Photography Blog

I have a few spaces left on the following photo tours for 2014 if you’d like to join me. I will be visiting the Shetland isles twice this year once in June and then in September where we will be just concentrate on Otters. In between this I will be once more visiting the magical island of Madagascar.

My Stunning Shetland Tour is timed to coincide with the height of summer where daylight lasts for almost 24hrs.  Seabird colonies will be frantically feeding their young, waders filling the air with their calls and Otters going about their lives all around us. Working with my friend and expert on the ground in Shetland this tour provides a unique opportunity to see and photograph the best of Shetland’s spectacular nature. After the success of last year’s tour I have a couple of spaces free. To see more information about this tour please click here.

In August I venture back to the amazing island of Madagascar. My last trip there with clients was amazing and this year see’s me running another trip there. I have a few spaces once more for this brilliant trip. On our 11 day photo trip you will see the best this unique island has to offer, amazing wildlife, superb beaches and great accommodation. Madagascar is host to a wide variety of species of lemur – these amazing creatures are found nowhere else in the world and new species are regularly discovered. The different species of lemur are spread throughout a variety of parks and reserves on the island. To see more about this amazing trip and book then click here.

Then I return back to the Shetland Isles to dedicate a whole week working with Otters. This 8 day photo tour among the beautiful landscape of the Shetland Isles will solely concentrate on finding Wild Otters and using fieldcraft taught my myself you will be able to have some amazing moments with these beautiful mammals. We will find various places where Otters are known to live and with a slow and steady pace we will be able to spend as much time at each place we visit during the week. I have a few places available so if you’d like to see more information on this trip then click here.

I have just added for 2015 my photo tour to the Falkland Islands again I have spaces so if you’d like to join me for this amazing trip then click here. My last trip there with clients was just amazing and to read the blog on that trip then click here.

My other trips are full and I will be releasing my 2015 dates for me Tigers of India trip soon and also my Wolves, Bears and Wolvrides trip in 2015. I hope you can join me and I look forward to meeting all my clients on my trips and workshops over the next 12 months, many thanks.

Its been another amazing year for me work wise, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and visiting some amazing places with my clients. Its always hard to say which was my best moment as all moments I share with nature are magical. I have put a few of my favorite images together in the following slideshow. It shows a few of the beautiful images I managed to see and capture with my camera in 2013..

I wish you all an amazing 2014 and I hope you all enjoy the coming year.  Happy New Year and many thanks to all my clients past and present.

Following on from my role as one of the judges for the high street retail giant CurrysPC World in their extremely popular six week photographic challenge earlier in the year. Where I set the public who entered the task of understanding and displaying composition within their submitted image. I have had my first blog post go live on their website covering Winter Light, side and back.

Winter Light, Side and Back

As the winter solstice will soon be upon us, you can read my first blog post for CurrysPCWorld. There are few greater opportunities for dramatic lighting within your photographs than a good winters day. During the winter months the UK as part of the Northern Hemisphere is at the closest point to the Sun, these days are shorter and the Sun is low in the sky giving some of the best light a photographer can wish for.

On the shortest day of the year, known as the winter solstice, the Sun is at the lowest point within the southern sky. During the short winter days the Sun does not rise exactly in the east, but instead rises just south of east and it sets south of west.

Click here to see more of the Winter Light, Side and Back blog post,  I hope it helps you make the most of the winter light while out with your cameras, many thanks.

As the year draws to an end now and my favorite time of year is just around the corner; Christmas, I would just like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  Many thanks to all the wonderful people I have met this year on my photo tours and trips. I really hope I’ve helped and inspired you all into seeing the wonderful and amazing world of wildlife that’s all around us.

Thank you all for your support during the last year, and  I look forward to welcoming all my clients booked on my many trips for next year and one to ones.

