ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 18, 1996 TAG: 9611190001
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY SASSER DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Few deer hunters will spend more time in the field this season than Mike Biggs.
Biggs, a photographer who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, won't bring home any deer, but he will bring home more big-buck images than probably anyone else in the country.
Since he sold his first photo in 1985 and subsequently sold his wholesale nursery business, Biggs has become the dominant whitetail photographer in the business.
He exposes about 1,000 rolls of film per year (36 exposures per roll) photographing deer. His files contain roughly 100,000 sharp images of whitetails doing everything deer do.
Since '85, Biggs has sold about 500 magazine covers and somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 photographs that were published inside magazines and books.
``In order to make a business of photographing deer, you have to love it,'' he said. ``Most people have no idea what we go through to get these pictures. If you're not a deer nut, you won't make a good deer photographer. Then, there's the business angle. I spend three days in the office for every day spent in the field.''
When Biggs sets up for a long session in a photo blind, his photo equipment often includes grubbing hoe, ax and pruning shears. He usually relies on corn to attract subjects to a desired spot.
``I sometimes spend an hour or two clearing away yucca or prickly pear or other vegetation that unquestionably identifies a setting as Texas,'' Biggs said. ``Deer photos are a lot more marketable if the setting is generic.'''
During the fall of 1991, Biggs was scouting an East Texas oat field, hoping to see a big nontypical buck known to inhabit the area. Sure enough, the buck was there, as were several other deer.
``I got in my truck and drove real slowly down a fence line so I could get between the deer and the cover,'' Biggs said. ``If the deer are accustomed to traffic, a truck can make a good blind.''
Biggs got within 100 yards of the target deer when suddenly he heard a clash of antlers coming from the opposite direction. A pair of mature bucks were fighting over a doe.
``Everything was wrong,'' Biggs said. ``The light was behind the fighting bucks, and I was too far from the fight. When mature bucks get in a serious fight, they don't pay much attention to anything other than the opponent. These bucks were fighting so ferociously, I decided to try to relocate to get closer and take advantage of the light.''
Staying in his truck, Biggs slowly circled the fighting bucks, stopped at a decent range and focused on the action with his 500 mm lens. For the next eight or nine minutes, he machine-gunned a motor-driven Canon on the most dramatic buck fight he has witnessed.
``It seems like you always run out of film at the worst possible time,'' Biggs said. ``I photographed one flip-over sequence. Twice when I was changing film, I was aware of one buck flipping the other. I just tried to ignore the action and get the film changed as fast as possible.
``When the fight was over, I was shaking my head, talking to myself. I couldn't believe I'd seen what I just saw, much less photographed it.''
Those photos, titled ``Fight of the Century,'' are available in poster-sized sequence format. In addition to selling photographs to magazines, books and newspapers, Biggs markets some of his favorite images through direct-mail print sales.
Most of the 70 days Biggs will spend in the field this fall will prove much less exciting than the day he had a ringside seat at the ``Fight of the Century.''
Many days will prove fruitless in terms of good photographs. Photographing wild deer requires a great deal of patience, a working knowledge of the animals, a truckload of corn and a lot of luck.
Deer don't pose for photos, though some of the most striking shots often look like a pose. The peak action occurs for a second or two at most, and he who hesitates is lost. You can't call a modeling agency and have a cooperative 12-pointer sent over.
Biggs has found, for instance, that less than a second is required for a deer to jump a fence. He should know; he has more than 300 sharp photos of deer jumping fences.
With a motor drive cranking five frames per second, Biggs can shoot three frames from the time the deer launches off his back hooves until his front hooves touch down on the opposite side of the fence. Only one of those photos, if the photographer times the sequence perfectly, captures the peak jump.
His fantasy photo would feature either two bucks simultaneously jumping a fence or one buck jumping over the fence while another buck ducks under it.
``The business has changed a lot,'' said Biggs. ``When I first started, I was thrilled to find a 10-pointer, [measuring] 140 inches [under Boone & Crockett standards] to photograph. Now it's hard to sell photos of a buck that small.
``Photography is much like hunting, except it's hunting for a Boone & Crockett buck, and you can't take the shot unless you're 50 yards or closer and the light is good. I got into this business because I liked hunting the deer. I still like hunting them. In some ways, photographing them is a lot more satisfying.''
MIKE BIGGS It takes hard work and a little luck to photograph what Biggs calls ``one of nature's most generous gifts to mankind,'' whitetailed deer.
Mike Biggs has taken thousands of pictures of whitetail deer, making him the dominant deer photographer in the nation.
ABOUT MIKE BIGGS: Mike Biggs has published two books stuffed with pictures of whitetail deer, along with text on their behavior. The newest is ``Whitetails in Action,'' which contains 439 pictures of deer up close and personal. A previous book, ``Amazing Whitetails,'' has sold nearly 50,000 copies. Each volume sells for $39.95, plus $4 shipping from: Mike Biggs Photography, P.O. Box 330787, Fort Worth, Texas, 76163, 800-433-2102.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Mike Biggs. 1. It takes hard work and a little luck toby CNBphotograph what Biggs calls "one of nature's generous gifts to
mankind," whitetailed deer. 2. - 4. Mike Biggs has taken thousands
of pictures of whitetail deer, making him the dominant deer
photographer in the nation. color.