Super squirrel!
Michelle Howell spends a day larking about with wildlife
Photographing wildlife is something I really enjoy. In 2019
I won the BBC Countryfile Calendar competition, with my image of a harvest mouse inside an apple. The prize funded my purchase of what I refer to as my “proper” wildlife lens: a Nikkor 200-500mm.
As well as taking the standard ‘record’ shots, I like to have a bit of fun with the wildlife (if they’re happy with it, of course). On a day out to photograph red squirrels, I took along a couple of props to try to get some different, fun images. I had visualised an image of a red squirrel looking as though it was pushing a shopping trolley, but the squirrel had other ideas. He just didn’t like the look of the handle end of the trolley, but he did oblige by taking some nuts out of the other end of the trolley.
My leaping squirrel shot was taken with the squirrel jumping between two raised platforms. This was the most difficult shot to obtain, and involved pre-focusing on a point between the platforms, then waiting for ages for the squirrels to jump. On this day the squirrels had the last laugh: after I packed away all my camera gear, they suddenly all appeared, jumping everywhere and posing nicely! How did they know?
Coming back from a fleeting visit to France, I realised it’s the first time I’ve left the UK since autumn 2019. How wonderful it was to be on the road again. I’m not sure why it feels so liberating – but for me, it does.
This was a functional trip that required flying to southern France and driving back. I always like these brief journeys, even though I’m not really on a photography ‘mission’. More often than not, I find that I make interesting work. I’m not really sure why this is, but this time I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity, and I went prepared.
I needed to travel light – hand luggage only – but I still decided to take my big
Fujifilm GFX 50R, a 45mm (equivalent to 35mm in full-frame terms) lens, and a small Godox flash. This is my absolute go-to kit.
There is something about being on a journey in unfamiliar places that opens one’s eyes to see the world differently. Maybe this is why I find that these trips stimulate my creativity.
I discovered this dead blue tit one day, and felt instantly inspired to photograph it. To me, it felt nuanced with metaphorical meaning. I was in deep rural France, where the elements, nature, the cycle of life and the fragility of existence felt heightened against the encroaching winter. These feelings were exacerbated by the news, dominated at the time by Omicron fears and tragedy in the English Channel.
The delicate beauty and hues of the bird’s features were in contrast to the starkness of the cardboard, and this tableau seemed in a way to speak to my thoughts on the world around me at the time. The harshness of the unflinching glare of the on-camera flash intensified this contrast.
I ended up with about 15 images of the journey; this is part of a set that I think hangs together well, despite the disparate subject matter. Sometimes it’s good, better even, to work on a project quickly, within the boundaries of restricted time.