Image Focus

The photo represents an incredible moment for me. In 2020, with the world lockdown, I was lucky to be able to move my family from Budapest, Hungary, to our holiday home in the countryside near Lake Balaton. The Lake is the largest lake in Central Europe and the holiday house is on the north side, which is hillier with some fantastic views. The house was my grandparents place, so it was nice to be able to revisit old viewpoints I remembered from my past. I would spend time each day in the hills, roaming the forests or riding my bike. All the time, I would have one of my Sony cameras with me to capture interesting details or moments in the day.

Every day, I challenged myself to photograph something different from the previous day. For a few days, I concentrated on the vineyards in particular. This region has tons of wineries everywhere because the location is perfect for growing grapes. I knew that every morning deer would roam amongst the rows of vines and every morning you could spot them. So, I would ride my bike slowly and quietly, checking each row. I had my Sony Alpha 7R III in my hand, with the FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS, and my finger ready on the shutter.

This time I saw this deer and she was just standing there. I know from experience that when you stop, don’t move and don’t create any sound, they just freeze and watch you. If you don’t move, they don’t move. It was a crazy experience. I had the camera in Silent Shutter mode, which was essential as even though I was shooting at 400mm, her ears were sensitive to any small sound. I also shot handheld, relying on the Steady Shot stabilisation in the lens and camera to shoot at 1/125th second. Without Silent Shutter and Steady Shot, I wouldn’t have been able to get this shot.

I hardly moved, and we had this face-to-face moment for at least 30 minutes. I took many photos and some videos too, but the most fun thing was watching her eyes and ears moving. Her senses were curious about everything around her. It was a really deep experience for me, and once I had the shots captured and loaded on my SD card, I quietly and calmly moved on. I didn’t want to make her stressed.

When I was editing the image, I was blown away by the amount of detail that the Alpha 7R III and the 100-400mm had been able to capture. I could magnify the image and zoom in to see all of the tiny details in her eyes. The technology really allowed me to appreciate the magnificent animal even more than I could with the naked eye.

Now, when I look back at the image, I always remember the beautiful moment that I shared with the deer.