VladPsh

Little buddy

After putting up a bird feeder, I had a few squirrels who like to sort through what fell on the ground around it. I would always throw them a little bread or c...
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After putting up a bird feeder, I had a few squirrels who like to sort through what fell on the ground around it. I would always throw them a little bread or crushed up tea biscuits (which they love), and fattened them up a little for the winter cold. This little guy would politely come and stare at me, waiting for the goodies everyday. I think they are so cute, but that's me.
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NIKON D5200

settings

Aperture 56/10 ISO 800 Shutter 10/10000 Focal Length 3000/10

upload_date

Sep, 2016

Views

Likes

Awards

Zenith Award

Summer 2020

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Outstanding Creativity

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

All Star

Behind The Lens

Location

This picture was taken in Montreal Canada on a snowy morning, right on my back patio.

Time

This was an early morning shot, when the squirrels that I had locally when I lived in Canada, would survey under the bird feeder that I put up, for whatever the birds drop. I always felt bad for them, especially when it was super cold outside, so I would feed the squirrels too. They would get bread, or handfuls of cereal, which they really loved. This particular morning, since everything was covered in snow, this little guy waited patiently for me like a little gentleman, to give him my offering for the day, which I did of course. He was just so cute standing there covered in snow, that I had to take a picture of him.

Lighting

The lighting that morning was obviously a very lovely diffused look with clouds overhead, and the beautiful white snow acting as a great reflector everywhere. So it was very evenly lit, and easy to capture.

Equipment

This was shot many years ago when I first got into photography, and bought a Nikon D5200, which is what I used here hand held. I think it was taken with my 55-300 f4.5-5.6 ED VR lens at the time. I bought that lens to take pictures of birds that would frequent my feeder. It worked out well in this instance too. It wasn't too hard to get a close shot of him, as I would hand feed him sometimes, so he wasn't afraid of me at all.

Inspiration

I was inspired to shoot this picture because this little guy was too cute not to capture. The freshly fallen snow made it very picturesque, and for a portrait gave that minimalist look, which I liked.

Editing

Yes, I'm pretty sure that I did some editing here. To be honest, when I took this I was so green to photography, that I think I even took this as a jpg. This was a pretty rookie editing job if I do say so myself, and I'm sure I would have done a 100 times better job today, especially having shot it raw. I think that all I did here was play a little with the levels, and contrast. Nothing too grand really.

In my camera bag

These days I still shoot Nikon mostly, but I have since gone mirrorless. For full frame I carry a Nikon Z6, and for aps-c I have my Nikon Z50. I like to do video too which is why I went with the Z6 over the Z7, and I really love my choices. They are great cameras for sure. I also have a Samsung NX1 that I use, which I also love a lot. I only wish Samsung were still making cameras. Lenses are too many to list really.

Feedback

I would say, keep your camera handy, and if you have daily visitors like I did here, it shouldn't be too hard to capture them doing something cute. Also it goes without saying, but a good telephoto lens is very helpful. I didn't know this then, and still got a decent shot, but today I would say a good subject tracking AF is very handy. If you are fast enough, single point can work too. If you spend the big bucks and have a Canon R5, Sony A1 or a preorder on the Nikon Z9, the camera will simply do the work for you with the animal eye AF that they now have. What a time to be alive for photography.

See more amazing photos, follow VladPsh

VladPsh

VladPsh

Little buddy

After putting up a bird feeder, I had a few squirrels who like to sort through what fell on the ground around it. I would always throw them a little bread or c... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow VladPsh

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After putting up a bird feeder, I had a few squirrels who like to sort through what fell on the ground around it. I would always throw them a little bread or c...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.