If you’ve read my about you page you’ll know I started paintings to record the wildlife I saw , to freeze a moment in time and often look up the animal, as growing scientist, following my curiosity. When I was about 16 years old I received my first camera. A compact rugged camera which could do underwater images! I could finally record all the stunning British wildlife and I was hooked.
Since then I have continued with this passion and as my travels have become more global, the animals I have photographed have become more exotic.
As my Fujifilm Tough soon became overused I upgraded to a
Canon powershot in an underwater casing. The Canon accompanied me across the
globe, providing a closer look at wildlife with 12x optical zoom. It lasted
several years and I continued to save up for DSLR camera that my university
friends raved about. After working abroad I finally had enough to upgrade, just
as the prisms of mirrorless cameras came on the market, allowing clunky DSLR
quality photos to be taken by a camera not much larger than my faithful
compact.
Now I love taking images on my Fujifilm tx20, I feel
accepted into the camera clique as I change lenses as quickly as possible before
the animal sprints by.
So who am I as a photographer? ...well, just like I love
watercolour for its flow and unpredictability, I enjoy taking an image that
doesn’t need any post processing. I revel in the fact that that picture
captures the true moment in all its natural glory. Its another example of an
organic approach , nature just doesn’t need a filter.
Explore this blog to discover some of my favourite
interactions and encounters observing nature and my favourite photo results.
The animals that I was used for encountering in rock pools
became my star models. I found fish and shrimps were much more comfortable than
being explored in a time sensitive rock pool environment. I was careful not to
disturb them, instead marvelling at them and my obsession of detailed close ups
underwater was born. I became fascinated by the dazzling sunlight under the
surface and the epic patterns it made. Blennies became my favourite to
photograph, and still are today. Blennies are small rock dwellers, often highly
camouflaged and territorial. They often are hard to spot and are reluctant to
vacate their prized piece of rock. This makes them ideal photographic models,
with the added advantage that they are present across most of the UK, med and
beyond. Blennies occupy a place in my heart, they are fiesta, shy but bold,
almost looking at you with their vivid red eyes saying “what you doing on my
nice rock”...
