Category Archives: Photos

So I’ve kept it pretty close to the chest but I recently travelled to the Canadian Rockies ! It has always been a dream location to visit and photograph the awesome fauna and flora of the region. So when Ashleigh Scully, another brilliant young wildlife photographer, invited me out and show me around I jumped at the chance. Now at the time I had no clue what I was doing at university at the time of the trip but this was not an opportunity to be missed, who would say no to visiting the Canadian Rockies ! Arriving in Newark I felt like I’d had a ride in the Delorean, flying eight and a half hours back in time around the world tends to make you just that little bit tired. But I was greeting with a warm welcome from Ashleigh and her dad Gerry. A short ride home after

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have been invited to Chessington World of Adventures for the product launch of the Bushnell Aggressor series! This isn’t usually my scene so I was unsure of what to expect. On arrival I was greeted by the friendly face of Kate McRae, otherwise known as Wildlife Kate! First thing first was a presentation of the awesome new products from Bushnell including the new Aggressor Trail Cameras. As someone who usually doesn’t really take much notice of the technical side, more of a get it and get it out type, it was really interesting to get a detailed overview of each individual model and the key differences between them ( for example the No-Glow and Low-Glow models). When the topic of the Bushnell Wireless came up I was on tender hooks. This model has previously been a pain to setup and I was intrigued to

I have had a lot more free time from university so I went out to explore a local patch of grassland, where I had seen a Redstart, with the hope of capturing some migrant species that had taken advantage of the fair weather. I had originally gone out with a small compact camera as I didn’t think I would find much. Next thing I know there’s a male Wheatear on the deck feeding away on tiny insects. I then decided to run back home, when I say run I mean it, and grab my main camera and long lens. It was defiantly worth it, by the time I got back to the spot a female Wheatear had joined the party. I spent the rest of my time crawling around on the ground watching these awesome birds go about their business (even if I was getting a few funny looks from

Our last full day was spent making the most of the incredible waterfall running through the nearby gorge. I opted to head up to the beginning of the waterfall and work my way down whereas Dad decided to start from just outside the visitor centre. On reaching the top I decided to start by shooting panoramas with the river in the foreground and the mountain tops in the background. In the past I found it difficult to keep the camera level on such rocky terrain but the Manfrotto self-levelling system on the tripod made it a breeze. Night fell quickly and as we sat in front of the fire the clouds started to clear. I couldn’t believe it, our last night and we finally had the chance to photograph the stars. It was a fleeting opportunity as the clouds soon reappeared but I did manage this shot with the light

For the past three years, I have been shooting with the Canon 7D. Now I confess I do like a new bit of kit but if something is reliable and can take a beating then that will do for me. But the time has come for me to upgrade. I was on the fence for a while but I decided that the Canon 5D MK3 would be the camera of choice. The 7D is slowly starting to show its age and the ISO was limiting. Now I will not simply be dumping the 7D, it has found a new position in my photographic arsenal which will be revealed later on in the year! A few days ago, I headed out with my good friend and fellow photographer Harry Read ( www.harryreadphotography.co.uk ) for a day of testing out the new kit. Harry also shoots with a 5D3. We had a

On day four we switched campsites and headed deeper into the mountains, the next stop was Cadar Idris. Standing at the elevation of 893m it’s one of the larger mountain ridges. A farm just South-East of the main ridge would be our home for the next two nights. On arrival we saw Grey wagtails, Dippers and a whole host of bird life. After a quick lunch we went and walked down to the National Trust Tyn Y Coed building. It was here that we discovered that they had Lesser Horseshoe bats roosting in the attic. It was pretty cool to see them as they are a species that I haven’t seen before. We then slowly headed up the gorge, following the raging waterfall till we reached the clearing at the top. We managed to grab a few shots of the river at the clearing, getting into the river helped to

Our third day was a tourist type day. We decided to visit Port Merion, a setting for a famous TV drama ‘The Prisoner’. Don’t ask me what it’s about I haven’t got a clue, that a question for my prehistoric dad who says he saw all the episodes. Although it wasn’t my usual location it was quite surreal walking around what appeared to be a town cut off from the modern day. From the multi-coloured building that would make the perfect Andy Warhol pop art to the giant wooden chess set in the town square it really was the most bizarre town. Whilst walking around this crazy place I managed to grab a shot of a black bird against the pink and turquoise buildings. It made for a nice contrast and although it’s never going to win any competitions I still rather enjoy its simplicity. As we made our way

Day two of our trip was all about waterfalls, something we come up short of in London. The weather was cold and grey but with the thought of raging waterfalls spurred us on. Pulling up on the side of an unassuming lay-by I was unsure of what to expect. The route to the waterfalls took us past a dense pine forest where the topography of the land started to slope downwards, a sure sign that the falls were close by. The noise of the rushing water led us to the beginnings of the main falls; it was here that we got our first photos. The cloudy skies made for great long exposure conditions. My main combination was the Manfrotto ND500 and a Manfrotto Circular Polariser on a Canon 24-70mm F4. The above image is one of my favourite shots, for me it has a fantastical aura about it and I

So, this past week I have spent my time in Wales, travelling with my Dad in our campervan. It’s always been a dream of my Dad’s to own a campervan and he often heads to Wales on quite a few landscape trips. This time he invited me along to spend a few days in the mountains to get away from the hustle and bustle of London. After a six hour, long leg cramping journey the views more than made up for it, a completely different landscape from the London skyline. We soon got the campervan ready and started to get set up in preparation for our first photo mission. I was especially keen to fly the Yuneec drone, and what a place for a first flight. Blaenau Ffestiniog was our location for the evening and as historic mining towns go it was quite spectacular. It is home to two hugely

A few days ago I had a media team come down to visit me at my home to film an interview for their Insight’s series. The Insight series allows past winners from the competition to share there most favourite and memorable moments from the field and to also share advice on wildlife photography. I was really humbled to be asked and can’t wait to share the finished piece with you.