About Me

How I Became A Nature Photographer

My obsession with digital photography started off in 2002 with the purchase of a small digital camera. This was to be used on a forthcoming family barge holiday. As I am completely self taught I went to the local village pond to see if there was anything I could photograph.

At the pond, a female Brown Hawker dragonfly was laying her eggs into the rotten wooden supports . This I later learnt was called oviposting.
I have always had a fascination with nature in general but this had me hooked. I couldn’t believe how close I could get to the dragonfly, what fascinated me the most was the way the sun reflected off her wings and eyes. I had to find out more and as luck would have it Common Blue damselflies were also present at the pond. So thanks to that warm August day nature photography has become an important part of my life.

I went to more ponds and lakes in the local area and I was amassing a lot of pictures of dragonflies and damselflies that I could not identify. To find out more I went to the Local Wildlife Trust. I was pointed in the direction of Sara Bellis who specializes in dragon and damselflies. She helped me identify the insects and directed me to further places within Shropshire to see different kinds. Shropshire is lucky in that respect as it has a wide range of habitats that suit certain dragonflies. The white faced darter at Whixall Moss and the Keeled Skimmer at Crammer Gutter are two examples of dragonfly that are found in Shropshire and nowhere else in the Midlands.

My relationship with the Wildlife Trust has gone on from strength to strength and I regularly provide them with pictures for their leaflets and publications and I am currently working my way around their reserves capturing the seasonal changes in the flora and fauna.

Through Shropshire Wildlife Trust I was introduced to Heather Gorringe of Wiggly Wigglers . They are a Hereford based mail order company that provide a wide range of environmentally friendly products ranging from worm composters to bird food to wild flowers and everything else in between. I provide pictures that regularly appear both inside and on the front cover of their catalogues for which they periodically supply me with bird food. Many of my pictures are featured in the Wiggly Book "Bringing A Garden To Life".
The Wiggly team appreciated my pictures and felt that they fitted with their ethos so much that they commissioned The Wiggly Collection. This is a limited edition of 12 mounted pictures.

My photographic journey continues and I am still constantly amazed at what nature can produce, I am still chasing that perfect picture.