Mule Deer (Hard Shadows)

In photography, even the best of subjects have no value without proper lighting. A clear sunny day, while pleasant, usually makes for flat and washed-out photographs. The best sunrise or sunset might last only ten minutes. The sun seems conspiring against photographers a great deal of the time—landing always in the wrong spot or hiding out when you most require light. In some instances, though, you can convert the very thing that will render most subjects as dull or meaningless into the feature that binds the shot together. I chanced upon these deer while driving to work one morning. With the rising sun behind them, I had only hard and featureless shadow to work with. Here is one photograph from a series of photographs I took that morning.

--Mitchell Hegman