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Shooting Squirrels: Secrets Revealedin Tutorials |
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By michaelcastellano/Michael (69,548)  
on October 23, 2005 8:19:33 AM CDT
Introduction: Know Thy Squirrel Introduction: Know Thy Squirrel
However, even in areas where interaction with humans is common, behavior can vary from population to population and more importantly, from squirrel to squirrel. These controversial but never boring critters also take on different physical characteristics depending on the region. I'm told that squirrels in the Montreal area of Canada are often black, whereas the ones in NYC are overwhelmingly gray with a touch of brown and red. In the Southeast, it appears that many are distinctively redder in their colourings. I believe mountain squirrels with those pointy hairs sticking up from the ears are a different species all together. Nevertheless, the tips and tricks that follow should work for most people shooting in an urban environment. What Makes a Good Squirrel Photo?
As with any other interesting and technically sound photo, you'll need to pay attention to lighting conditions, your background, depth of field, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc. Compositionally, you should look for an unusual angle (eye to eye level and looking up from ground level are particularly attractive ones for squirrels) or circumstance. A key compositional ingredient in a good squirrel photo is when it captures an aspect of behavior or a pose that is atypical or humorous, or which shows the darker side of squirrel life not normally witnessed, or which presents behavior that resembles that of humans. In other words, use your imagination, such as I tried to do with this photo of an approaching storm as seen in the catchlight of a squirrel's eye. Dances with SquirrelsFood of course, in the form of almost any sort of nuts you can scrounge up, is the key to entering the world of the urban squirrel. While you don't necessarily want to wind up with 200 frames of squirrels munching on nuts, feeding them provides you the opportunity to interact with them and learn how they behave and how you must behave. Almost any nut will do, but I have found that small pieces of ground almonds works very well. The Squirrel Whisperer
First you'll need to learn how to get close to them, how to move and not move your body, and even how to "speak" to them. Generally speaking, if there is a squirrel in an outdoor area or park, you can call them over to you by remaining competely still and making some gentle clicking sounds. You can also speak in a low and gentle whispery voice (but in a higher child-lke tone). They will usually approach you, stop, and approach again a number of times until they arrive at what they feel is a safe distance. You can often get some cute poses as they stop and stand on their hind legs to get a better look at who else other than you might be around that might pose a threat to them.
How close they will come depends on the particular squirrel. Some will take the food right out of your hand, although this is not recommended as their claws and teeth are quite sharp and you can easily get unintentionally bitten or clawed. However, if you are brave enough to try this, it is suggested that you find a location where you can sit on a bench or even on the ground, as squirrels will tend to get closer to you when you are low to the ground, and in any case you will not be able to drop lower later to hand feed as most will run off if you suddendly bend down. It is also important when tossing your food around to toss it slowly and gently. Don't toss until they are fairly close as they often walk right past the food if they didn't see exactly where it fell. Clicking to them often gets them really close without even having to produce the food. Lower is Better Even if you are not going to hand feed, being low to the ground offers you the best angles. When they stand up to look around, which is often only for a milisecond, it makes for some of the best shots so try to anticipate this and be ready. When they stand and look side to side, they often have a sly or sneaky look on their faces out of concern for their being a competing squirrel or a predator in the area, and this often makes for a good catch. I call this the "boxer" pose, or the "Kung Fu" pose.
I should mention, however, that urban "street" squirrels (the ones in your backyard as opposed to park squirrels) are much harder to approach and are often pretty wild. Probably because they do have a lot more predators (cats) to fend off, and because people angry about having their gardens wrecked or their TV antenaes eaten are usually not too friendly. You can get some good shots of these wilder critters, but you'll typically need a long lens and don't expect them to come very close to you (this one was an exception), even with some bribing. Your roof can sometimes be a good place to catch these guys if you have a setup where you can stay mostly out of sight. Another thing to remember is to not move your camera suddenly, especially if you have a longer lens. Try to assume your final shooting position before they get too close. It also goes without saying that the best times and days for park shooting are when the light is favorable AND there are not many people around. Kids are especially deadly when it comes to ruining your shots and scaring off your subjects. Secrets Revealed: Posing Your SquirrelNow that we've covered some of the basics, you are ready for an advanced tip taught to me a few years ago by an enterprising squirrel. And that is to be able to directly manipulate your subject into an ideal pose and composition rather than just relying on patience and luck. The pose I am talking about is the "peek-a-boo" squirrel pose. 
You might get this pose by accident, but you can spend days in the process. Basically, the ideal is to get your subject on the side of a tree and with a really nice background behind it, as well as with a cute and expressive pose. Squirrels in this position with often peek around one side of a tree, and then suddenly switch positions and peek at you from the other. In the process they make for some great compositional material.
A Simple StrategyWhile it takes some practice, the strategy is quite simple. Go to your local park and scout out a location where there are some large trees and plenty of squirrels. Bring along a longer lens (200mm or longer) and study the backgrounds behind the trees. You'll want a softly blurred neutral background that will highlight the squirrel but not be too bright and make your exposure an impossible one. Once you do this, get out your food and call over the squirrels. The idea is to make friends with one and gain its trust. Feed it for awhile, and then see if you can manuever it up into a suitable tree by walking VERY slowing towards the squirrel in a non-threatening way. The squirrel will get a little nervous, but will not be terrified of you. Typically it will head for safety and the nearest tree. But, since it's interested in being fed and not really threatened, it will usually only climb up the tree for a short distance. It will then hang on the side and peek around at you to see if you are still willing to feed it. By moving close enough to the tree that it will not come down, but not so far away that it will come down again, you can often get off a number of shots. Talking to them also keeps up their interest and makes them peek and pose more. So there you have it. The squirrel man's greatest secret! Share Your Own Secrets
Please feel free to leave some comments on what you think of this article -- feedback is very important and encourages more people to post useful articles. Please also share your own experiences and squirrel "secrets." You are also invited to post links to your own favorite squirrel shots, especially ones that illustrate some of the tips in this article. And thanks for stopping by! Michael Castellano Read 19,721 times
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Squirrels can be found in all fifty states, and in urban areas as well as throughout suburban and wilderness areas. Because urban areas typically have fewer predators, we often find they have much larger populations. Squirrel behavior is likely to be much different in the wild as opposed to where there is lots of human contact. My experience has been mainly with city squirrels, so this article will deal with the topic mostly from an urban perspective.
Anthing but one of Rocky 
I hope this brief little article was useful for those folks interesting in taking squirrel shots. There is, of course, a lot more to squirrel photography, but there should be enough here to get you started.