Grey Squirrels Part II

Hello again... So last week I went to photograph grey squirrels at a local park and found it really enjoyable and I think I got a few alright shots out of it but I knew that there was still room for improvement, as always. So today I went back with shots in mind.

I decided that the main photos I wanted were ones with shallow depth of fields with orange leaves in the foreground and background.

I started by making a trail of dead leaves along the floor coated in peanuts to attract the squirrels. I piled up leaves at the back to act as the background and here are some of the results...

I then decided to take some portrait photos because I am just that crazy...

I hope you like the photos, I think they've improved since last week... Tell me what yo think...

Grey squirrels

I woke up this morning to discover an extremely rare occurance, a sunny day in the middle of Autumn... So I thought, I must make the most of this. I decided to go to a nearby park to photograph grey squirrels. I knew a location with hundreds of tame squirrels which was a bonus, so I hopped into the car and went there.
Most of the day was spent filming but I did take some photos as well.

As its autumn the squirrels are always stashing their nuts in the ground which was behaviour which I wanted to photograph and I think that the first shot here shows it well...

These shots were what I wanted to get most as they show the animal with the Autumnal colours

I'm often found lying on the ground in order to get shots like this one, I get dirty but its worth for the outcome

I discovered a tree which was pure yellow and so lay down some peanuts in front of it in order to attract the squirrels to pose with it as a blurred background and here are the results...

 Here's one more photograph from the day to show the tameness of the squirrels

I was also very excited to be using my new Manfrotto video tripod today for the first proper time and can say it was amazing!!!!

Kit used:

-Canon 60D

-Sigma 150-500mm

-Canon 100mm L

-Manfrotto 504HD tripod

Wildlife of St Ives

I have just got back from a family holiday to St Ives in Cornwall and thought I would share with you some of the photos I took over the week. 

When I thought of St Ives and wildlife I thought seagulls, seagulls and more seagulls. When I got there however their were much more varied bird species which, despite all being very common, certainly made for great subjects to photograph. 

One of the birds which I particularly enjoyed photographing were the House Sparrows which had made home in a pile of unused lobster pots near the fishing boats. A lot of the birds were very dirty and often their feathers weren't well aligned. 

This particular bird was extremely scraggly 

The joy of working with these birds as well was that they were used to human company due to living in a very busy place which made photographing them a lot easier.

They also made for great silhouette shots with the ropes and wiring from the lobster pots:

Here the setting sun made a nice creamy red coloured backdrop for the photo

Another great bird which I found enjoyable to photograph was the Turnstones' who were very friendly. I found them foraging in the rock pools, there were around 10 at one site. I found that low angled shots worked well with these birds meaning that I got very wet and sandy... but I got some good photos so who cares.

One morning I was very privaliged to spot a group of around 6 dolphins around 50 metres out to sea. They were jumping out of the water and playing with each other. It was a real joy and something which I definatley did not expect to see. I took some photos although they did not come out great as they were so far away:

In this case they actually jumped completely out of the water which was amazing to watch

Obviously as it was Cornwall there were indeed plenty of Seagulls. Mobbing people for their chips and for their pasty . Although we see them as annoying birds I did enjoy photographing them not only because I could get close but also because of the way that their eyes stand out from the rest of their body. I hadn't noticed this before but they really do have beautiful eyes.

I also came across many other birds including many crows, finches and of course as I was on the coast Cormorants. 

Overall after not knowing what to expect about the wildlife of St Ives I can safely say I would enjoy going back their with my camera again... 

Kit used in these photographs - 

-Canon EOS 60D

-Sigma 150-500mm lens

-Canon 100mm L lens