JOURNAL

As some of you know from my last few blog posts, I have been given permission to record and photograph the wildlife on a local farm. This patch of land is home to a whole host of residents from Roe deer to Little Owls. With this in mind I wanted to put up some nest boxes and top of my agenda was to create nest boxes for the resident Little owls. Now with the help of my Dad we managed to get the first prototype built. Here’s how we went about it. First steps were to measure out the sections we needed to build each panel. We followed Bob Sheppard’s Little owl design as it was recommended by the BTO. We used standard plywood but I would recommend marine plywood if you can afford to. With the help of our four-legged helper, Scruffy, we were all set to go and

It was as if someone had turned on a snow switch. The day before I had been out photographing lichens on a sunny winters day and then the next morning we the same ground was covered in snow.  Snow is always a treat for any photographer and although we had experienced a small snow shower a few weeks ago that experience was a lot shorter with the snow melting in a matter of minutes. This time around the ground was covered in a good few inches of snow and I was raring to get out and take some photographs.  First thing was to head up to some private land I have access  to set up a long and low hide. With snow being such a rarity down south I wanted to make the most of the opportunity. The low angle of the hide opening meant that I would be able

Having had fun playing around with the soft box around the garden I headed out to try it out and see how it performed whilst out in the field. I didn’t have any particular subject in mind and to be honest it was just refreshing to get out of the house and go for a walk. My friend Jonathan Barnes had joined and before anyone tell’s me off, yes it was socially distanced. Jonathan has a great interest in trains and mainly focuses on photographing various different trains and today was a bit different for him. We first went to check on an owl box I had put up and it looked as though squirrels had started building a nest, not surprising as we are quite close to town. Yomping 18ft up a tree which was soaked through from last night’s rain was no easy feat but was fun to

Being stuck indoors most of the time means that you are constantly trying to find new subjects to photograph. Whether that’s setting up a bird feeder to attract birds closer to your garden hide or setting up a camera trap to capture the garden’s nocturnal visitors, there are many ways to keep busy. For me one of my new found favourite things to photograph is macro subjects. I love to see the importance of the small things and that’s the magic of using a macro lens. You get to see in detail the things that usually pass us by, it makes us stop in awe of how incredible and diverse the animal or plant kingdom can be. Having previously mentioned my friend Javiar, I dropped him a message about softening the light on my subjects when using flash. He suggested a few soft box options so I thought I would

I am really enjoying photographing trees at the minute. Having a dad who ‘blows me out of the water’ when it comes to landscape photography can be a challenge ! But he was impressed with what i had shot previously and so I was raring to get out again to improve on what I had previously shot. With a shout from family members “SNOW !” I rushed to the window to see a sight all UK photographers dream. A heavy dusting of snow with a continuing cascade of white powder sent motivational shivers down my spine. I knew that the snow shower wouldn’t last long and I headed straight out. Visiting the same location as my previous post I was excited at the prospect of the shoot. With a few early risers and the same runners lapping the paths, I slowly made my way around to see what would take

With lockdown continuing and no real idea when it will be lifted it can often be a hard time for many. Although if you look at it in a more positive light it is a great time for many to realise that the small things can often bring so much joy. Something simple as waking up before the sun rises and going for a walk can be a refreshing way to start the day and put you in a more productive mood for the day. You can feel like a bit of a loose end and this is true for myself having been furloughed whilst my work place remains closed. Having always admired my father’s work on his woodland photography I headed out to the woods to see what I could photograph. This time taking a single camera and lens combination with no tripod, to most landscape photographers not taking

With the UK’s covid situation not improving and yet another lockdown us photographers have mostly been forced to work from home. Trying to motivate yourself to get out and do things can often be a hard task for many of us with the times being so glum, yet we can all still be creative. I have the good fortune to know Javier Aznar. He is an extremely skilful macro photographer and after browsing on Instagram I came across some of his latest work. It was beautifully shot and anyone who makes others see the pure beautiful in the smaller creatures is a worthy photographer. After a bit of weight up I decided to head out in the garden to see whether I could find any macro subjects of my own. Temperatures are rarely in double figures at the minute so it was a bit of gamble to find a subject

  With the UK still in lockdown I have dusted off my old camera trap rig in preparation for winter. After seeing images by Peter Mather’s incredible camera trap images using split level (above and below water) camera trap rigs I wanted to see what I could capture. Now having worked with foxes in my back garden for quite a number of years I knew that they would be fairly reliable subjects. Now the garden landscape has changed considerable and it was a bit of a task finding a suitable location for the camera. I settled for a walkway at the very farthest part of the garden and set about constructing the rig. Now this is a lot more comfortable in the colder months as you are often plagued by mosquitos in the summer months, often extending the time setting up from 3o minutes to a couple of hours (plus

  Yet again we are plunged back into another lockdown here in the UK ! Having won a set of LEE filters I headed out to a local nature reserve, Thursley Common. This huge expanse of mixed heath and bog plays host to a huge array of wildlife from water-walking spiders to miniature aerial raptors. It sounds like I’m describing a new Jurassic Park film and with deep pools of tannin stained water it can often seem like I’ve been transported to the time of dinosaurs. So I was out testing LEE’s new discovery kit which comprises of their new holder system and a 0.6 ND graduated filter. Now I’m not much a tech person and I was just happy to be out on the heath, getting out of London is always a worth while escape ! Now Thursley has always been a great place and even since I was

After having not been up to much photography due to other commitments, not to mention the Coronavirus lockdown here in the UK, it was nice to get out with the camera. Heading out to spend the day with my old man we went to Climpton Beach. I was raring to go with my Manfrotto ND filters to shoot some slow exposures. After having not shot a lot I was excited to show some new images. Arriving at low tide we walked up and down to seek out a few decent looking spots. First place that looked promising were the jagged rocks that were slowly being drowned by the incoming tide. It was a great place to start and good getting to grips with the filters and fine tuning the settings. As the tide was slowly making it’s way up the beach my attention turned to the groynes which were also

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