A squirrel emerges from a hole in a hollow tree.
Mar, 2020Views
106
Likes
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Happy
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 20 rank week 2
Top 30 rankTop 20 rank week 1Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on a nature trail here in Ottawa, Canada, when I went for a walk in the winter with my son, who was 2 years old at the time.Time
This was taken mid-morning.Lighting
The lighting is natural from the time of day I'm the forest on a cloudy day not long before a snowfall -- which is to say that I was lucky this turned out as well as it did!Equipment
My camera (a Canon EOS M50) was hand-held at the time. I had it out to snap some shots of my son and the things we saw while we were on our walk. I actually had a telephoto lens on at the time, an adapted EF-S 55-250mm, because we were looking for birds when this squirrel came by. This shot was actually quite close so I pulled back to 55 mm, which is closer to the equivalent field of view of an 85mm lens on full frame.Inspiration
My son and I were exploring the trail and I was getting him excited about seeing animals. This American red squirrel came up to us quickly and then scurried into this hollowed-out tree from the ground. I had noticed the tree just before, where it had this hole in it, so on instinct I aimed the camera at the hole, and sure enough, this critter ran up inside the tree and poked its head out for a brief moment.Editing
This was shot as a raw file, so I ran it through some basic colour grading and balancing. Generally this is pretty true-to-life. I have another treatment of the same image that desaturated the tree and surroundings to get a colour pop on the squirrel's fur, but this is the more conventional version.In my camera bag
This has changed quite a bit over time. I used to pack about anything I thought I might need, but these days I prefer to travel light. In cases like this I usually have my Fujifilm X-T30, which I migrated to after Canon, with a 55-200mm lens. On my own I might bring my tripod for a hike. I also do a fair bit of street photography, which is usually with my Ricoh GR III compact camera.Feedback
Get out there. This was kind of a right place/right time thing, but with wildlife I have found that you need to get out there often to run into these situations, and be patient and calm to keep from scaring animals away. I was lucky my son was feeling mellow at the time.
