Craig Strawbridge, from Cramlington, has spent years trying to spot the elusive creatures but the conditions have always been either too dangerous or not quite right.
This January with heavy snow predicted the 34-year-old headed to Glenshee to try to spot the species he had been trying to get pictures of for years.
Craig emphasised that in all of his wildlife photography it is very important not to disturb the creatures in their natural habitat.
(Image: Craig Strawbridge) It was snowing heavily on the day and he was accompanied by fellow nature photographers with emergency shelters in case conditions worsened.
The wind chill was -18C but that didn’t perturb them from setting out on their mission.
Craig describes how as soon as they spotted the mountain hares near a clump of rocks he dropped into the snow and they began slowly crawling towards them – careful not to disturb the serene animals.
It took them half an hour to crawl 30 metres in order to reach a good spot to take the pictures.
Have a look at the amazing photos here:
(Image: Craig Strawbridge) (Image: Craig Strawbridge) (Image: Craig Strawbridge) (Image: Craig Strawbridge) (Image: Craig Strawbridge)
Craig described his joy at finally meeting the rare species despite being in some of the “wildest conditions” he has been in.
He said: “It was great. The most rewarding thing has been photographing them and not disturbing them.
“There is a lot of questionable behaviour from some wildlife photographers but I want to see them acting naturally.
“A lot of the hares and ptarmigan will have run away from us well before we spotted them, they are so well camouflaged.
(Image: Craig Strawbridge) (Image: Craig Strawbridge) “We found this area of rocks where the animals were sheltered from us and we could crawl towards them unseen.
“Whenever we saw their ears prick up we stopped until they relaxed again.
“They key is being prepared in warm clothes so that even a -18C wind chill doesn’t get through to you.
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“It was all worth it and I was really pleased with how the pictures turned out.”
Ptarmigan have a red listed conservation status in the UK and are only seen in the Scottish mountains.
Mountain hares are now listed as near threatened on the UK Red List and the population in eastern Scotland has declined to less than 1 per cent of the levels from the 1950s.