Canon 1dx, 400mm f2.8, iso 100, Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Birds of India
Local Birdlife
Sandwell RSPB
Taking advantage of the early morning atmosphere...
The Dawn
Pembrokshire
The Grassholme Gannet colony
Around 40000 northern gannets breed here
It is advisable to wear a hat and keep equipment covered when visiting the colony to prevent fecal matter landing on you!
The boundless energy of common dolphins
Lift off... a youngster spy-hops near our boat.
Joining us for a bow ride
BIAZA PHOTO AWARDS 2016
Hey everyone, nice to have these two images commended in this years BIAZA photo competition. Never been big on entering photo competitions as I felt they would affect my artistic vision, but decided to go for this one. Thanks to everyone who has supported me and my work.
Click here for more.
A lovely moment of trust and nurturing.
Behind the scenes at a second innoculation session.
Reds
A snapshot of my first encounter with red squirrels.
Bottlenose Dolphins
A sunny day in Wales with calm waters and an active juvenile pod.
Thundering out to sea.
Beautiful skies and calm sea
Our first friend of the day passes by to have a closer look.
Pinpoint focus with the 400mm @ f2.8
Inquisitive pass to have a closer look at the underwater camera
Knot slideshow
Thousands of wading birds take to the air as the incoming tide pushes them off the vast mudflats at Snettisham. Click on the below for a slideshow.
Skomer 2016
My annual visit to Skomer Island was an ideal time to test out my new canon 400mm f2.8 is.
Not the lightest of lenses, but manageable, especially after viewing the results on the back of the LCD screen.
The 400mm f2.8 works well to show animals in the context of their environment.
35mm @ f4
400mm @ f4
Badgers
Starlings
An outing with the 50mp Canon 5Ds thanks to Janet Baxter Wildlife Photography. The camera reminded me a little of the 5d mk ii in terms of fps, but was surprisingly good for wildlife photography at first glance. I will aim to test the 5dsr later this year also. I guess as long as you pick your moments, and shoot bursts in pulses, rather than holding onto the shutter, the buffer can be usable. The only issue I had was the slow reviewing of images. However the quality of images and resolution spoke for itself.
Canon 100mm f2.8 macro IS L
The starlings finally arrived and took to the air.
An onlooker stunned by the sheer number of birds.
My favourite shot of the day taken with the canon 400mm f2.8 is and 2x at 800mm.
2015 Highlights
Well 2015 was a transitional year for me. There were fewer trips to see wildlife, but I managed to capture some very special moments that will live long in the memory. I have enjoyed my first talks, begun to set up my own safari's to India and had several interesting commissions, including documenting the birth of some very special cats. It was wonderful seeing my work in large format print for the third year running, and I have several exciting projects for 2016. Thank you all for your support. Hope you all enjoy my last blog of 2015:
At the start of the year, I was met with the good news that a Tigress I have worked with since she was a year old, had given birth to three cubs of her own. It was a great success story for Amur Tiger conservation and Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Tschuna's cubs were a handful for mum, but a pleasure to photograph.
A ray of hope for the future
In spring, three little Sumatran cubs had also been born at Chester Zoo, again providing ample opportunity for cub photography!
This little cub was always causing havoc with mum and dad.
Later in the year, a break in the weather allowed me to land on Skomer Island for a day in early June. I used the opportunity to really push my new equipment and I was very happy with the results.
A roaring puffin!
Closer to home, on a wet and windy day in late June, I managed to create some images for 21st Century Tiger's Global Tiger Day campaign.
Normally shy, the large male was out and in-form on this occasion.
The first of many talks took place at Yardley Photographic Society, and was an amazing night, with a fantastic audience.
In fall, selling my tiger prints at the Pictures of Life event in central London was another highlight. The interest people showed in tiger conservation was a great hope for the iconic species.
Below is my photo of Tschuna, which graces the entry to Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It is one of several images leading up to the car park that I have taken at the park the last few years. It has been on display since Autumn, and I hope it inspires future tiger conservationists.
Lastly, the biggest personal highlight was being commissioned to photograph the newly born Amur Leopard cubs at YWP. The cubs were a delight to work with and were 'relatively' well behaved. The resulting images were used globally to show the world that there is still a hope for the world's rarest big cat, and that there are positives in this age of poaching, habitat loss and human encroachment of many species. Enjoy the final images of these beautiful creatures below and I will see you in 2016.
