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HenrikSpranz
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~Springtime ~



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A wild living European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus-Ziesel) seems to enjoy spring

A wild living European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus-Ziesel) seems to enjoy spring

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cameraCanon EOS 5D Mark III

settings Aperture f/5 ISO 500 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 400/1 

upload_dateApr, 2016

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4337

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Awards

Contest Finalist in Spring 2016 Photo Contest
Air Strap
People's Choice in Animals with Personality Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in 800 Rodents Photo Contest
Runner Up in Isolate And Simplify Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Isolate And Simplify Photo Contest
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Peer Award
djalmaarmelin keithart billmartin_2615 Tudorof davidjprosser ileanaandreagmezgavinoser NancyFlemingPhotography +197
Superb Composition
JamesHarmon shellymaan bobby69 rmsh reginaldgargaro67 MEDOM edandaniphone +68
Top Choice
robinwhisperer mitramazumder Prithwis laurieleigh_0232 Stellasview jrhardy Emross8 +67
Absolute Masterpiece
clotanguay Bharathy _6726 NHampton christinavanvuuren SVPhotos Fester13 +64
Outstanding Creativity
autumnmartinez cjlois mrsb102 A_Shukla naidukumpatla sayram tayaeverroad +32
Magnificent Capture
nathaliemedeiros bull_67 TimMatthews160 paulfaria DATsPhotography Mieliedriehoek Tommyshot +19
All Star
JayneBug kimnikon5500 Eidolon Bossy CarolynMarshall justkim1106 mjbranscome +6
Superior Skill
cindiwalters_7260 shannonmartinpaul thegonmachado KLCPhotography Smiffy florence KRMeyer00 +3
Genius
NaturesHaven

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Yellow Beauty Photo ContestTop 20 rank
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Spring Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank
Spring Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank week 1
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We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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On The Wild Side Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Monthly Pro Vol 22 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Spring 2016 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Covers Photo Contest Vol 29Top 10 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 29Top 10 rank week 2
Spring 2016 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank
Rule Of Thirds In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 9Top 10 rank
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 9Top 10 rank week 2
Covers Photo Contest Vol 29Top 10 rank week 1
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 2
Rule Of Thirds In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
800 Rodents Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 9Top 20 rank week 1
800 Rodents Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Four Seasons Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Isolate And Simplify Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Isolate And Simplify Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1

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16 Comments |
DebJay
 
DebJay May 05, 2016
Adorable!
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 10, 2016
Thank you DebJay!
YvonneJeaK
 
YvonneJeaK May 10, 2016
Superb. Voted in covers photo contest Vol 29
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 10, 2016
Thank you Yvonne! :)
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots May 10, 2016
Great capture! Congrats.
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 10, 2016
Thanks a lot!
JohnCookPhotography Platinum
 
JohnCookPhotography May 10, 2016
Love it
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 19, 2016
Glad you like it - thanks!
VHiggins
 
VHiggins May 15, 2016
wonderful! Congratulations!
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 19, 2016
Thanks a lot Vonda!
mjbranscome
 
mjbranscome May 26, 2016
Congratulations! This picture brings an automatic smile to my face.
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 26, 2016
Thanks! That's what it's intended to do :)
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots May 26, 2016
Gets cuter every time I see it! Congrats.
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 26, 2016
Thanks again! :)
RobinV
 
RobinV May 26, 2016
Congratulations on winning the 800 Rodents Photo Contest.
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 30, 2016
Thank you Robin!
gatorbait38
 
gatorbait38 May 26, 2016
Congratulations on winning the contest. Well deserved. Great shot!
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 30, 2016
Thanks a lot!
cevert
 
cevert May 27, 2016
Congratulations!! Beautiful image :)
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 30, 2016
Thanks a lot! :)
NaturesHaven
 
NaturesHaven May 27, 2016
Congrats on this winning image.............super shot................
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz May 30, 2016
Thanks a lot!
nandicmb
 
nandicmb July 10, 2016
Congratulations on your many Awards!
HenrikSpranz PRO
HenrikSpranz July 11, 2016
Thanks so much!
kathyk_abq
 
kathyk_abq April 13, 2017
LOVE this! Love the shallow dof!
carolcardillo PRO+
 
carolcardillo July 28, 2017
Fantastic!
BrilliantSun Platinum
 
BrilliantSun January 05, 2019
doesn't get much better than this. great shot..
shellymaan
 
shellymaan February 24, 2020
Awesome!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#wild #wildlife #ziesel #european #ground squirrel #squirrel #spring #dandelion #cute #bokeh #bokehlicious
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

This shot was taken on a meadow near Vienna where these cute little fellows live. I'm an amateur nature photographer, but I'm passionate and try to roam nature every weekend.

Time

As the European ground squirrels (Spermophilus) don't get up that early I visit them after macro shooting at sunrise at about 8am to still have usable light.

Lighting

Hard light wouldn't get you a good photo here - so morning light or a clouded sky can help a lot so you can still control your exposure and get all the details of the fur, a nice reflection in the eye and a soft overall impact.

Equipment

This shot was taken with a Canon 5d Mk iii, and old Canon 400/2.8 L USM ii and a bean bag.

Inspiration

First of all I really love this members of an endangered species and I try to help them as well, because their habitats sometimes are still in danger and their numbers get less. So I use these pictures as well to get exposure for them and their situation and motivate people to sign petitions to help them. It's a pleasure to watch them and it's very easy to see human like mimics in their faces and they always put a smile on their face. The best shots are when they are interacting with something like their food - and eating is a very important business for them :).

Editing

I always do some base processing in Lightroom as I always shoot in RAW format. I adjust the white balance there, equalize the histogram a little, do lens corrections and crop the photo. Exported to Photoshop I use the tonal correction, some dodge&burn techniques, probably do some minor adjustments with Nik Color Efex too and I use NeatImage for noise reduction and sharpening. I skip the Color Efex part if the photo is meant to be put into an international nature photo competition, because it's not allowed there.

In my camera bag

Canon 5d Mkiii, Canon 16-35/4 L IS, Canon 50/1.4, Canon 135/2 L, Canon 180/3.5 L macro, Canon 400/2.8 L IS USM, bean bag, Sirui and Berlebach tripods, reflectors and diffusors, gradient filters, polarization filter

Feedback

In nature photography - especially when doing wild life shots - you need patience, but you need to be on guard to use situations like this for a photo. Practice using your tele lenses in fast action situations. Doing a lot of water ski slalom photos in the past helped a lot to take this photo and don't miss the opportunity. Practicing helps to improve your technical skills, but it's good to also reflect your work frequently. There's always room for improvement and watching other photographers' work helps a lot too - not to copy their work, but to ask yourself what you like in their images and find a way to achieve that or something similar.

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