After my initial scouting mission to my chosen hare site, designed to get me thinking about the best locations from a composition and lighting perspective, it was time for my first proper session to actually put my camera to use. At least that was the plan. And those of you experienced in wildlife photography will be all too aware that a plan is often entirely dependent on the wildlife. So....an early alarm was set, gear prepped and packed....time to get this project up and running!
Tuesday 16th April 2024
Arriving just after 6:30am (later than planned), my first job was to scan the main field by the entrance for any signs of hares. I'm always an optimist, so I was hoping I might find a hare ready and waiting for me close-by. This was not to be. I did however see one about 100 metres away so decided to slowly approach in a crouch before a more low profile move towards it. I didn't get very far at all before it was off, so I notched that down as another lesson - go low early!
There is one field in particular that ticks a lot of boxes for what I'm hoping to achieve, so I slowly made my way there. At this time of day, I was walking into the rising sun, so any hares encountered here would be backlit - no bad thing - though it did make scanning for them quite tricky. Upon reaching the field (a crop just starting to come through) I opted to do a lap and shoot anything I found along the way. I found a hare not too far away but again it was super wary and didn't hang around. A little further up, in the short grass of the field margin, a number o rabbits could be seen and just beyond them, a hare tucked down close to the ground. This seemed a perfect opportunity so I didn't even try and get closer, instead ditching the non-essentials and beginning a slow crawl with my camera. In terms of kit, I was primed with my Nikon D500 and 500mm F4 lens, with a beanbag tied to my lends hood with some camo netting. This allowed me to have at least some support and allowed for far more flexibility and mobility compared to a tripod. I was wearing waterproofs and a camouflage balaclava - anything to distort and hide facial features really helps.
Given the lack of patience I exhibited last night, I decided to really take things slowly this time around and I'm pleased to say it paid dividends. I'd shuffle 5 or 6 feet at a time, stop, rest and repeat. This gave the hare time to adjust to my presence, assuming it was aware, and hopefully realise I wasn't a threat. It also allowed me to get my breathe back. Who knew army crawling with a heavy lens could be so tiring?!
Once I was in range, I remained still and silent for a little while, again in the hope that this would give the hare some reassurance that I wasn't a threat. I then fired off a few shots and thankfully the hare remained unfazed.
After a few minutes, the hare was obviously relaxed enough to have a little wash and clean....
It then sauntered off from the field margin into the crop field, giving great views of it's entire body.
Just when I didn't things could get better, it changed direction and headed slightly towards me, allowing me to get some super close-ups.
At this point, I think the hare had realised I was a nuisance and turned tail and disappeared into the crops at rapid speed, soon becoming a speck in the distance before hunkering down out of sight in some deeper vegetation. What a great start to the morning!
I decided to continue around the main field I was in and hoped that I'd be able to get some shots with the sun at my back and I didn't have to wait long to find my next subject. Unfortunately this didn't work out as hoped despite a cautious approach so I carried on until I found two hairs in the crops but not too far in. They seemed more interested in each other, paying little attention to me and one eventually came towards me and sat at the edge of the crop before coming into the margin. This was a wonderful moment as it gave me a super simple view of the hare sat one the horizon, with a lovely blue sky providing the background (I was shooting uphill). It did seem very alert, as shown by its ear positioning.
This hare then moved back into the crops but not before then coming back towards me. I fired off a few shots before stopping and repeated this a few times before the hare edged a little closer, sitting pretty for a portrait.
Once it moved off, I managed a pleasing shot from distance, with an out of shot hare causing some interest.
It was fast-approaching time for me to head back home for work but I couldn't risk one last moment with another hunkered down individual. Again, I really took my time to get relatively close, reeling off a few shots before getting closer and closer until I was no more than 10 feet away. It was actually incredibly difficult to get a clean shot given the amount of crop between me and the hare but here's an example.
The clock was now against me so I made a very slow and careful retreat back the way I'd come, before making my way back to the car, with a huge smile on my face. What an absolutely brilliant few hours and an incredibly positive start to what I really hope will be a great project. I've already got some images I'm really pleased with and I've learnt some valuable lessons along the way too. What's more, my mojo for getting out and capturing the natural world feels like it's back, so watch this space for another update very soon!
