Red squirrel 'gobstopper'!

[Steve Kaluski]

Apologies for the absence, we decided just to take ourselves off for a few weeks (nice to be a free spirit :S3: ), sadly did not know the internet would be so non existent, albeit the iPhone was the best if you stood by a transmitter. Anyway, a nice time was had eating and drinking our way with the occasional snap and I mean occasional, as this wasn't a photo trip, or a working one.

Taken at a good friends location who I had not seen for some time, so it was great to be given the opportunity to try his new site, but more importantly, to have a great craic with him too. Personally I'm not fussed about the tail, for me it's the look/expression. Yes the trees are this colour, it's a living one in the forest, the horizontal part is it's roots, this is approximately 150-170 years old, the good old Scott's pine...

Steve

Subject: Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4 with 1.4x Gitzo tripod/Uniqball head
Exposure: 1/500s at f/5.6 ISO2500 EV +0.67
Original format: Landscape, slight crop.

Baited, as they no longer work for peanuts.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I love it, Steve! Perfect fur detail and sharp. The BG color complements the main guy quite well! Well done on this one!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Beautiful shot - just beautiful, love the gentle light and the ambiance, in an ideal world the tail would not have been obscured by the large tree trunk. Being picky perhaps but you may wish to consider toning down the brightness of the lichens especially those on top of the root log (on the left).

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - As you said, great expression and turn towards camera. I like the comp with the tree framing the bottom and right edge. Nice creamy bokeh and your usual excellent detail. Jonathan makes a good suggestion above. The tail is not a deal breaker for me either.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve, a 3/4 tailed Red Squirrel :bg3:.
Leaving the fun aside , very nice image from the tonal /color and IQ point of view . Really excellent processed.
Comp works well and you handled the light quite nicely.

TFS Andreas

[keith mitchell]

Recon I would spend a lot of time trying to fault this Steve, it's a cracker!

Cheers Keith.

[Hazel Grant]

Love the "what are you doing here bothering me" look. Tail ok with me. Nice to see red squirrels still exist there. Friends of mine in the UK complain that the American grey squirrel has taken over so that the reds are hard to find. I'm still trying to figure out how those greys swam that far, but perhaps I digress. Anyway, sometimes a break is a good thing. Good to have you back, esp with this shot

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love the pose, soft light, smooth BG and detail here Steve.
I concur with Jonathan's suggestion. Welcome back :5

[Mark Needham]

Welcome back, Steve! I too will be taking off for about 10 days, as we head to the Beaufort Sea in search of polar bears. To say I'm excited is an understatement :bg3: Anyway ... about this shot. I love it! Great expression captured, lovely detail, soft BG, and great colors. I agree about toning down the bright spots along the top left of the log and also behind the tail. I might also lighten the critters forehead just a touch.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks folks, good call Jon, but just on the top of the log and one below, always good to have another pair of eyes. These guys at present are really timid, staying approx 25-35 ft away, no closer, taking about 10-15 minutes to come down, then for a few seconds they are still, then bounding off, so it will take sometime to build their confidence up, deep in the pine forest, a cracking location, but not for light.

Hazel they came over by boat, like a lot of small animals, as stowaways. Now they are a real pain and are considered vermin, haven't had them for a while, now we have one back munching on the bird food so he/she will need to be dealt with!

Heads OK Mark, as the light is subtle, but balanced overall, if I was to lighten it, it would not look right and more importantly I think, would not reflect the conditions.

Good luck with the PB's, one of my top animals, love them, but ultimately the most dangerous too!

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Steve
Welcome back!
Stunning comp, love the expression!
Do not mind the tail at all, you froze a moment in time, to get the tail in full, he would be in a different position- comp gone.

Just curious, why +0.67?

Andre

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andre, nice to see you back too, posting images and replies, excellent.

I always shoot AV, but to get the spread of data in the image you need to adjust things. As light was at a premium I needed more light, however the SS drops when you + the EV so you have to increase the ISO and so it's a balancing act. I would much rather adjust the Exp by and drop it by a third of a stop, than to lighten the image.

[Mike Poole]

I absolutely love our reds (still trying to get a free full day to get up to yorks again for another go!), and they work best for me with simple clean compositions such as this one. Great characterful pose which shows off their personality very well - excellent work

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Steve,

glad you had a great wander off time :w3

Love the little chap very much, especially the cheeky look of it. I do not mind about the tail at all nor about the color of the tree. Here the color of such is just the same. Hey welcome to Europe :c3: :wave:

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Carl Walker]

Super image Steve. Gorgeous soft bg and as has been said well processed and planned. The highlights add a lot to the image too.