I wonder what’s up there?
Over the many years I’ve been posting pictures I’ve taken of squirrels on Saturdays, I’ve gotten a lot of comments wondering how I can get so many interesting photos of the little guys. It’s not easy… and it takes a lot of patience and persistence along with a healthy dose of luck.
And that luck cuts both ways…. mostly against me. I miss many more great photo ops than I actually get simply because I wasn’t fast enough to catch it, or the photo blurred for whatever reason. I got a whole slew of great pics to share over the coming weeks from my park trip on Thursday…. but there were also many I can’t share simply because of that bad luck.
Same squirrel, same pose, just a tad more zoomed out…
But if you keep trying, keep snapping shots, resist the temptation to just go home and play Minesweeper… you can catch some photos you literally weren’t expecting to get. I only found Batsquirrel because I was scanning the tree trying with my zoom trying to find a different squirrel I’d lost track of. The squirrel with the tennis ball walnut in its mouth zoomed past a different squirrel I was taking a picture of, or else he never ends up in my collection and I don’t learn about what those green balls are.
And sometimes good luck comes my way in different forms. Like how I took multiple pics of this squirrel standing in a tree, one arm on a higher branch, looking upwards. The first shot blurred. The second and third, you see above. And for the heck of it, I decided to take a fourth…
I like to get a handful of shots even if the pose never changes so I can choose the best one to keep. And because sometimes…… very rarely, but sometimes…… my redundancy will capture something unexpected like this:
Ack! Not that human again!
In the second or two it took between clicking the button and the camera actually getting the photo, the squirrel turned to look right at me. I couldn’t believe the result when it popped up in the viewfinder! And of course, as soon as I looked back up to the squirrel…. he was gone! As soon as he saw me, he beat it… meaning I’d have never gotten this great photo had I just reacted to it, and not merely gotten lucky already being in the process of shooting while he turned!
This week’s surprised Saturday Squirrel was brought to you by Lady Luck…
Have a great weekend everyone!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Great shot, no matter how long it took you to get it. And you’re right when photographing animals, patience is key. Thank God for digital photography!
Yeah, I’d imagine I wouldn’t be bothering with this if film photography were still the standard…
I don’t know how I ever I did. And waiting a week to see your pics? The horror.
it’s amazing, how many great ones you do catch
I’m honestly surprised as well, but quantity sometimes yields quality!
How he looks at you, amazing, I almost see him showing his little fist to you.
I think the squirrels here would be more likely to show the finger than their fist…
Lady Luck is very good to you in the squirrel department!!
Pam
Yeah, not counting all those great pictures she took from me over the years!
Good to read about the process you go through to get your amazing squirrel photos. These little critters are fast, and you’re right that being so unpredictable they can change poses within seconds. 🙂
Literally! He probably went from turning my way to making a dash in less than two seconds. No way anyone could react to that, let alone get the camera shot off…
Redundancy is a photographer’s best friend. Ansel Adams took ‘extra’ images. All good and even mediocre photographers do (or should). I figure if there’s 1 good image out of 30, I feel like I’m doing great. Have a great weekend!
Oh lord, that brought up bad memories of school photos. OK, stay still, I’m gonna take JUST ONE MORE…. I hated getting my picture taken once, let alone a million times!
LOL, at least they only took 2-3 shots for school pics. Oh yeah…and none of them were especially good. It’s kind of a rite of passage though. School pics = 🤮
In the old days, you’d get a perfect shot but the camera was at the end of the film roll.
You never knew when the roll would really end. I almost lost a picture of a lightning bolt that way…
Another little squirrel I’d love to just grab and hug. I know it would bit and scratch the shit out of me but it is just so darned adorable.
Totally worth the rabies!
That’s such a great shot! He does look fed up and exasperated.
Definitely surprised to see me!
So THAT’S the trick to it all…patience. Well you do a magnificent job, so your patience must be great!
When it comes to taking pictures of squirrels, I guess my love of it gives me patience. Because I sure as hell am not patient when it comes to almost anything else…
That last one is perfect!
Yep! As happy as I was with the initial pose, turning to see me in surprise was epic!
Your mug shot is probably on the wall in all the squirrel bars and squirrel law enforcement agencies. “Eek, it’s Photo Man. Run!”
It wouldn’t surprise me. I think they fear me more than the people who walk their dogs…
That’s adorable! Such a great shot! The squirrels must find you a very curious creature. You get so many shots of them looking right at you.
Sorry it took me close to a month to visit this post. I usually do all my article and blog reading on my tablet but it’s so old it won’t play nicely with WordPress and I’ve been unable to like or comment. I guess it’s time to upgrade…or just get used to reading on the tiny screen of my phone.
I was wondering why you hadn’t been around much. WordPress has changed a lot of shit in the last few months, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s affecting something on your tablet. I’m kind of surprised my blog theme Twenty Ten, which of course was named after the YEAR, even still works!