An unlikely friendship that led to some spectacularly adorable photographs.
Geert Weggen , a Swedish nature photographer, spent the better part of six years befriending animals such as squirrels in a bid to capture one-of-a-kind shots.
The award-winning photographer told Good News Network : “I create scenes with small props and toys in which I hide nuts to attract the squirrels.”
“I then wait, often for hours, for the squirrels to find the hidden nuts and for the right moment to take my photos,” he said.
In one amusing pic, Weggen is shown playing chess with a squirrel.
To capture the photos, Weggen makes use of the squirrels’ curiosity.
“Some of the squirrels are very curious and don’t shy away from human interaction,” Weggen said, adding, “Sometimes they crawl on me and even enter my home, but mostly they tend to congregate wherever there are nuts.”
Weggen has even put together a three-minute YouTube video that shows the behind the scenes work of how he captures the photos and makes the videos of the woodland critters.
In another video, Weggen uses dioramas and props to recreate scenes from the popular television show Game of Thrones that feature wild red squirrels as it’s characters.
Another pic Weggen posted to Instagram captioned “water concert,” shows a squirrel channelling its inner musician as it holds a guitar.
Instagram users seem to like the photos.
“Oh those ears! such an adorable capture, Geert! He can watch himself play,” one user wrote.
Another commented: “Total gold. Marvellous as always.”
Weggen has published eight squirrel photo books in four different languages.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
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