My Photographic Advantages

Squirrel Man - taken by Steve Bottom

This is an extended version of a blog post I wrote for "Foto-Buzz", a new online forum/magazine for keen photographers run by pro togs and most famously Andy Rouse...


Let me start by saying I am a "Keeper" first and foremost... I have an undying passion for British wildlife which has grown and developed since I was young, and I have been lucky enough to immerse myself in a life and career working closely with British animals. As the Head Keeper at the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey, I manage the animals and keeping staff in our daily duties. Everything we do is aimed towards the conservation and education of our, often overlooked, wonderful wildlife!

I am a photographer second... Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it very much, I have taken to it far more than I ever thought I would, but it is still only a hobby for me and another way to spend time with the animals I work with and care for. Where as before I used to spend any spare time just sat watching th animals of an evening, now I do it with a camera in tow. If I get a nice photo, then it is a bonus, and quite often I never pick up the camera and just sit there watching, enjoying and learning.

A lot of people who see my photographs say "Well of course, you are always there... you have all the time to take photographs." But this is far from the truth... Yes, I am always here... practically 24/7... But I am always working! I have little free time to actually spend with the animals, and therefore take photos of them. Far less in fact compared to many of our members who visit us on an almost weekly basis to take pictures. But I am not naive to the fact that I do have advantages. Big advantages in fact, but then I feel I have earned these with my loyalty and dedication to the Centre and our animals.

Scottish Wildcat

Evening light - When I do get spare time, it is usually in the morning or evening after the "working day" has finished. This often leads to the best light wight he sun lower in the sky, and often gives the lovely warm light most of us prefer. Of course this is after everyone has gone home, so I have the Centre to myself to enjoy.

Roe Doe

Entering enclosures - I have the luxury of being able to enter any of the enclosures at any time, removing the obstacles of fences and barriers. And although we allow photographers to enter the enclosures on our photographic days, there are still some animals we can not allow you in with for various reasons.

Dance of the Adders

Right place right time - Animals have some amazing behaviours and rituals, some very rarely seen in the wild and rare in captivity too. But, if our animals display any of these traits I am more likely to be around than most to see it.

Wildcat Kitten

Rarely seen - I am privileged to have seen many rare sights and animals, such as extremely young cubs, kits and kittens... long before they are more visibly on display.

Fox in Snow

Seasons - As I am always there, I am also always there in the different seasons. Perhaps the most enjoyable from a photographic point of view is the snow! No matter how difficult it is to get to the Centre in the snow, I can just step outside the door and I am there. I curse the snow from a work point of view... everything takes longer, and if no other keeper can get in then I have to do all the work. But, I can do it with a camera on the trolley next to the day old chicks, chopped up rabbits and raw fish and stop at every enclosure to take some snaps!

Evening Barn Owl

Pro togs - One of the biggest advantages is having the professional photographers visit us to run their workshops. Helping them by keeping the animals interested for their clients puts me in the best position to eavesdrop in to what they are teaching. This has helped me immensely in improving my photography in more ways than one, but perhaps the most in terms of trying different things and pushing my limits to develop, grow and create my own style.

BUT -  the biggest advantage, and something only I have and ever could, is the bond I have with these animals...

Me and Ethel - taken by Izzy Coomber

I work closely with these animals everyday, and so have built up a mutual trust and respect which does't happen overnight.

And a Nice Chianti...

This allows me to get closer to these animals than anyone else could.

Vole's Eye View

And with the trust we have in each other, allows me to try things that no one else could.

The Grinning Fox

And allows the animals to act far more comfortably and naturally, showing off their true personality, when no one else is around!

My bond with the animals is THE advantage I have, and what I use to try and take some special British animal photographs as souvenirs of the animals I care for.

Thanks for looking.

Owl Awareness Day (Yesterday)

Fly Over

Apparently it was International Owl Awareness Day yesterday... That one slipped me by! Never mind, here are a couple of owl photos in any case.

Big Pete flying above. 

Tawny Owl

Florence in the evening light, this photo is being used for a section in my talk next week.

Evening Barn Owl

I believe this is one of our old owls, Tutoke, taken a few years a go now. I liked the tree in the background.

Nessun Dorma

 Florence singing the opera :-)

Close Up of Archimedes

Close up of Archimedes.

Short-eared Owl in the Snow

Fawkes in the snow.

Long-eared Owl Peeking

And finally, Archimedes peeking around the edge of a tree.

Thanks for looking.

Photo Talk Tweaks

Barn Owl

I am doing a photography talk in a couple of weeks time. I do a lot of talks about the Centre and the work we do here, and of course use my photos to illustrate these, but have only done a few talks specifically about my photography... 

I always promote the Centre in these too, and try to make them educational about the animals as well as photography and convey my passion for British Wildlife. Although photography is a big hobby for me, I still see it only as that... a hobby, a way to enjoy time with the animals and always see myself as an animal lover and British wildlife enthusiast first. 

For my talk in a couple of weeks, I am combining two of my other talks to make it a little different. While doing this I am updating some of the photos and a few other tweaks. While doing this I thought I would share a couple of photos, old and new, that I may be putting in.

Above is one of my latest, and one of my favourites, of Big Pete in flight. The light was a little to high still for the back light I like, but it still came out alright. I enjoy playing around with exposures and metering whenever I get the chance.

Red Squirrel

 One that I have not used before, a very simple and softly back lit portrait of a red squirrel.

