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The Dragons Breath

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The Dragons Breath is an image that I created of a Red Deer at Bradgate Park in 2019. I spend many cold, frosty mornings with the deer here and it’s images like this that make the experience magical.

On a particular frosty November morning, I followed a mature stag around the park for about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. We photographers often visualise the image we want, and then watch nature do the complete opposite. On this occasion, my deer friend got the memo and headed down to the open plain, just beside the path, exactly where I wanted him.

The light was warming just as he started reaching up for a morning snack of oak leaves. I set myself about 60 degrees off-centre from the sun in order to catch the stunning backlight, without suffering from the bright direct light. This image came together in a flash with the leaves glowing in autumnal colours, the stags breath set alight and famous dry-stone walls in the background.

Created by Niall Bell (niall@niallbell.com)