In wildlife photography the patience is very important

It was a hot summer, 3 years ago, in June. In one of the beautiful mountains of Bulgaria, the Rhodope Mountains, I was looking for an opportunity to photograph griffon vultures. I made a hiding place and waited patiently near the remains of a dead animal, hoping for vultures or foxes and jackals to appear.

It was late afternoon, the sun was already setting at sunset, and I was gradually losing hope of photographing any animals. My whole body ached, mosquitoes and flies bothered me all the time, and I was about to give up when these two beautiful creatures appeared out of nowhere on the ridge of the little hill in front of me.

I froze! I didn't dare to move so as not to scare them.

Very slowly I aimed the lens at them and started taking picture after picture. At one point, the mother leaned down gently and sniffed the kid. I was shooting like crazy.

The next moment the two deer turned and slowly left the place. I was happy, very happy. I could now get up calmly, pack up my gear and go to the hut to drink beer.

This photo made my day! This was the reward for my patience and suffering.

Well, that's why I say, in wildlife photography, you have to be lucky, but most of all you have to have good hearing, eyesight and a lot, a lot of patience!

Canon EOS-1D X MarkII
EF200-400mm f/4 IS USM EXT 1.4x + second teleconverter 1.4x III

EXIF:
1/640sec at f/8.0
784 mm
ISO 640