Red squirrel improvement

This edit features footage from day 3 in Scotland. Day 2 consisted of removing an old unnecessary feeder and thinking about where to place my hide.
I tried to incorporate more squirrel footage in this video and kept it shorter then the last video.

Hide and the feeder

Tips to take from the video:

• Build a hide and commit to staying in it
• Do not move out from the hide until wildlife has gone
• Keep noise level as minimal as you can
• Its Winter so wrap up warm to reduce distractions
• Placing bait down is a great way of attracting wildlife
• Be sure to research the subject thoroughly before photographing it

To look at the journey I took to get to Scotland, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Brown Rat second Attempt

This morning I went on another shoot down at Swanpool, to photograph the Brown rat again.

The light was incredible this morning, but unfortunately doesn't show in these photos because the area is too shaded. The point of this shoot was to experiment with wide angle (fish eye). The day before I found regular routes that they take, I chose one of them and baited it with bread. My plan was that the rat would take this regular path, stumble across some food and then stop to eat it.

First of all, I took some, what I call 'safety shots' with the Nikon 70-200mm lens, to ensure I manage to capture something on the shoot. This is only my second attempt so I going to have a lot of trial and error.

Once the rat was familiar with the stock of bread I kept laying down, I placed a camera with a fish eye down. I attached my remote control, but I wasn't planning on using it just yet. I wanted to make sure that the rat wasn't spooked out by this new random object.  It took no time for it to adjust, so I started firing the shutter. 

The camera body I was using was the Nikon d200 and because it was so dark I had to increase the ISO but the d200 is renowned for a crap ISO so these pictures are really grainy. In future I am going to use a d7000 to reduce the grainy effect.
I am going to sort out a lighting system too so I can bring out the environment.

To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.

Contact:

markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography

Change of Species

As most of you are aware I am doing a major project on Squirrels. I will be producing a short documentary about my search to find Britain's rare red squirrel. I will highlight the key concerns contributing to their survival and amount of extensive work that it takes to maintain their existence in the UK.

Because I have been focusing so much on this project, I decided to photograph something else. I took a trip down to my local wildlife spot, Swanpool and photographed the Brown Rat.

The majority of people treat these animals as vermin, which is understandable, but observing their behaviour this morning made me change my opinion of them and I thought they were actually kind of cute.
This was my first shoot with the rats so I was mainly studying their behaviour and identifying the regular tracks that they take. Now I know this, I am thinking about using a wide angle to photograph them.

Here are some shots I took this morning of the Brown Rat:

To look at my previous shoots, scroll to the 'older post' button on the bottom right.



Contact:
markfoxphoto@hotmail.co.uk
www.facebook.com/markfoxphotography