On Saturday we stopped off at Kynance Cove for sunset, always worth a visit when you’re on The Lizard. Unfortunately the sunset didn’t really amount to much and after a few minutes what little colour there was faded to grey. I decided to try layering some of the other rocky outcrops, using the orange lichen on the foreground rocks to balance out the orange in the sky.

A shot from another failed sunrise shoot after New Year! This is one of my favourite rocks (sad I know!) but I’ve not taken it from this angle before and I really liked how there are five separate points, each leading up to the highest point, so we have symmetry and an odd number of subjects, both of which score points on the composition scale!

My last post was a bit left-field… I think this is even further left! Another shot from the Illuminate festival at Royal William Yard in Plymouth, where I wanted to get something a bit different. I was standing just in-front of one of the main lights that shines directly in the sky and noticed the drizzle being caught in the light, so I focused as closely as I could and positioned the bokeh within the frame.

Another experimental shot of the Tamar Bridge tonight, this time trying to keep the outline of the bridge in the distance while concentrating on some of the flowers found around Saltmill Park. Let me know what you think!

One of my diversions on the way to the office, this time I stopped off at Trenchford Reservoir which is somewhere I’ve never been before. As sunrise is getting later this might be my last morning diversion this year as I won’t have enough time to stop and then get to the office, as it was I only managed about 10 minutes there which clearly isn’t enough time to do it justice but at least this control wheel provided some nice foreground interest.

Back to the UK tonight with a shot taken last weekend at Golitha Falls. After walking along the river I realised I was just taking the same shots I normally do so I thought I’d give the grasses and fallen leaves some love instead. The river was really running fast after all the rain so I was being more careful than usual along the edge of the water!

From the genus Burhinus. The Burhinus are commonly called thick-knee, stone-curlew or dikkop. They are medium-sized, terrestrial waders, though they are generally found in semi-arid to arid, open areas. Only some species of Burhinus are associated with water. Burhinus are characterised by their long legs, long wings and cryptic plumage. Most species have a short, thick, strong bill. Stone-curlews are found all over the world except Antarctica. They are mainly tropical, with the greatest diversity in the Old World.

This particular one had a young chick with it. I failed to get a decent photograph of the pair of them, foliage and a far too long lens were to blame.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/1250 ISO 800

#Burhinus #thickknee #stonecurlew #birdsofinstagram #bird_brilliance #feather_perfection

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure #Iloveyou

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Another image taken on foot, tucked away behind a bush, watching elephants come down to drink and play at one of the dams at Laikipia Wilderness Camp.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/400 ISO 1000

#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Last light of the day and this cheeky young calf finally emerged from behind its mother to give our vehicle a disapproving head shake before it ran back to hide behind mum’s legs.

Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 82mm F4, 1/250 ISO 400

#Elephant #Elephants #calf #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants #elephantlove #elephante #elephantsofinstagram #elephantconservation #dumbo

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

After the storms we ventured down to to Cambrils, where this tree on the beach was completely engulfed in the excess water flowing down from the hills and I knew it would make a nice subject for a monochrome image. Taken in the middle of the day with a 10-stopper, even that only allowed me to get to a 15 second exposure.

A bit of I.F.M. (Intentional Flower Movement). As there was very little light and fast moving poppies on Tuesday, it seemed like a good time to get a bit creative so I set the telephoto lens to crop in very tight and set a relatively slow shutter of 0.4 sec. As you can see, in that fraction of a second the flowers have been buffeted quite a lot!

Another shot from Monday morning, this time a simpler composition, just concentrating on the rock at the end of the pier along with the gorgeous colour in the sky.

Another photowalk last night with the Liskeard Camera Club, the light wasn’t looking too promising so we just stayed close to home and headed for Golitha Falls as soft light seems to suit woodland photography. It’s somewhere I’ve shot many times but still a fabulous location, this time a small rock in the river provided me with some foreground interest to break up the river.

