If you thought taking a nice photo of your children was hard, imagine getting a pair of rodents to say "cheese" at just the right moment.
That's the challenge Ashly Deskins faces when she takes her cute photos of squirrels enjoying the miniature furniture she makes for them.
Deskins says she didn't pay much attention to the squirrels in her backyard before a group of babies fell out of a tree. From that day on she looked after the nearby squirrels, keeping an eye on them and leaving out almonds for them to enjoy. Then, her passion for photography took over.
She started making tiny, squirrel sized furniture for them to use, leaving almonds in just the right spot so she could capture the perfect shot.
It's a very slow process. Sometimes Deskin waits hours for the squirrels to use her sets, and it can take even longer to get a good photo. Plus, they're very picky models. They only like certain kinds of furniture, so she uses fake hardwood as much as possible.
After working with them for so long, Deskin has learned to recognize all of the squirrels who come to visit her, and given them names. There's Neville (the bravest one), Luna, Lily and Severus, one of the squirrels that survived his fall out of the tree.
If you want to see more of Deskin's photos, she's set up a Facebook page where she shares photos of all her fuzzy friends. They've also released a calendar of some of her best shots, and even the squirrels are using it.
