Wildlife in 17mm - New Voucher System & Wide Angle Hide Set Up - Kelp, WE DID IT!

I don't see myself as a just a photographer anymore, I call myself a wildlife communicator. I know that sounds very pretentious, but everything I do is about communicating something about the natural world. Whether it be getting clients on my workshops to love wildlife as much as I do or telling people about the amazing benefits of rewilding and ecosystem rebuilding through my Scotland: The Big Picture work, it is all about communication using whatever tool I need. My most important tool is still photography and when you are talking about ecosystem restoration and landscapes, shooting wide angle is the very best way to link an animal with its habiat. But it is hard, so very very hard.

Here is the truthful bit. I don't like doing this type of photography. It is so fiddly. Weather, wildlife, light and me all have to be working in sync. Using a wide angle lens like a 17mm lens means you have to be very very very close to the animal, usually within a meter or so. At that distance the picture will usually have an impact on the viewer and thus be useful for engaging people. Not only that there is SKY! Sky makes life hard as it is usually a lot brighter than the foreground and the animal. This requires the use of a neutral density filter, which is a piece of glass put in front of the lens. The top half is a see through grey that absorbs light with out changing the colour. The bottom half is clear, the two fade into each other so you don't get a hard line. This enables the picture to have a darker exposure on the sky but still have a nice bright foreground.

Or you can use fill flash to balance the sky contrast problem out. Both of which need a lot of kit, time and faffing.

Then if you camera trap there is a whole new world of pain with kit, cables, sensors, hoods, flash, tripods, mini tripods. Not only that but it usually all goes wrong anyway.

Long lens is usually just me, the lens and the animal and that is it....I love it!

And yet it can be totally exhilarating. When the animal is mere centimetres away, the light is incredible and I haven't mucked anything up, it is wonderful. Plus the impact of the picture can be breathtaking with so many interesting elements in it working together.

Will I give up long lens completely, hell no, no way, it is far too much fun and will always be something I do to advertise workshops and because I love it. However my wide angle stuff is here to stay and I just need to get over it!

I have redesigned our voucher booking system after many requests for bespoke vouchers. Now the person who orders the voucher can then design their own bespoke voucher. A personal message can be added as well as choosing a bespoke image from a choice of 10. I hope this makes the whole process a bit more useful. Click here for more information.

I had my first day with the new wide angle perch. Whoa it was totally totally amazing fun. Weather been a bit ropy so not sure when I will get to use it again. Hopfully soon. We are also now doing gift vouchers for the hides we will have running in 2019. See here for more information.

WE DID IT! The politicians voted to not allow mechanical kelp dredging if it takes the whole plant up in crown estate sea bed (which is all of the coast line around Scotland at the moment). Massive congratulations to everyone involved and the politicians who voted for it. We have just taken a step towards having a truly sustainable future!