Scavenging Squirrels -- Photo Story #1

       Compared to my other photo stories, I knew exactly what I was looking for and where I should go to capture it. There is a lot of action going on at Diamond Point Park; families grilling, children running around on the beach, people walking their dogs, and what I was looking for–squirrels. I brought my camera equipment to the park around five o’clock on a thursday evening, and all I had to do was choose a spot to stand. The park was full of squirrels collecting nuts and acorns, running up trees, and chasing each other.

       The problems I had with the camera and capturing the small creatures was focusing on them. I noticed the white balance was too cool and made everything look cloudy and blue. I switched the white balance to shady and it made everything look warmer and more accurate. Since the squirrels move so fast, I had to mess around with the ISO which was affecting the aperture. I went from 100 to 200 and finally 400 seemed to work the best, which makes sense since the sun was low. It was also hard to get close to squirrels because they seem to be constantly moving and they are very jittery. I would take a step forward, and the squirrel would take off up a tree.

       After spending a good hour taking pictures of squirrels, it’s easy to pick up their patterns and how they act. I’ve always seen squirrels but I’ve never paid that much attention to them. I enjoyed it! I thought it was interesting and the challenge to it was also fun.





The squirrel found a snack and ran up a tree to devour it. I starting noticing squirrels habits while I was taking these shots. The squirrels would be frightened from the ground so they scurried up a tree. Half way up the tree, almost every time, the squirrel would peak back to see what was coming.





One of my favorite shots, the squirrel has finally relaxed and is eating. Bits of acorn were flying everywhere as he was eating. It would have been a great shot for video, because I couldn't capture that on photo.



Another shot of a squirrel getting ready to eat. I really enjoy this photo because of the background colors with the leaves and how well the photo turned out.