Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-07-27)

34 27 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

KIT LIST

Food ▲

I try to avoid feeding badgers as they end up

snuffling for food the majority of the time and

display less natural behaviour. If you do feed

them, limit it to one handful of peanuts/

sultanas per badger and scatter feeding days

to avoid them becoming dependent on you.

Camoufl age

netting

Rather than hiding from the

badgers, I use netting to hide

from other people in order to

ensure no unwanted attention is

brought to the site. It can also

help at new sites when trying to

blend in to minimise disturbance.

ALL PICTURES © TESNI WARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Luna is the dominant

sow at this sett and owing

to cataracts will stay very

still when observing

her surroundings

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II,

40-150mm, 1/30sec at f/2.8,

ISO 1000

While badgers are

nocturnal, the shorter

nights in summer give you a

greater chance of seeing

them while it’s still light

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II,

100-400mm, 1/500sec at f/5,

ISO 3200

Badgers can be incredibly rewarding animals

to photograph, but the task is not without its

challenges, advises Tesni Ward

WHEN I initially decided to start a project on badgers

I could never have imagined how it would change both

my career as a photographer and my life in general. Up

until that point, the only badgers I’d ever seen were on

the side of the roads after unfortunate encounters with

vehicles, and I was determined to see them alive and in

the fl esh. On the evening I found the sett I stayed behind

in the hope of capturing a glimpse. This large sett

comprised of over 20 different entrances on a steep,

muddy bank but in the end I decided to position myself

far back behind a large tree. Time passed with no

sighting, until I heard a snap directly behind me. Slowly

I turned around to fi nd nothing, but as I turned back

I came face to face with my fi rst badger. He stood about

a metre away, looking at me with a perplexed expression.

What lasted only 30 seconds felt like a lifetime, as he sat

down and just stared at me. Eventually he shuffl ed past

into the bushes and from that point onwards, I was

hooked. Ironically I had no images to show for this as the

badger had been within my minimal focal distance!

There are numerous challenges when it comes to

photographing these incredible animals, with one of the

most common ones being a lack of light. As they are

nocturnal and often favour sheltered areas for their sett

they will usually emerge late in the evening when the

light is in short supply. You also have to combat the harsh

contrast between the black and white fur that makes up

the distinctive and unmistakeable face of a badger. If you

do happen to have some direct sunlight to work with, you

will have fun trying to balance out the exposure for both.

WILDLIFE WATCH

Badgers

Tesni Ward

Tesni is an award-winning

professional wildlife

photographer based on the

outskirts of the Peak

District. While the majority

of her work focuses on

British wildlife, she also

photographs projects across

the world and has

aspirations to promote

conservation and education

through her images.

See http://www.tesniward.co.uk

▲

.

.

.