The Bunny Hop

Attached to this are photos of the bunny that lives in our yard. I call him skittles, probably because he's kind of skittish and won't let me near him. Skittish sounded to British, so I went with skittles instead.

Skittles was out in the yard today enjoying some sunshine on a lovely spring day. I just got home from a photo shoot and was planning to mow the lawn next when I spotted him trying to hide from me in the overgrown grass.

I asked if he was trying to hint that I was neglecting my yardly duties. He of course did not answer, but I swear I saw his little bunny nose twitch in reply. "Shut up," I told him, "or I'll take your picture."

Skittles hates to have his picture taken. Every time I see him hopping around, I go running upstairs to grab my camera. I usually stop to attach a zoom lens because I know how skittish he is. By the time I return to take his picture, he's nowhere to be found. "One of these days," I usually yell out to closest bush or tree because I have no idea where Skittles is, but I figure he's probably hiding under there somewhere.

Today however, I happened to have my camera on me since I just returned from a job. I quickly grabbed my Nikon out of the bag, quietly got out of the truck, and walked over as close to him as I could get.

I snapped off one shot and he just returned a cautious look, but didn't run. I took a slow step closer and snapped off another shot. He still didn't run.

I took another step closer and snapped off another shot. I could see it in his eyes. He finally let me take a couple pictures of him, but he was about to bolt out of there if I dared take one step closer.

Like any good bunny-paparazzi photographer would do, I took one more step and quickly snapped off the photo above, which is the last one I got before he took off. The skittish little sucker hopped pretty fast. I went running after him, quickly snapping off a few more shots as he hopped away because you just never know.

I didn't have time to fool with any camera settings so I just shot on automatic. I hate the lack of photographic control, but during quick bunny chasing action I have to trust Nikon more than myself.

The last shot of him sitting before he took off (above) was shot with a shutter speed of 1/50 at f/5.6. The next shot (not shown here) was pretty funny because it shot at a shutter speed of 1/80 so the front of Skittles was in focus, but his hind legs are all blurred out in a circular motion while he was hopping away. It really highlights how fast his legs move.

I took another one that came out too blurry to show - instant delete. Then I got another good shot of a half hop with his front legs up in the air, but his back legs still digging in and not airborne yet.

To my surprise, he stopped after a couple hops. I'm not sure if he stopped for a quick pose, to rest, or just to wait and see if I would still follow him. I figured if he was just going to sit there, I was going to try getting closer again.

As I took another step closer, he said to heck with me and went hopping for cover. I liked the shot below better than the others because it catches him in mid-air with no feet touching. It was shot with a shutter speed of 1/320 at f/5.6, like Nikon could tell I was running after some action. All were a focal length of 120mm because that was the lens I had attached when I got home.

After this last shot, I thanked Skittles for the photo shoot and pretended I didn't see him hiding under the tree. I went inside to unload my gear and put on my lawn mowing shoes while he went to hide. I feel bad about taking away all the ground cover he had, but today's society and local laws demand you keep your lawn more trim than your beard, so I must.

Hope you enjoyed my Skittles the bunny photos. Check back for more photos either here or on my Flickr page.

Ty Randall