This is the hilarious moment a red forest squirrel posed behind the frame of a tripod with both paws placed on the camera, ready to take the perfect shot.

Perched behind the camera lens, the bushy-tailed creature has an expression of intense concentration and appears as though it is taking photographs of a blue tit bird.

The endearing photographs were captured by photographer Vadim Trunov in a forest in the Voronezh region in western Russia after he spent several days waiting for the perfect shot.

A red squirrel stands behind the camera while a blue tit bird acts as his model in this hilarious photograph taken in Russian woodlands

In this photograph from the same series, the squirrel appears to look at a Jay while balancing on the camera tripod

Photographer Vadim Trunov managed to photograph the animals at the perfect moment after he laid out food around the camera

Other images in this stunning set show the animals swapping places, so that the bird looks like the photographer with the fluffy squirrel as its subject.

Mr Trunov first created a haven of food in the forest, causing the woodland creatures to flock to the area, before painstakingly waiting over the course of days for the animals to happen to be in the desired positions.

The 31-year-old photographer said: 'When winter begins, the food becomes scarce in the forest. Animals and birds are concentrated in the areas where there is food.

'So I have created such a place in the woods - I installed feeders on trees. One for squirrels, another for birds. Thus birds and squirrels will be located in this place, and it will be easier to take pictures. I was feeding the birds and squirrels for days in a preparatory stage.'

The photographer then set up the Canon camera near a tree stump and attracted the animals into the picture with food, using sunflower seeds for the birds and nuts for the squirrels.

Mr Trunov said: 'A flock of birds flew in on the seeds. The birds sat on the wooden stump and pecked seeds, and if I put sunflower seeds on the camera, the birds sat on the camera.

'There were many birds, thus increasing the probability of finding a good moment. The squirrel was looking for nuts and was near the camera. I photographed animals and birds when they were in the desired moment and position.

'I had to wait a long time to photograph interesting points. It takes days.'

The roles were reversed in this photo, when nuts for the squirrel were placed on the tree stump, and sunflower seeds for the birds were left on the camera