About

I live in the small market town of Oundle, Northants.
I first became interested in photography while still at school. My parents gave me my first 35mm film camera as a Christmas present one year and a darkroom kit the following year, this interest has lasted for over 25 years
.
My current kit is built around the Nikon system.

D 700 Body, D 200 Body, 18mm f2.8 lens, 50mm f1.8 lens, 24-70 f2.8 AFS lens,
200 f4 micro lens, 300 f2.8 VR AFS lens, 600 f4 VR AFS lens, TC 1.7 extender,

I was a slow convert to digital photography, however with the introduction of the D200 I decided it was time to go digital. The arrival of the D700 means that my D200 is now relegated to second body and backup duties. It is an unfortunate side to digital photography that technology marches on and your new camera body is outdated in a very short time (unlike film cameras), so as much as I would like the latest and best available I tend to put my money into my lens purchases.
I like to photograph anything not just birds and wildlife even though this website only features these images. I love Motogp, I have also covered a couple of weddings and my camera comes out at any social gathering with my friends (this sometimes does not go down well until a fair bit of alcohol has been consumed – why do people not like to be photographed?).
My knowledge of birds and wildlife is growing as I spend more time trying to photograph them. However I would not describe myself as a twitcher, I am a photographer first so if we do meet please excuse my ignorance. It is the challenge of capturing an image of a subject that you have no control over and are sometimes just lucky to see never mind photograph that motivates and more frequently frustrates me.

Last year I visited many places in this country that I had not been before, Snettisham, Titchwell, Bempton Cliffs and the Farne Islands among others. Most of the images on this site were taken during those visits. Sometimes the weather works against you and it can be a wasted journey in photographic terms, like the couple of occasions that the boat could not get out to the Farne Islands.
I also spent some time in Florida where the non-european species on my site were photographed. It is much easier and more enjoyable photographing against a blue sky with the sun shining most of the time! Probably why I saw more 500 & 600mm lenses than I’ve ever seen in this country.
My local surrounding countryside and Barnwell Country Park are quite good for photographic opportunities, the great crested grebe and the kingfisher images were all taken nearby. The red kites fly very low over my house daily.
This year I plan to visit more places both local and further away to try to photograph new subjects and also improve on the images already captured.
If you would like to use an image or if you would like to leave a comment or contact me please use my contact page. Please check back I will try to update images more frequently.
Lets see what 2011 brings.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my site.
Derek