"I managed to get some really great images…"

So said Rose, an enthusiastic and experienced wildlife photographer who came, along with her husband Ian, with me to track down hares on a Wessex Wildlife photography trip.

As you can tell from her reaction, it went very well. We met up at an exclusive location at 05.30 am just as the rain cleared away westwards. We stalked into a good view point over-looking a field of spring barley where I had previously spied a good number of hares. The morning was spent sitting quietly, watching a small group of hares playing around. Ian got one or two shots as hares moved around the field. After about two hours we started to 'move' the animals.

This is a technique, developed from big game hunting, that I use to get animals close to my clients. It is vital that the animals are happy to move towards the photographers and are exhibiting natural and unworried behaviour. Over the course of the morning both Ian and Rose were able to get shots of hares close in, at about 10 or 20 metres, as they moved gently around the fields. They were able to photograph the animals washing themselves, feeding, fighting and even mating.

To see some of Rose's great images, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/99469949@N04/

If you would like to get up close and personal with one of Britain's most enigmatic mammals, visit the Wessex Wildlife web site. And here's one I took earlier!