I have spent some time recently working on a new approach to photographing badgers. With a flashgun on the camera, the lighting is boring, creates harsh shadows, and makes elements closer to the camera than the subject, such as the ground or vegetation, unpleasantly bright or even burnt out.

My new approach is to use off-camera flash, and multiple flashes. This photograph is lit by a flashgun attached to a tree branch, snooted to limit the spread of light, and a flashgun on the camera to light the shadows created by the key light. Having balanced the two light sources satisfactorily, the next problem was the lack of control over where the badgers would emerge. The only solution is concentrated observation at the same sett in order to anticipate the behaviour of the animals.