I think I should rename my blog. It’s nothing but squirrels anymore…

I have two problems with my squirrel perches. The biggest problem is that they are shaded most of the day so light is nearly always at a premium. I’m lucky to shoot at ISO 400, 200 hardly ever and let’s forget about ISO 100. But then when there is light, it is also a problem. It creates bad highlights in the background and now that there’s snow, the highlights are intolerable. Especially at this time of the year, when the sun never seems to reach the squirrel perches and if there’s one thing that doesn’t work, it’s a shaded subject and over-lit background. But today in the early afternoon, some muted sunlight reached the forest while the ambient light was sufficient for the squirrels, so I got a combination where the highlights were manageable.

Later in the winter, in February-March, sunlight starts to hit the perches again so I can hope to shoot with lower ISOs, get faster shutter speeds and sharper pictures. The sharpness I get from high ISOs and relatively show shutter speeds is barely acceptable. Chances are that everyone will be sick of squirrels by then, though!