Tal
A day with common dolphins
The coast of pembrokeshire is one of the best places in the UK to see dolphins. There are many local tour providers and the weather can be almost tropical. I managed to find a day with little wind and sunshine making our search for cetaceans easier. It was the best day out at sea so far...
Scenes like this could be mistaken for the Bahamas
They would bow ride for 10 minutes at a time.
The area near the smalls lighthouse is a rich marine ecosystem and animals such as minke whales and even orca have been sighted here.
A rare Risso's dolphin surfaces near Grassholm island. The white on the island is a large colony of Gannets.
Our luck really was in this day as a baby Risso's dolphin approached our boat...
...and surfaced within feet. A truly rare experience.
In between the dolphin encounters we came across many other marine wildlife, including this jellyfish.
However, it was the pods of common dolphins, that stole the show.
With their endless breaching and play near the boat.
All in all a perfect day offshore with some beautiful and charismatic animals.
Red Kite
Gigrin and Llandeusant are two of the best places to see wild red kites.
Capturing a dive with foliage in the background pushes your focusing technique, but is well worth it.
I always seek an image that has space and tells more of a story.
Skomer Island 2015
This was my third visit to the beautiful Island of Skomer. The weather was looking grim, but the vivid colours of the seabird colonies ensured it would be a bright day photographically. I landed at 10:00 and headed straight to an area known as the Wick, where one can obtain close up shots of the puffins amongst other sea birds. Below is a small selection from the session.
This group took flight and circled after a Peregrine was spotted
YWP Calendar
Lovely generating images to help with big cat conservation.
A day on the cliffs
Intro.
Bempton Cliffs is an amazing place to photograph seabird colonies (if the weather is good!). The unique vantage paint offers the opportunity of obtaining eye level shots of Gannets in flight, with the clear backdrop of the ocean. Below are the highlights of a four hour session in October 2014.
After arriving at the cliffs the first view is breathtaking. The loud chatter of bird colonies and the fresh sea air (depending on the wind direction!) completes the experience.
I am confronted by the master of the skies. The fastest bird on the planet, a peregrine sits on a rocky ledge awaiting an opportunity to hunt.
A pheasant screams an alarm call as people walk by
A Razorbill couple
A Gannet couple
The adults were still bringing back nesting materials.
Shooting down is possible from certain vantage points.
A final image showing the master of the skies to close...
In search of a dolphin named Killer
Dolphins and whales have always fascinated me. Their intelligence, playful nature and social bonds have all contributed to this fact. However, I guess the one aspect that truly amazes me is the convergent evolution fact. Millions of years have made them morphologically very different to us. However, in time they have developed similar traits, such as friendships, the need to stick together, working as a team and more. Their social bonds have even proven to be stronger than our own. It is facts like this that lead me to believe we can learn from them...
Below are images from my first Orca/Humpback expedition with my good friend and Killer Whale expert Pierre Robert Delatour. The experience was profounding and I hope to rejoin USEA in the near future.
The view from the plane showed us the beautiful frozen fjord system of northern Norway. The arctic in winter is truly a sight to behold. It is here where an anual wildlife spectacle takes place. The fjords shelter huge schools of herring and it is these that attract giants.
We set up base in the beautiful Arctic city of Tromso
Arctic conditions are a huge challenge
Our Orca vessel is anchored in the Tromso harbour giving us a magical experience as we wait for morning.
Pierre, is a free diver with 15 years experience of diving with Killer whales. We are briefed the night before our expedition.
We are greeted with a beautiful sunrise. The spectrum of colours that sunrises give here are pure art. Now all we needed was some subjects...
My first sight of a Killer. The captain had hoped that he would lead us to the pod. He in fact, circled the boat several times, watched us, then dived and disappeared without a trace!
We came across several groups of humpback whales. This due was far more playful than the rest...
Being at the front of the boat, with my boots filled with freezing water, and having wet gloves was a painful experience. However, when this whale came to the boat, rolled over and breached, the pain was forgotten.
Unfortunately, it was time to leave Norway, but not before a thrilling encounter with a Killer Whale. She approached the boat, twisted her head, looked up and then rejoined the pod. There is no photo of this as I decided to experience the moment through my own eyes rather than the viewfinder. The above image is just before she looked up.
