Where it started

The annual pilgrimage to a favourite spot for deer offers Tom a chance to reflect on his first decade in professional wildlife photography

- Tom Mason

It's 6.30 in the morning and the first light is just showing on the horizon. London's Richmond Park has just opened to traffic so, after a swift disembark at the car park and a trudge through the long, wet grass, I'm standing in the ferns. This is one of my favourite places in the world. It's far from the wildest or most spectacular scenery I've ever seen, and the noise of the planes as they land at Heathrow is hardly the most magical soundtrack, but the deer rut brings me back year on year.

It's not the deer rut itself that makes this Royal Park such a favourite of mine. Of course, it's an outstanding location for photographing wildlife. The herds of red and fallow deer make for wonderful photographic opportunities, especially during the autumn season, when the males are bellowing proudly, vying for attention and stature in the hierarchy. The ground is crisp and, on many mornings, a thick mist can fill the air, suddenly lit with epic orange glows.