Wildlife Photography Workshops

With some of the mildest temperatures on record it’s been a funny couple of months with regard to wildlife. With daytime temperatures averaging around 16c it’s been really mild and warm and nature hasn’t really known what is happening. Some birds are calling and almost displaying behaviour that’s normally suited to the onset of spring.

Over the last month the weather has been so different, we’ve had mist, the first frosts and plenty of rain that have swelled the rivers within the Peak District and waterlogged a lot of ground. I have several personal projects on the go where I’m hoping this recent cold spell will continue and also for my one day workshops and one to ones over the winter period.

My Dipper days are as popular as ever, where I take clients to places I have visited since I was a young teenage to see one of my all time favourite birds. The Red Grouse days I run too have been busy and as mentioned I’m hoping for snow to stay and cover the higher grounds of the Peak District in which they live and also where the Mountain Hares live.

The Short-eared Owl one to ones are also busy as these owls now have returned to their winter feeding grounds , coming down from their higher breeding grounds to spend the winter months at sea level.  Thanks to all the wonderful people I have met recently and I hope you’ve all learnt more about your own photography. I have a number of places still free on some of my photo tours for 2016 so click here to see what I offer.

Below is a short testimonial from Adam one client and you can see more of what my clients have said by clicking here.

“I’ve a lifetime love affair with wildlife and nature, and more recently photography, so I have decided to join them together. After a little research I came across Craig’s website it immediately resonated with me his passion and respect for nature and his craft is paramount, none of this fakery and set up to get the iconic shots Its about being true to nature and sharing that space. I took the plunge and booked a 1to1 session. From the first email Craig was responsive and exceptionally helpful and always on hand to answer any question, i had a lot and give guidance where needed. On the day Craig explained everything in small digestible easy to understand chunks this was from camera set-up to field craft. His framework, was clear and blew my mind how simple it was. I wish i had booked a session up sooner as it would of saved me a lifetime of research and reading. He has an intimate knowledge of nature and the environment that we all play in. If you love photography & nature like I do, I would recommend spending time with Craig, it will blow your mind. Im booking up more trips with Craig in 2016, he is a truly inspirational guy, who happen to take a cracking photo or two.”

On these days everything is wild and nothing is planned and I go through everything camera wise, settings and very simple steps to remember, but more importantly I go through fieldcraft, subject knowledge, what to look out for and track and having respect for wildlife where the welfare of the subject comes before anything.

Welfare is something I have spoke about from day one when I became a wildlife photographer, I have written many articles on the subject and done lots of talks about this subject. Things are changing I think with ethics and even well know wildlife photographers that had little or no thought for the welfare of their subject before capturing their images are now using the word “ethics” to spread the word which can only be good.

Recently the Guardian newspaper covered an article on welfare and ethics and I was happy to the author- Hugh with the article that can be seen here  Anybody wants any advice or help with their wildlife photographer then please send me an email. Remember when you point your camera at any living creature you have a duty of care to make sure you don’t disturb them and their welfare comes before any photograph you may take.