For many years (since a small kid) I have been interested in small mammals. As a student I kept pet mice successfully rearing up to 12 young mice at a time. As my photography developed I started to notice images of small mammals in the popular photography magazines and in books and scientific magazines.

I decided to take the plunge and try and learn the skills necessary to photograph these small mammals.

The first thing I did was contact a few photographers (through the internet) to see how they worked. I quickly established that most of the small mammal photography I had seen was photographed in captivity and carried out with complex flash setups.

I already had previous mammal trapping experience and understood the laws associated with it. If you are reading this and are interested in trying it out I recommend that you learn how to safely trap small mammals and handle them before embarking on photography of them. By law you require a licence to trap small mammals if there is the slightest chance that you may catch a shrew which are protected under UK law. Further details can be obtained from English Nature or Scottish Natural Heritage.

I try and check my traps at least every 8 hours, place plenty of bait in each trap including something for insectivores (dog meat or fly pupae), ensure they are in a sheltered area, and I never trap on cold frosty nights or when it is raining heavily. I have also had success recovering mice and voles from the next door neighbours cat!

I tend very rarely to work with flash so one of the key considerations for my photography was to build a unit which allowed daylight photography. I built it all from cheap materials and only paid for the glass front. Its about 20" wide, 10" deep and 10" high. The sides are screwed on perspex sheets and the lid is a perspex sheet which sits on top. The front is a 3mm thick pane of glass.

This set up allows me to shoot daylight images and I just build an appropriate set for the animal I am photographing.

The main thing to consider with this sort of photography is the reflection form the glass front. Here you can clearly see the reflection of grass stems that were near the glass surface. When taking pictures I try to get the front element of my lens as close to the glass as possible to avoid reflections whilst not touching the glass and scaring your subject.

I shoot most of my images with a 50mm f/1.8 lens and a 13mm extension tube. This allows me to hand hold all my shots with natural light.

When developing the sets for your subject bare one thing in mind - small mammals are naturally shy creatures. If you have a small dark space at the back of your set then your small friend will end up in there. A layer of leaves or bark on the back wall acts as a suitable backdrop and if set up correctly will ensure your subject is out in the open. Introduce some appropriate props for your subject and then wait patiently. I try to never keep my subject in the photographic "mouse house" for more than an hour. You must remember that mice will have territories to defend or young to feed. When releasing your subject ensure it is returned to the area it was caught. I leave some food at the release site to ensure that there is a free meal in exchange for the photographs!

I feel that I have started to get to grasps with small mammal photography and I intend to try and develop it further. There are several species I have not photographed yet and I am interested in the idea of working with some of the conservation bodies to get images of Dormice, Harvest Mice and the shrews.

I hope that this article has enlightened you and possibly inspired you to go and take some similar images yourself. However before setting out I would suggest that like all forms of wildlife photography it is best to learn about the species that you intend to photograph.

Please also remember that the welfare of your subject is paramount. Life is more important then images.