Camera Stalking in the Scottish Highlands
During your stay at Eagle Brae, you have the excellent opportunity to participate in camera stalking. We run guided camera stalking activities, where we take groups out on the mountain to stalk wild deer, but shooting photos rather than bullets! And here, we’ve put together some advice to help you enjoy the experience to the full and get the best pictures possible. Whether you’re a beginner or pro, follow these tips and you’ll definitely benefit you in capturing awe-inspiring photos of the local deer!
1. Waterproof boots
First of all, you’re going to want a good pair of waterproof walking boots. Camera stalking at Eagle Brae will more often than not involve walking long distances over moorland to catch a shot of those troublesome deer and you won’t want anything other than clean, warm, comfortable feet during the trek.
2. Camouflage
Camouflage is key! Deer are very timid and to be honest, they aren’t all that interested in us humans. The classic brown and green colour combination is pretty much essential. To avoid deer attention you’ll also want to avoid making a lot of noise or wearing strong perfumes.
3. Natural aroma
You don’t want the deer to smell your natural aroma either. If a deer smells human scent it will be out of there – fast! To prevent this from happening you should always approach a deer downwind so that your human scent isn’t blowing in their direction. If you fail to do this the deer could run a good mile or so without stopping!
4. Here comes the sun…
Be sure to approach deer with the sun behind you. This will benefit you in 2 ways: It will make it harder for the deer to spot you as they will be facing into the sun and also this will allow for a better photo with the sun behind and shining on your subject.
5. Wear a hat!
Always wear a hat. You don’t want your valuable body heat escaping from the top of your head in the freezing cold weather but more importantly a deer is less likely to notice a human face if you are wearing a hat – you are more likely to look like a rock or other inanimate object.
6. Recycle old clothes
Old, worn-out clothes should be your outfit of choice for camera stalking. Sometimes you will have to crawl through peat hags and bogs to be able to capture that much desired photo of the deer. And if you don’t know what peat hags and bogs are…They’re as nasty as they sound!
Now when you go camera stalking you’ll have enough knowledge to blend in with the surroundings like a lizard and be as quiet as a mouse. We hope you give our tips for camera stalking here at Eagle Brae a shot! Find out more about our guided camera stalking activities.
