Richardson's Ground Squirrel

[Andrew Merwin]

I have made 6 trips to YNP in the past 8 weeks and there has been a dearth of wildlife to photograph. On some trips, I never tripped the shutter. I did find this Richardson's ground squirrel on a recent trip. I removed an OOF blade of grass that seemed to be growing out of the squirrel's head.
Mrk IV, ISO 400, 500MM + 1.4, f/5.6, 1/2500, 0 EV.

[Hilary Hann]

Andrew, I like the pose of the squirrel and the way it is using it's paws. Very cute and the long stalks of grass add a nice sense of environment. Not sure how much of a crop this is but I would perhaps have moved the squirrel to the left of frame, with a bit more space on the right, just to move it off centre a bit. I like the soft oof background.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andrew, IMHO this is your best Wildlife image to date. The pose is a little cracker, but the detail & sharpness is spot on, seems you have cracked it. :w3 Agree with Hilary on adding a bit more room to the RHS. If you had got a little lower...:bg3:

TFS
Steve

[David Stephens]

Exposure and detail are perfect, but the pose trumps all. I do agree with the crop suggestions, getting it out of the middle of the frame with more space to the side where he's faced and looking.

Well done.

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks for your comments.
Hilary, I agree with you about the crop. It is a FF shot. I wish I had moved the lens barrel a bit to the right to add more space on the right but that area was a bit cluttered.
Steve, I was as low as I could go. My tripod was at its bottom point when I shot the image.
David, thanks for your comments about the exposure & detail.

[Rachel Hollander]

Andrew - great pose and detail. Agree about more room on the rhs. Too bad about the dearth of wildlife in YNP recently, shouldn't the rut be starting?

TFS,
Rachel

[Andrew Merwin]

Rachel, the elk are rutting. However, it has been so warm lately that the action seems to be occurring mostly at night & in the high mountain meadows. The heat has probably slowed down the action also.

[Rudi van den Heever]

Special pose for the camera!:bg3: Great IQ!

[Ishmeet Sahni]

exceedingly cute.... very well taken.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Andrew, as mentioned above lovely pose with good detail and sharpness. Like the upright grass stalks supporting and framing the pose of the squirel.

[Harshad Barve]

Terrific image and agreed with all good comment
TFS

[Andrew Merwin]

Harshad, Pieter, Ishmeet & Rudi thanks for your comments.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Sorry to be late to the party here, Andrew...excellent image and the low angle and pose are so cool...:bg3:

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks Morkel. Its good to hear from you.

[DanWalters]

Nice low angle. Like the way the squirrel is picking at the grass.