A jackal lazing in the sun, spotted on an early morning game drive..

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/800 ISO 640

#Jackal #blackbackedjackal #silverbackedjackal #MorningLight

#ElephantBedroom

#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica

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

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

New area unlocked! I have driven past this location many a time but never stopped. These bridges are located in Berwyn, North Wales. Admittedly the conditions were not ideal, and the camera certainly could see more sky variation than I could. certainly an area to revisit at a later date.

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

Another shot from Tuesday evening, there are some awesome rocks on Bedruthan beach and I was taken with this swirly rock that lead towards one of the sea stacks.

I'm returning to one of my Milky Way shots tonight as I'm putting together some shots for an upcoming club competition, hence why it's processed in the same style as my last effort.

This shot was taking in the harbour at Portwrinkle, lining up the Milky Way within the harbour walls.

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!

Inspired by Stu Graham, yesterday I decided to make a detour on the way to the office and head to Paignton Pier for sunrise. The day didn’t really start that well, as expected the sunrise was a no-show, the tide was too high and I forgot my wellies so only had my smart work shoes so no wading in the water. After trying some more standard shots I ended the morning by trying for ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) shots, I usually find these work best if you have some strong lines in the image already such as the posts on the pier. I didn’t notice it at the time but lights on the pier are obviously flickering slightly as they’ve left a dotted pattern in the blur which I liked.

A shot from Spring at Lanhydrock House, for this shot I used a thin depth-of-field to try and isolate one tree from the rest of the woods.

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 the Science Museum in London; staircases do make good subjects as the repeated pattern draws the eye into the frame, and while this is not as dramatic as the stairs in Hele’s the windows also lend a nice symmetrical feel to the shot.

One from Kynance Cove, sometimes the best weather conditions develop out of frame as was the case on this evening, so the famous cove took second place for this shot as I wanted to concentrate on the the beautiful cloud formation.

Two young bulls playing at the water's edge. 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 640

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

#LaikipiaWilderness

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

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

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

Not something I was planning but the skies were so clear on Friday night that I took a few minutes out to walk to the old Lifeboat House on Lizard Point to get a shot of it under the Milky Way, there was still a fierce wind and even with extra weight attached to the tripod the wind managed to knock the camera over which thankfully survived. A bit late in the season to get the full Galactic core, so one that will need returning to!

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

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.

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

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.

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

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!

Bamburgh Castle

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.

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.

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.

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

While we were tucked away on a viewing platform near a dam having lunch and photographing the elephants that were relaxing in the water. This pair of giraffes came down for a drink. Always cautious at the water they tentatively took it in turns to grab a drink while the other kept watch.

Laikipia, Kenya March 2024

Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/1000 ISO 320

#Giraffe #ReticulatedGiraffe #Dominance #Reticulated #TwoHeads

#LaikipiaWilderness #lovelaikipia

#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari

#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals

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

#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem

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.

It's been a while since I did a moody monochrome seascape so I thought I'd have a go with another shot from Sharrow Point on Sunday evening.

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!

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 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

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!

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.

My final shot from Foggintor Quarry, and a completely different style of shot. This is the farm you pass on the way back to the car park, I can only imagine how completely isolated it would feel being there at night! Going for a completely moody look on this one with copious amounts of dodging-and-burning to make the house stand out from the moorland.

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.

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

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!

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!

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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.

A shot from Kennack Sands at the weekend, as the tide was high at sunrise there wasn’t much in the way of rocks to take photos of so I settled on using a branch and playing in the surf instead. There is unfortunately a small amount of movement in the branch but I liked the movement of the water in this exposure.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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!