Progression of the Brown Rat

I have been photographing a brown rat the past couple of days. Rats, like squirrels, are a member of the Rodentia family. So to get a break from squirrels, I decided to photograph rats and then apply what I learn to the red squirrels when I photograph them next week. The grey squirrels I have been shooting are far too tame to transfer the techniques I learned to the red squirrels. So instead, I decided to change to a subject that is still common but not as tame. The brown rat seemed a perfect choice.

I used a Nikon d7000 as opposed to the d200 to reduce the grain in my shots as appeared in my photos in the last post. My other factor was that it was too dark under the tree so I also used a pocket maglite to lighten the subject.
In these shots I wanted to show the rat within its environment.

There are a couple rats in the area so in future, I would like to capture some interaction between them and show more behaviour. It is just a learning curve and hopefully I will get the shots I want with time.
This will most probably be the last shoot I do on the rats before leaving to go home. As from next week I will be photographing Red Squirrels in Scotland and then in Jersey so stay tuned if you want to see some cute sots of red squirrels!

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

Lundy Island - Grey Seals

After owning the goPro hd camera for a good six months, I thought I would show you some wildlife that the gopro has encountered. The first video that I have put together are the clips I took when I went to Lundy Island to swim with grey seals. It was my first time using the camera properly and i'm glad I could document it.

The dives consisted of two sessions, one in the morning, where I was about half a metre from one and the second was in the afternoon, where the seals came up and nibbled out fins. We were very unlucky with the visibility that day so the underwater footage could have been better..
Another problem I encountered was that the battery doesn't last very long in cold water so it died pretty quickly! Now I have an extra battery bacpac for double power so next time I won't miss anything! 

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

A Sense of Mood and Place - The Grey Squirrel

This morning I decided to go on a sunrise shoot to a place I have only heard of. When I arrived, it was first light and pouring it down with rain. Before I even thought to take out my camera, I took a couple hours to observe the habitat and gain a better understanding of what was there. The rain was not a problem as I had waterproofs but I believe it is the added element to a good photograph. 

On the shoot there was all sorts of bird life, but of course, I was most focused on the Squirrels.

After my last shoot I decided to pack in the long lens and try to get some intimate shots of the greys, I still had the 300mm in the kit bag but as a safety lens. My aim with this shoot was to incorporate the habitat as well as the subject in my photograph. This is to create a sense of mood and place, seems to be the trend in all professional wildlife photographers at the moment so I decided to follow. To do this, I needed to use a wide angle lens and to be very close to the subject.
This was my first shoot in this style so there is a lot of room for improvement but here is what I achieved:
Click to enlarge the image:

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


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