Red Deer Stag at Sunrise

After a clear and cold night I arrived at Richmond Park to be greeted by a misty morning and the opportunity to get some atmospheric images of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus). As I headed out across the fields at Roehampton Gate my quarry was nowhere to be seen but I could hear the eerie bellowing of a stag in the distance. I walked towards its call and suddenly within a few steps the stag and its harem of Does emerged out of the mist.
I positioned myself so that my camera was pointing at the area of the field where I expected the first rays of sunrise to fall. Unfortunately, all the Deer were grazing in the dark shadows of an adjacent wood. As the sun came up it was a soft orange ball and illuminated the mist with a beautiful light. The conditions were perfect, the stage was set but there were no subjects where I needed them to be. Just when I thought I was going to be unlucky the stag wandered away from the herd and into the light. I managed to take a few frame filling images as he walked passed bellowing before returning to the shadows.