close it is. My hands are now shaking so much that the lens is already shaking despite the tripod. Since I'm very wet because of the rain and now I'm starting to sweat, the viewfinder is fogging up and I can hardly see anything through the camera. I think "please stop"! He is now 9-10 meters in front of me and I can even hear his breathing - otherwise it's very still. I feel very small now ...... thinking about whether I should slowly cut backwards - him is way too close to ME. Then he slowly turns around and walks leisurely back into the forest. I'm almost full of pants.
I am surprised that the pictures turned out halfway despite the barely sufficient light ...