Critique Squirrels today

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kirkynut

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Hi all.

This is my first post with a piccie in, so be gentle!

I went to some woods off a park today. They are literally around the corner from my house and I wanted to see what wildlife I could shoot. I took a bag of peanuts, expecting to bump into some squirrels!

Well I did bump into some but they were a little more frightened than I expected them to be, given how busy the park and woods are and how close they are to houses. They were quite entertaining though, playing a bit of a game with me as they would wait up a tree, watching me standing there waiting for them. Then one would get brave enough to come out into the open and go the short distance to the bench I had chosen to place the peanuts on. Sometimes they would bottle it but on a couple of occasions they went to the bench and grabbed some nuts before hiding again.

Sometimes they would come out into the open just a little and stare at me. They were very aware of me but just couldn't make their minds up if they should ignore me or not!

One of them did a reconnaissance via a tree above the nuts to see what I was up to!

Anyway, here's the only shot I got of one on the bench:



and here's the one on the reconnaissance mission:



Now in the first/main shot I did this at f5.6 so as to get the main of the squirrel in focus and it seems just the tail/back end of it is fading out of focus and had used the auto focus on it's face so the important parts if it were as sharp as I could get them.

Exposure was 1/250 second and ISO 3200. It's in woodland on a dull day. I'm happy with this as I daren't go any slower as it moves so quick and the dullness necessitated an ISO so high.

I had thought about the rule of thirds, having just watched them a few times before taking a shot. They were startled by the noise of the shutter each time. I turned the beep off a long time ago! I tried to put the bench in the bottom third, the squirrels body in the centre and it's tail in the top third. I think it worked to an extent!

Critique and suggestions for improvement welcomed.

Kirkynut
 
We've got resident squirrels and they're easily tempted by food (though still wary if they do see me)...

I'm not an expert like some of the guys on here, but...

It looks like you are 'just' short of the squirrels face in the first one, the leaf/bench surface just in front of his face looks sharper and clearer than the squirrel itself - maybe some micro-adjustment needed for the lens? I don't know.

If you return, it would be good if you can 'hide' the nuts out of shot, perhaps behind a small stick/nook in the bench, but otherwise he looks well positioned and given the constraints of the light it looks good.

The second looks like a snap from a camera phone :D (in the nicest possible way), the wb seems to be off (slight blueing) - again not surprised given the weather, focussing again looks short - sticks above his head to the left on the picture?


That said though, if the place is just around the corner from you, it'll be easy to practice, and to learn what they do/where they go, and how they react.... You also mentioned you wouldn't go lower that 1/250.... I would - if the weather is dull I'd try to eek out as little speed as I could do, appreciate they're quick, but when they do settle down on eating some peanuts they do tend to sit quite still until you twitch - so just get used to sitting still for a long time :D (or set up your camera on a remote release).
 
Cheers RacingSnake. Yes it seems that it focused on the nuts or the blade of grass leaving the squirrels face ever so slightly out of focus. I shall have a look at that next time as with that sort of aperture you can't get away with it.

I may be able to slow it down a little but I had considered snapping them as they moved also, which would have necessitated the speed and I would not have enough time to change the settings.

As it was, this little chap just grabbed and ran!

I'll be back there soon to try again. I've no problem with the nuts being in shot to be honest and the composure on the bench I wanted means they can't be avoided.

I will try for the same shot again to improve.

I have no interest in the second shot. I posted it only to show how cheeky they were!

Kirkynut
 
kirkynut said:
which would have necessitated the speed and I would not have enough time to change the settings.
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Completely sympathise with this - and my solution is to configure 2 "Custom" settings which I pre-set for 'static' or 'moving' items, so that rather than having to change everything on the camera, I just move my dial from "C1" to "C2" and it's ready :)
(I'm on a canon)
 
Oh yeah I understand the use of custom settings to quickly toggle from one to the other but it's tricky when you dare not take your eye off the squirrel through the viewfinder or miss it! Hence the one setting to kind of suit all.

These chaps left me little opportunity I can tell you! I spent some time too! They reacted to the sound of the lens motor let alone the shutter!

I will return in the quest for perfection! Maybe they'll get used to me. Clearly they've had no interaction with humans, unlike ones that come into gardens etc.

Kirkynut
 
Looks like you had crap light and that made for difficult shooting conditions and settings. Wait for better light, keep putting food out and they will get more used to you and become less wary, though i`d rather nobody fed these damned things. On the estate I work on they are very wary, that is because i kill as many of the verminous things as possible.
 
Thanks Fracster, it was poor light but I have to learn how to deal with it and learn mistakes as mentioned above.

I'll keep trying!

Kirkynut
 
kirkynut said:
Thanks Fracster, it was poor light but I have to learn how to deal with it and learn mistakes as mentioned above.

I'll keep trying!

Kirkynut
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Thing is though mate, if the light is really poor, then very little can be done. Keep at it and keep posting pics, people will help you and you will get to where you want to be with your photography. Try putting the food where there is more light, that would help.
 
Wow, I think I need to start doing some squirrel shots. Do you just put food out to baitthem into a shot?
 
Yes I know what you mean fracster, thanks for your encouragement.

Draaz, within reason, yes. I put food in a few locations and them wondered back and forth to see which one they had noticed. I had chosen locations I had seen them active in already.

Kirkynut
 
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