Mountain Cottontail
Spring Critters Are Almost Here
It feels like Spring is around the corner with the bluebird days and warmer temps but I wouldn’t count winter out yet. Anyone who has lived in Montana for more than a year knows that we can get snow storms until June but I think the days of negative double digits are over. People aren’t the only ones right enjoying the long days of sunshine. All of the furry critters out there are spending their days warming themselves in the sun. This Mountain Cottontail spent the morning lounging in the warm morning sun after spending a good time cleaning its paws and face. Unfortunately, it was pretty bright out at the time and the range of light between the dark green background and those dead grasses in the foreground meant I had to underexpose to avoid a lot of bad highlights. This meant losing a lot of the detail in the fur along the rabbit’s back. Still, a lesson was learned and a morning of fun still had.
It’s Spring Time and the Critters are out There
It’s finally Spring and that means that the kids are out. I love this time of the year because there are so many possibilities of photographing parents and their kids doing what they do. It’s a whole other challenge of cpaturing that part of the life cycle without endangering the critter and it’s a very important one. Whether it’s a Nuthatch going into a cavity, a Prryhuloxia bringing a nice grasshopper in to it’s noisy kid or even a couple of pup foxes bugging Mom to nurse, there’s is always some great moment out there waiting to be captured.
Not to mention that the kids themselves are usually pretty darn cute. If you want to start with something simple and easy to find, you can never go wrong with rabbits. They are everywhere and are always a fun subject. Trick with working on a ground critter, get low. Getting low can eliminate that background and make it blur out. Not to mention everyone looks down at a critter munching on the grass but not enough look across at their level. It can be a very powerful image when you see life from their perspective.
Is Spring Here Yet?
Yes i pose the question is Spring here yet? Two days ago we had huge wave of birds come through the house, the Evening Grosbeaks are even bask and yet it continues to snow. The was taken on Wednesday, it’s the Mountain Cottontail that has been living around the house this past winter and he decided to munch on the snow and summer shoots that were popping out. This was just hand held 600 out the bedroom window. Nothing complicated. Where that rabbit was eating now sits almost two feet of snow. When will it end? The critters certainly don’t know.
Dashing into the woods
