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Inspired by the disconcertingly addictive Wild Earth livestreamed South African safaris (seriously, go check them out) and being aware that over the years I’m amassed a decent amount of low-budget audio/visual equipment, not to mention wanting to do something, anything, to distract from the sense of hopeless ennui, I decided to start pretending the back garden was a subequatorial wildlife reserve.
It’s not a huge stretch. Along with the rabbit we have a profusion of cats, a variety of birds and a steady stream of squirrels. The squirrels live in the trees at the bottom of the gardens but they use our fences as a route to a well stocked bird feeder. I estimate there are between three and six adults and they are both bold and skittish. I’ve been meaning to try and capture them properly for a while now and this seems like the perfect time to sit still waiting for them to come into frame.
My kit (pictured below) is my Nikon D750 DSLR camera which shoots 1080p video with a budget 70-300mm Sigma telephoto lens I bought a decade ago. I plugged in a boom microphone but neglected to actually turn it on - we’ll see how that works next time. Dumped the whole thing on a tripod and waited for the furries.
It’s amateurish as all hell, because filming fast moving wildlife with a zoom lens is HARD, but I had fun and I think I know how to do it better, so I’ll be back out again tomorrow!
