What a year! I started the year with some plans to enjoy photographing some different subjects and I was amazed at how much fun I had. Exploring local churches,abandoned mills and hospitals proved to myself that I can photograph more than just wildlife. Instead of cursing the weather, stopping me from wildlife photography I was out and about being creative and that proved to be a huge boost to me. My 14-24mm was my most used lens at the start of the year, very different from previous years. I only really started photographing wildlife in March where I managed to catch up with Grass snake and adder and also Black-necked Grebe and Red-necked Grebe. April was amazing for birdlife, warblers seemed to be everywhere and I enjoyed some magical dawns photographing various birdlife. May and June proved to be a quiet time apart from close encounters with Northern Fulmars with some very nice head shots. Strong South Westerly winds had a big impact on butterfly and seabird photography for me. I was hoping to be photographing some new species but conditions proved to tricky. Butterfly numbers locally were very low to previous years and I only managed some more images of Common Blue,Grizzled and Dingy Skipper. Every year is different in the animal world and its just a matter of changing your plans to suit. “Hopefully Next Year” is a common phrase used in wildlife photography.
Six-belted Clearwing
Nikon D3s,105macro lens.
A totally new species to me was the Six Belted Clearwing which I photographed with a friend and although very tricky to capture an image it was incredible to see and I even managed a nice image. Family holidays in Northumberland enabled me to see one of most amazing and humbling views any human can see. That is a view of our Milky Way galaxy. Standing on my own in pitch darkness down a country lane looking up and trying to capture an image will remain with me forever. Green Woodpecker was a nice addition on a couple of summer afternoons while sitting in a hide.
It wasn’t until September that I photographed what I thought was my nemesis bird, the Kingfisher. For too long this species was out of my reach, not until I actually started to do some serious field work and locate a resident bird in a quiet part of my county. What fun I had and I finally ended with some nice images of Common Kingfisher perched 15 feet in front of my bag hide. This bird also enjoyed sitting on the end of my lens,head and shoulder. I wish I could have shot some video I am sure it would of been great fun to watch. I look forward to catching up with Kingfishers early in 2012, fingers crossed.
Nikon D3s,500mm.
I finished autumn with an amazing trip to Portugal, mainly to do a couple of pelagic trips to photograph some seabirds. Not only did I manage some great images of Great Shearwater but also had an incredible encounter with a pod of Common Dolphins. The end of the year has been pretty quiet apart from some photography in Sherwood Forest. I don’t think I have ever photographed so many different subjects within a year before and its been very refreshing to be creative with such varied subjects. I hope 2012 proves to be just has amazing. Many thanks for following my blog and I hope you have enjoyed the photography.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year .