The Penn Valley Rodeo began back in 1956 when a local group of ranchers organized a one day rodeo held behind the firehouse to raise funds for the Penn Valley volunteer fire department in Penn Valley California. It continued until 2004 when excuse of a drastic decline of attendance the Rodeo discontinued. The local Penn Valley residents and rodeo formed the Penn Valley Community Rodeo Association whose mission was to preserve the rodeo tradition of Penn Valley. In 2005 PVCRA held it first PVCRA Rodeo and continues to do so annually. This is from the 65th iteration last year. OM Systems Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark III Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 40-150mm f/2.8 Olympus MC-20 2X Teleconvertor Oben #developportdev @gothamtomato @developphotonewsletter @omsystem.cameras #excellent_america #omd @bheventspace @bhphoto @adorama @tamracphoto @tiffencompany #usaprimeshot #tamractales @tenbabags @kehcamera @mpbcom @pennvalleyrodeo #olympus #olympusphotography #microfourthird #microfournerds #micro43 #micro43photography #pennvalleyrodeo @nevadacountyca @visitcalifornia

I had a spare hour after dropping my daughter to cubs so I decided to pop down to the waterfront in Saltash in time for blue hour. I hadn’t planned the shot at all so I was happy to find it was high-tide, this means the steps by the pier really make a nice lead-in line… catching the 6:32 train as it crosses the bridge was also a nice addition as it adds light trail that emphasis the Royal Albert Bridge against the lights on the newer Tamar Bridge.

One of those shots I’ve had in my head for a while but never had the right conditions. On Sunday afternoon things were just about perfect with nice clouds and strong winds making for some speedy movement. Unfortunately with the development work the entire building is now surrounded with an ugly grey wall which meant the composition I had in mind was tricky, my tripod was at maximum height and and the string winds were vibrating the camera even when weighed down with the rest of my camera bag!

That bull elephant in musth again. This guy was following a herd of matriarchs and their herd. Keeping an eye on a young bull family member and making sure he kept back from the rest of the herd. At some point the herd slowed down and the bull decided to get a little amorous with this termite mound where he snuggled it with his trunk, dry humped it and then scratched his butt on it. Samburu, March 2024

Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 120mm F8.0, 1/400 ISO 400

#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants #love #termitemound #scratching

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

A shot I’ve taken before, completely inspired by my friend Jon at camera club. When you’re concentrating on taking landscapes you can often forget the details to be found in the most mundane of objects… here the fog separates the gate from background helping to define it’s shape.

It's always difficult to find a new view of such a well-photographed location, so I decided to use the long grass to hide the rest of the buildings and isolate Smeaton's Tower by itself.

Another shot from Saturday evening, this time from Sharpitor where I concentrated on the golden side-light hitting the rock with the view heading over towards Leather Tor and Sheeps Tor in the distance.

This morning saw the famous Flying Scotsman passing through Saltash on its way down to Penzance so I took the opportunity to get a shot. Rather than go for the main bridge at Saltash I did a little reconnaissance earlier in the week and found this hill outside Trematon castle overlooking one of the other viaducts, this gave clear views of the train with a lovely lead-in line and I thought it would be less hectic than the main bridge… nice to bump into Chris Barnard who was there taking pictures too!

This wasn't me but this guy had great tattoos - "Live Life" on his legs. thought it was very fitting!

I did the jump myself before him so it's a miracle my camera was steady ;) but really it was the coolest thing I've ever done!

Here I am in other places if you’re interested! Have a mooch!

All my stuff in one handy place: www.emilylowrey.com

Wedding Photography and Videography: www.makelifememorable.co.uk

My channel all about Micro Four Thirds Cameras! MICRO FOUR NERDS: www.youtube.com/microfournerds

My Instagram: www.instagram.com/emilymaylowrey

Short Films (Lonescul Productions): www.youtube.com/channel/UC-qCdqO78x7LiyTEaRslwRQ

My travel vloggy sort of stuff: www.youtube.com/lonegungrrly

My second shot from Paignton on Thursday. As I couldn’t go wading in the water with my office shoes, I decided to try something different and placed the camera on the sand itself, as it’s so close it pushes the sand out of focus pushing the view towards the pier… I did try another shot with a thinner depth-of-field but I actually preferred the shot with slightly more definition in the sand as it made it easier to see what it is, rather than just being a black splodge.

