36 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2018 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Michelle’s advice
Know your camera’s capabilities: the
best way is to go out and take pictures,
make mistakes and learn how to fix
them. Your subject is unlikely to
hang around while you change
settings or try to focus.
You don’t have to capture every
moment: it’s sometimes good to
put the camera down and just enjoy
watching what’s going on. Above all,
photography is supposed to be fun,
so make sure you enjoy yourself.hotographing
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?
http://www.michellehowell
photography.comP
Super
squirrel!
Michelle Howell
spends a day larking
about with wildlifeMichelle Howell10 | WILDLIFE36 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2022 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com