The Pika

[Ralph Thornton]

This little animal lives at fairly high elevations. It makes its home in large talus fields that are near vegetation. The pika spends most of its waking time gathering grass, sedges and other vegetation. It cures that under rocks in the talus fields and stores it for the winter. The pika does not hibernate and spends as much as 7-8 months buried under the snow feeding on its summer harvest.

I spent most of a day trying to photograph pikas last summer and this is the best I could get. Those little guys can really move and rarely stay in one place for very long. I'll be trying again if the snow ever melts out of the mountains this year ; )

Canon 5DMKII, Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS at 200mm, 1/1500, f4 and ISO 100.

 

[Thomas brookes]

Haha that's cute!!! Not sure if your aware of the while pokemon phenomenon but they had a cute yellow character called "pika chu" wonder if they took any influence of this little critter, brilliant capture Ralph !!!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Looks like he's stopped to have a look around to check kits safe around the place I think ... Not that I know anything about them
Very cute... And well captured ... I can imagine the patience needed to capture a moment like this!

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Thomas,
My kids are too old (36) so I missed Pokemon. But if they had a character like that I'll bet someone got the idea from the pika. I think they are found circumpolar if only at high elevations.


Hamish,
You are right. The little critter paused briefly, just long enough for the photo. Got a bunch of pics but only this one was any good. Patience paid off. Will try for more this summer.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Nice one Ralph - especially like the OOF backdrop, which looks suitable rocky still at f4.

Were you in a hide at all, or laid out on the ground?

 

[Ralph Thornton]

I think the background is one of the more difficult aspects of the photo. There are some real dark spots that detract IMO from the image. Maybe a 70-200 f2.8 would help but I don't think I want to carry that lens on long wilderness treks.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Is the 2.8L that much heavier then?

I think the OOF dark areas actually give you some depth to the image, and make the in focus Pika pop out in a more 3D fashion.

You could try lightening the dark areas in PP perhaps and see if that is more to your liking?

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Yep, The 70-200 f2.8 L IS II is 1,490 grams (3.28 pounds) vs. the f4 L IS which weighs 760 grams (1.67 pounds) almost twice as heavy and maybe more than twice as big.

 

[Bryan Hunt]

Great shot Ralph good detail in the fur and nice catch light in the eye

 

[Laurie Parker]

Fab shot of a cute little animal, I like the background on this too nicely OOF but still showing his habitat

 

[Glen Roberts]

Definitely a little cutey and a great shot too...