This is by far my favourite subspecies of giraffe and there are plenty of them in Laikipia and Samburu. The markings are bold brown patches bordered with white.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/2500 ISO 500

#Reticulated #Giraffe #ReticulatedGiraffe

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari #magicalkenya #lovelaikipia

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Another shot from my “Battling Giants” series. The Male giraffes compete in a ballet of dominance.

Laikipia, Kenya March 2024

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F4, 1/1250 ISO 800

#Giraffe #ReticulatedGiraffe #Dominance #Reticulated #TwoHeads

#LaikipiaWilderness #lovelaikipia

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals

#safariphotography #photosafaris #bbcearth #africanamazing #africasafariconservation #EndangeredSpecies

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Bamburgh Castle

At the weekend we stayed at The Lizard, as I drew back the curtains on Saturday morning I was greeted by grey dreary pre-dawn skies so thought that I might as well go back to bed… half an hour later the clouds had cleared and the sun was peeping through so I grabbed my camera and ran down to the old lifeboat station. I really wish I’d had the courage to trust the weather and go out a bit earlier!

On Saturday morning I ventured out for sunrise, even though the forecast wasn’t that great. I’ve not been to The Net Loft in Polperro for a while so I thought I’d give it another try, this time opting for some long exposures to smooth the water and clouds out to keep the emphasis on the building itself. We did get a small showing of colour but not too much, and in the end I preferred this shot from after the colour had faded anyway.

A moody take on The Shard; I have to thank Shaun for this composition as we were skirting around the building looking for compositions when he called me over to show how the neighbouring building appear to be “eating” The Shard… a great find!

Some more of the fantastic architecture found at the Royal William Yard, I loved the patterns created by the shadows.

Beckley Point, Plymouth’s new student accommodation tower block and short-listed in 2018 Carbuncle Cup as one of the worst pieces of architecture in the year… personally I quite like the lighting that adorns the building at night! I had a few minutes spare in Plymouth last night and took inspiration from Rich Walker (hope you don’t mind!) who took a similar shot with the trailing lights from the cars forming a nice lead-in line to the building itself.

Another lovely encounter with elephants from Samburu. Sitting in the car and watching this mother with her shy calf make their way up the river bank and to the bushes where we were sat.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F4.0, 1/2000 ISO 200

#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants #headshot #portrait

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

It’s been a fairly miserable week for me, the weather’s been all dull and grey and I’ve also been struck down with a cold which is refusing to budge which has left me feeling groggy and generally sorry for myself. Still, as we were deeper in Cornwall for the day I decided to visit Trevose Head for sunset. It’s somewhere I’ve not visited before and as the weather wasn’t looking too promising this was more of a recce mission to check the lay of the land, but even so some nice big waves made for a nice foreground.

Another trip out with the camera club, this time to Colliford Lake to visit the petrified trees. The water level is definitely starting to struggle with the lack of rain as half of these trees were not even visible last time I was here, but this did give me the opportunity to get a bit closer to them than is normally possible. Wellies might not be a great fashion statement but the do come in useful!

One of the things I love about Laikipia Wilderness Camp is the ability to get out of the vehicle and shoot wildlife on your own terms. Taken one evening along the riverbank hiding behind scrub and feeling privileged to watch a family of elephants enjoy the water.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F4, 1/400 ISO 1600

#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

I spotted lots of nice clouds of out the office window as I left on Thursday so I thought I’d take a diversion on the way home and headed to Haytor… the wind had other ideas and cleared most the sky by the time I got there, just leaving a bank of clouds on the horizon which blocked most of the nice evening light! I thought I might as well explore around the back of Haytor as I don’t normally head down the other side, I liked how imposing it looks from this angle.

Another attempt at creating a different image based upon a well shot location, this is Smeaton’s Tower on The Hoe which I’m sure has been shot by most people who visit Plymouth. As it was such a damp evening on Tuesday I decided to take a shot of the tower in a puddle, and then flip the image upright again. I do wish the tip of the lighthouse was clearer, but that would have required even more rain!

