I consider myself very lucky. As a boy not only did I live in areas that were stuffed with wildlife, my parents, and father especially, took time to point out the natural world and I grew up being very aware of the abundance of life around me.  Some of my earliest memories are of foxes in our Cotswold garden and I vividly remember my dad going off to watch the badgers in the magical dark woods behind our house. I spent countless days at the riversides in Oxford, running through woods and rummaging in ditches and hedgerows in Sussex foraging for nature’s bounty.

My first encounters with a camera still raise a laugh between family members. I don’t remember the make and model other than it being a cheapish point and shoot film camera. I would come back from holidays in Cornwall with films full of pictures of the sea, I was a boy obsessed. Who comes home with pictures of “massive lugworm casts” from Mousehole and proudly shows them to their 13 year old friends?

I always wanted to be able to share the beauty of the natural world with those who weren’t lucky enough to see it the way I do and the digital revolution has finally allowed me, like many others, to be able to do just that. Picking up my first Digital SLR (a Nikon D50) in early 2006 led me to the start of a learning curve that I have been steadily travelling since that day. It’s an incredibly fulfilling journey and I often look back at my early attempts to remind myself how far I’ve come in just a few years. Being a bit obsessive, I have to throw myself right in and learn as much as I can and the wealth of help, advice and likeminded nature lovers on the internet has proved invaluable.

I now live with my wife in the northern Highlands of Scotland after moving up here from Hastings in November 2017. We have started a new chapter of our lives and are still getting used to living in a new location. We have a much larger garden to “play with” and I’ll be encouraging as much wildlife as I can.

I enjoy the challenge of competitions, and am proud to have been included in the British Wildlife Photography Awards several times, Bird Photographer of the Year a couple of times and have won a category in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards in the first (and only time so far) that I entered. I guess you could describe me as award winning but I’m still aiming higher!

I’m a member of the Dingwall Camera Club, a great way of meeting people and improving your skills regardless of level or areas of interest.

Talking of passions, I guess if you are still reading this then we have some in common and I invite you to browse the galleries, enjoy my photographs and should you happen upon me in the wild, don’t be shy, say hello and share a moment.

Photographing seabirds on Lunga, Treshnish Isles, Scotland

I currently use the following kit –

• Nikon Z8
• Nikon D500
• Nikon D7200
• Nikon z800mm f6.3
• Nikon 500mm f4 VRII
• Nikon z100-400 f4.5 – 5.6
• Sigma 180mm f3.5 macro
• Nikon 17-55 f2.8
• Nikon TC-14E AF-S Converter
• Sigma 1.4x APO EX DG Teleconverter
• 2x SB600 flash units
• PocketWizard PlusX remote units
• Gitzo 4542LS Tripod
• Benro GH2 Gimbal head
• Large Dome Hide (from Wildlife Watching Supplies)
• Bag hide
• Bean bags
• 100m wireless trigger
• Cable releases
• Cokin filters
• Various waterproof lens covers and neoprene protection all from Wildlife Watching Supplies.