Deer on the Run

A couple messing around with panning, a slow pan with the deer above.

Super Owl

And this one is a much more extreme panning shot. Any slower and I think it would be unlikely to know what it was flying through the shot.

Flying Florence

Above is another I haven't used much before. Florence flying on one of our owl days. The light looks quite strong, which is probably why we did it side lit.

Badger

This one I only showed a little while a go, but is possibly my favourite badger photo I have. I don't take to many of our badgers, but was lucky to get this one evening a couple of weeks ago. The light was strong, but again... using it as side light and setting the right exposure and metering created quite a nice effect.

Evening Eagle Owl

A simple portrait, but in the nice warm evening light... taken out on our nature reserve in the autumn, giving the nice warm autumn colours in the background.

Watching the Sunset

And finally, one used before... but not often. I messed this one up a little, but still like it :-)

Thanks for looking.

Few pics from last few days

Badger, Meles meles

Just a few quick pics from the last few days this time, a bit of a mix. Above is possibly one of my favourite Badger photos at the moment. I changed the exposure and metering in the camera to emphasize the harsh shadow and still keep the detail in the lit side of his face.

Polecat Kit

A few photos of our polecat kits, they are growing quickly aren't they?

Polecat Kit from the Left

I do a lot of photography with the animal looking into the frame... for two reasons really, one I just like it! And two, it gives Liza space on the opposite side of the animal for text for advertisement and articles.

Polecat Kit from the Right

So here is one of a kit looking in from the other side too :-)

The Beautiful Susie

While photographing the kits, I couldn't not miss out on spending a bit of time with Susie. Same as many I already have of her, but she is so beautiful I couldn't resit another portrait.

Red Squirrel Stare

We had a few walnuts, so I gave them to the squirrels for something a little different to what they are used to.

Wide Angle of a Squirrel with a Walnut

They have had walnuts before, so they knew what to do with them.

Red Squirrel with a Walnut

I particularly like this one as it shows off the remaining wisp of his ear tuft :-)

Mother and Calf

One of the evenings I spent a bit of time with red deer, mainly trying to get a few photos of the calves. It may sound easy to do, but they are so wary and don't come that close at all until they are much older... and the mums are more wary too during this time. I keep my distance as I don't want to upset them.

The Creche

This was one of the mothers looking after four of the calves while the others were eating some of the food I took out with me. 

Red Deer Calf

After some time, one of the calves got brave enough to come and see what I was doing.

Startled

I quite liked the expression on this hinds face. She looks startled, but she is actually just eating and I caught her mid chew.

The Boys; Albus and Olivander

The boys! On his own Olivander looks the business, but then when he is next to Albus he really looks quite small!

Albus, Master Stag

Albus, still the Master Stag. Not sure how much of a rut there will be this year, Albus really is the bigger stronger looking stag.

Back Lit Barn Owl Flying

Finally, Monday night myself and the rest of the keepers went onto the reserve to fly big pete, before going to off to watch some wild barn owls. This one was back lit to show off the wings, only just got away with it as the sun was still a little too high and ideally needed to be taken half hour later, but we were watching the wild barn owls at that time.

Side Lit Barn Owl Flying

And a simple side lit one to end on...

Thanks for looking.

Owl Chick Growth

Archimedes, Long Eared Owl Chick

I try to keep up with any new and interesting books on British wildlife, and today had a new book about owls come through the post. This, along with the fun feedback I have had from the "Hedwig" set of photos of him growing, made me think of posting these photos of owls during their growth.

Above of course is Archimedes, our flying long-eared owl. Below is a series of barn owls followed by tawny owls.

Barn Owl Chicks

When owls start of life they are quite a messy ball of fluff, but much like the ugly duckling story, they mature and develop into beautiful owls. These barn owls above are about 3 weeks old, and it is 3 weeks or younger that I like to get an owl if we are to then train it to fly.

Barn Owl Chick

From a pure white bundle of fluff, the barn owl starts to look messier with some darker colours coming through where feathers are beginning to form. You can even see the classic heart shape face from this young age.

Barn Owl Chick

They moult through there feathers, usually the tail and wings are among the first to develop. This allows them to learn to fly at an early age as possible.

Barn Owl Chick

Feathers then working up the back and around the face. It is usually the front of the owl and the top of the head last to moult through... but not always.

Barn Owl Chick

Then all that is left is a few whips of downy feather all over the body, but mainly around the wings.

Big Pete, Barn Owl

And then there you are... a beautiful adult owl, as beautiful as Big Pete above.

Tawny Owl Chicks

The above two are tawny owl chicks at 2 days old, you can even still see the egg tooth on each of there beaks. I think tawny owl chicks are among the cutest of them all.

Two Young Tawny Owl Chicks

A few days later, and the eyes just opened, still very dependant though of course and still quite fragile.

Tawny Owl Chick

As they grow they become a ball of fluff before the feathers start to come through, but there whole growth stage does not take long. An owl is fully grown in around 12 weeks.

Tawny Owl Chick

As the wing feathers develop, the owl can start to branch out, stepping out on to the branches and flapping its wings, lifting itself off and landing again, just building up the muscles and technique ready for a test flight.

Tawny in the Evening

Once fully grown they are a skilled and adept hunter, and ready to fend for themselves, although they may still stay in the vicinity of mum and dad for a few more weeks before being chased off to find their own territories.

Thanks for looking