Another Photowalk with the camera club, another dull and rainy evening… not really sure why the weather hates us! This time we headed to The Barbican in Plymouth and headed around from there to The Hoe; dusk is a good time to capture Smeaton’s Tower as the lights are on, but there’s still some ambient light in the sky.

As usual, I was trying to come up with some different angles, this time I went low with my wide-angle lens looking up which naturally bends anything at the side of the frame in towards the middle, so instead I placed the camera at an angle to keep the lighthouse straight but have sloping ground.

It was late in the day on Saturday and I was looking at the sky thinking something might happen but of course by that time it was too late to head out anywhere specific so I headed out to a local copse that I’ve used for sunsets before. Unfortunately this time the clouds were in the wrong place to get the shot I wanted so I headed on further.

It was then that I noticed some mist lingering so I pulled out my telephoto lens and played with a few compositions of trees in the mist but nothing really stood out, so I followed the mist around a bit further only to be presented this view!

By this time the sun was going down fast so rather than spend time fiddling with lenses I decided to take a panorama and process that instead.

It’s amazing to think this view is only five minutes from my house and I’ve never shot it before… that might change in the future!

A return to the moors today, one from my recent trip up to Great Staple Tor. As is often the case, when you arrive on location you spot much more interesting weather conditions elsewhere… from the Tor I could see Brentor Church in the distance being lit up beautifully, but there were also some dramatic clouds hanging closer to me overhead with gave it a bit of apocalyptic feel. Unfortunately the image quality is not that great as it was shot from five miles away through some less than ideal weather conditions, but you should at least get an idea of what it looked like!

It was such a beautifully clear night last night that I decided to get out with the camera, even if the galactic core isn’t currently visible. As it was a last minute decision I didn’t fancy a major excursion so I had look around for compositions around the village and settled on a shot of our local church.

Natural history is not something that I do a lot of but I did like how the colour of the robin glowed in the early morning sun, contrasting against the blue sky.

Bowerman's Nose… a stack of weathered granite found on the slopes of Hayne Down and stop two of my evening. There were some fantastic clouds around but that also means that light can be difficult and I had to wait some time before the shadows moved on, allowing me to get a clear shot of the rocks.

It’s been a bit quiet on the photography front for me recently as we’ve been off on holiday and enjoying a well deserved rest in the sun, so I’m going to have a small diversion from my normal west-country images and share a few photos from Crete. I’m sure normal service will be resumed soon!

Bull elephant in musth. This guy was following a herd of matriarchs and their herd. Keeping an eye on a young bull family member and making sure he kept back from the rest of the herd. At some point the herd slowed down and the bull decided to get a little amorous with this termite mound where he snuggled it with his trunk and dry humped it. Samburu, March 2024

Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 106mm F5.6, 1/640 ISO 400

#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants #love #termitemound

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

A lovely sight of a Somali Ostrich couple and their charge. Ostriches tend to lay their eggs and leave them with a caretaker couple who hatch the whole brood and look after them as one large family.

Here we have the female being followed by the chicks, they shortly deviated from the path and started to follow the male.

Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 40mm F5.6, 1/1000 ISO 100

#SomaliOstrich #Ostrich #Chicks #babies

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

One from the weekend, chasing after storm Ciara… I’ve seen so many shots from the weekend that I thought I’d try a different process rather than just showing them as they were so I’ve opted for a strong and graphic monochrome conversion as that really highlights the waves. They were probably some of the strongest winds I’ve been out photographing in, certainly a challenge!

Another shot of a male jackal showing affection to his mate after they had killed, partially devoured and buried a scrub hare.

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/1250 ISO 250

#Jackal #blackbackedjackal #silverbackedjackal #TrueLove

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure #Iloveyou

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Another shot from yesterday morning on the foggy Tamar, and another one of my favourite compositions (I don’t think I was feeling terribly inspired!) as I like how the arch of boats leads the eye around to the base of the Tamar Bridge, before going up and beyond. You do have to be careful here though, as if you stand too far to the left the legs from the road bridge can blend together with those from the Royal Albert Bridge behind and I feel that keeping them separate helps the viewer distinguish between them.