Ever wonder what is going on behind the scenes with other blogs?  This is a little snippet in the life of The Backdoor Artist.  If you are a follower of my blog, you probably already know that I am married to The Backdoor Artist, Mary Livingston.

Mary in the creative process.

Mary has a front row seat to our backyard with a large window facing out from her work space.  It is a wonderful view.  A view which often provides for visual treats.  Yesterday she spotted a large buck across the pond.  She posted this adventure complete with beautiful pictures here at, http://thebackdoorartist.com/2012/12/11/animal-attraction/.

Spotting this big old buck prompted frantic camera grabbing and stealthful sneaking out into the yard to photograph the buck.  When he didn’t run away, we plotted to stalk our subject for more and better shots.  More frantic activity ensued with changing of clothes and getting shoes on.  We came around the garage and started approaching our prey, all the while, keeping the trees in between to hide our approach.  Next, we used the dam of our pond for cover and climbed to the higher ground.  Once, on top of the dam we had to stay low to stay out of sight.

Mary belly crawls for the money shot. The buck is on the hillside on the left side of this picture.

Mary crawled to the edge of the dam to have a clear shot of the buck with her Nikon D200.  I hung back a recorded the moment.  I Let her go first. Wasn’t I considerate.  She was kind enough to soak up the water in the grass, leaving me a little less wet.  We laid there together shooting pictures of the big buck for quite some time.

Patience and opportunity pay off. The big fellow started to leave, but he could still smell the doe.

Maybe he’ll stay.

What a handsome fellow!

We continued taking pictures together until they left.  We would have stayed in the wet grass for as long as the deer were willing to stay.  At a moment like this, I didn’t even notice the cold and wet.  It was one of those great times with my best friend.  We headed back to the house soaking wet and with Mary’s light colored pants looking more like camouflage.  All well worth it.

Off they go over the hill.

The old buck trotted off with the doe over the hill.  I’m with you brother.