Experience Day: Wildlife - Red Squirrels

Course Contents

This workshop is designed for photographers who want to learn how to photograph red squirrels in a woodland environment, while also learning the techniques to capture fast moving wildlife in low light conditions. This is also a great day for photographers that just want to photograph red squirrels and and improve their wildlife photography skills. We will take you through all aspects of your camera, especially how to focus accurately in what can be challenging conditions. We will also cover the optimum camera settings for this type of action photography. As you master these skills, we can then start to look at lighting, image composition and lens choices as the day progresses to ensure you get the best images possible. As these are wild red squirrels, there is no guarantee how many or how long we may see them for, so part of the day may also include heading out into the Yorkshire Dales to find other wildlife to photograph.

You will be photographing the squirrels from small hides and from within a forest environment to give you the chance to shoot a wide range of images of these amazing animals

On the morning of the course you will meet Neil in Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales, where we will host a quick briefing about the main camera settings needed and what to expect during the day. We will then head out to the location, while continuing to provide tips and advice about the best techniques and kit choices to photograph the red squirrels and wildlife. Neil will be on hand throughout the day to answer your individual questions, while at the same time helping you to improve your photography skills. We will also have the opportunity to photograph a range of wild birds and animals that also live in the surrounding areas

We will be photographing outside and from within specially built photographic hides. We would suggest that lenses such as the 100-400mm or 180-600mm will give you a range of composition options and cover most images you would want to take. Sometimes the woodland birds and squirrels may come closer, so shorter focal lengths might be useful but for most of the day expect to photographing at 300 - 600mm.

Please note the workshop itinerary may change due to weather conditions and the of availability of the wild squirrels

Please bring a packed lunch / snacks and your own drinks with you as no refreshments or toilet facilities will be available until we return to Hawes

We can bring a range of Nikon Z series cameras and lenses for you to use on the workshop if needed. If you would like to borrow any other kit please get in contact with us at [email protected] with your request and we will do our best to bring it along

Meet at 8:30am at the Hawes Countryside Museum car park. Post code is DL8 3NT. w3w: ///mysteries.offline.jams

We will then head to the squirrels location which is a short drive away.

There is a short downhill walk to the hides which can be quite wet and slippery if it has been wet. We recommend you wear waterproof walking boots or wellies

Please bring a sturdy tripod if you want to attempt the ‘jumping’ squirrels shot (weather permitting)

The photography session will usually ends around 2pm depending on activity levels of squirrels. After we return to Hawes, if possible we will aim to find a local cafe where we can sit down and review and edit the images from the session, finishing the workshop around 4pm