Photographer captures a moment of calmness during Covid-19

Photographer captures a moment of calmness during Covid-19

Mazing footage of wildlife in London's Royal Parks were captured by a photographer who has to get up at 3am to bag her shots.But the stunning results are worth it for Astrid Tontson.Mostly taken in Bushy Park in southwest London, she has managed to capture deer and other animals drinking from beautiful streams as the sun rises.And she has even shot calming video of the sun rising as the swans feed on the misty ponds.Some of her work has gone viral, with one post receiving thousands of shares and likes on social media with many saying it is "exactly what we need at these times of lockdown". Astrid, from Surbiton ,works at a company making body-worn cameras for police and was gifted with a camera for her 16th birthday. She said: "The thought of getting up at 3am is not pleasant but it is so worthwhile.

I have to get up at that time to capture the light."Despite being all grumpy when the alarm goes off, by the time I get to the park I've forgotten about everything. "It's such a nice thing to see a sunrise, a new day begin. "The waking up part is not my favourite thing to do at all, but being in lockdown has allowed me to do that a bit more. "I do have a full-time job so weekdays it's harder to do, but now I'm working from home I'm often home by 6.30am.

I can start my work at 9am and it doesn't interfere with my normal routine."Sometimes in my lunch hour I need to take a nap."She added: "It's such an energising thing to do to see the sunrise.

When you come back you feel like it has set you up for the day. "Reading people on Twitter who aren't allowed to their homes and have been able to enjoy that part of the day through these short videos, it really resonates."Astrid, whose mother is Spanish and dad is from Estonia, added: "My dad was always taking photos - just of our family. "I think I was an introvert. "The idea of being behind a camera and capturing something fascinated me.

My dad got me one for my 16th birthday, "I was always taking photos when I was growing up but it only became a serious hobby when I got a used Nikon DSLR."Astrid has also said the responses to her work in the past couple weeks has been "overwhelming", and says the lockdown has something to do with it. She said: "I think it's all to do with timing.

It's just so beautiful to see just a piece of nature amongst all this craziness that's going on right now. "It became very apparent that people were looking for something calm, something to take your mind off things. "Anybody saying positive things has really made my efforts to go out more than worthwhile. "I've never done it to gain likes.

Likes don't feed the soul.

It's just heartwarming to hear people that it helps them get through the day."

Mazing footage of wildlife in London's Royal Parks were captured by a photographer who has to get up at 3am to bag her shots.But the stunning results are worth it for Astrid Tontson.Mostly taken in Bushy Park in southwest London, she has managed to capture deer and other animals drinking from beautiful streams as the sun rises.And she has even shot calming video of the sun rising as the swans feed on the misty ponds.Some of her work has gone viral, with one post receiving thousands of shares and likes on social media with many saying it is "exactly what we need at these times of lockdown".

Astrid, from Surbiton ,works at a company making body-worn cameras for police and was gifted with a camera for her 16th birthday.

She said: "The thought of getting up at 3am is not pleasant but it is so worthwhile.

I have to get up at that time to capture the light."Despite being all grumpy when the alarm goes off, by the time I get to the park I've forgotten about everything.

"It's such a nice thing to see a sunrise, a new day begin.

"The waking up part is not my favourite thing to do at all, but being in lockdown has allowed me to do that a bit more.

"I do have a full-time job so weekdays it's harder to do, but now I'm working from home I'm often home by 6.30am.

I can start my work at 9am and it doesn't interfere with my normal routine."Sometimes in my lunch hour I need to take a nap."She added: "It's such an energising thing to do to see the sunrise.

When you come back you feel like it has set you up for the day.

"Reading people on Twitter who aren't allowed to their homes and have been able to enjoy that part of the day through these short videos, it really resonates."Astrid, whose mother is Spanish and dad is from Estonia, added: "My dad was always taking photos - just of our family.

"I think I was an introvert.

"The idea of being behind a camera and capturing something fascinated me.

My dad got me one for my 16th birthday, "I was always taking photos when I was growing up but it only became a serious hobby when I got a used Nikon DSLR."Astrid has also said the responses to her work in the past couple weeks has been "overwhelming", and says the lockdown has something to do with it.

She said: "I think it's all to do with timing.

It's just so beautiful to see just a piece of nature amongst all this craziness that's going on right now.

"It became very apparent that people were looking for something calm, something to take your mind off things.

"Anybody saying positive things has really made my efforts to go out more than worthwhile.

"I've never done it to gain likes.

Likes don't feed the soul.

It's just heartwarming to hear people that it helps them get through the day."