A great honour to be asked by Nikon, Japan, to contribute to this one off, special edition book that has now been released, its celebrates the 80th Anniversary of Nikon. I have a number of my images included along with the real life stories behind them. It fills me with even more pride to be representing my country on the world scene by being one of the “Eyes Of Nikon” photographers chosen from the UK

“The book introduces the world’s leading 21 photographers’ original work with story’s around the lens used for the work. The book will also introduce the technology and decades of craftsmanship of NIKKOR lens by the Nikon engineers. Nikon announce the launch of art book of photography, “Masters of the Light” and “Eyes of Nikon” The book celebrates the 80th anniversary of NIKKOR, brand of camera lenses produced by Nikon Corporation, under the theme of “ART meets TECHNOLOGY makes HISTORY” the books have invited worldly renowned photographers to illustrate the art of photography. The photographers have contributed works using Nikon Camera and NIKKOR lens”. – Nikon, Japan.

Eyes of Nikon

“A new art book of photography with photography all taken with Nikon Camera and NIKKOR lens and story around the lens. The book introduces the world’s leading 21 photographers’ original work with story around the lens used for the work. The book will also introduce the technology and decades of craftsmanship of NIKKOR lens by the Nikon engineers”. –Nikon, Japan 

My photographic journey, from nothing to this in four years makes me smile, When I started out I had to learn everything from scratch, processing an image , to working the camera settings out, to sending invoices, writing proper, blogging and marketing my company. I had no experience in any of this having left school to join the army at 16,with no qualifications and not knowing I was dyslexic at the time.

I grafted day and night never giving up and not taking no for an answer to get my work out there. My childhood passion for wildlife and time served life skills from then to now have helped me so much though. Never give up in the pursuit of what you want, I was lucky my mum embedded this belief into me from a young age, whilst learning me about nature around us. My images represent an event that occurred in the wild something that I witnessed and recorded with my camera.

My skill lies in interpreting and presenting this in a way that invokes beauty, mood and emotion with each moment captured My aim has always been to inspire people with my photographs while working in an ethical way alongside the wildlife I see always remembering I’m a guest in their world.

“Wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk and this is when you need to rely on your equipment just that bit more. All my encounters with wildlife are special and I try never to change an animals’ behavior by my presence. The end result is a true image of that time I captured with my heart firstly rather than secondly. I always try to capture the real essence of the subject I’m photographing. In doing so, those images you take show a greater understanding for your subject and in turn show and teach those that view your images more about the subject and where they live and how they conduct their lives..” Craig Jones.

This wonderful book will be available on Amazon very soon and I have a few free ones coming from Japan, a small perk of being in the book I believe. I’d like to thank all my friends,clients, pass and present for your support, those that have helped me and stood by me. This for me rounds off a wonderful year work-wise. I’m looking forward to next year already, my trips, my work and my own projects and ideas I have planned, many thanks.

It is with utter heartbreak and shock that I was emailed this week from Sumatra,asking for some of my Sumatran Orangutan images to be asked for a campaign Ian Singleton the director of SOCP are fighting. Once I stopped and read the proposals my heart missed a beat I cannot lie. As each day passes I want to get out there with my camera to do something. Below are Ian’s words and the campaign they are fighting to stop large areas of Sumatra being dug up and lost for ever. Lost is the key word, mankind just never fails to shock me with their mindless greed.

On the 30^th December they rule, when everyone is looking to the New Year and relaxing officials decide whether its good to hand over some of the most precious rainforests in the world to developers hell bent on bleeding the soil of its riches and replace it with a vile, unnatural habitat killing some of the world’s most protected animals found nowhere else on earth.

Dr Ian Singleton –

“The Acehnese Government is pushing to finalize the proposed Spatial Plan in the next coming weeks along with and additional NEW draft governor’s regulation, which opens a door for new permits in large critical areas of the Leuser Ecosystem. If approved, this new plan and the new regulation will result in the rapid devastation of most of Aceh’s remaining lowland forests, the last stronghold for the Sumatran Orangutan, tiger, rhino and elephant. This also totally undermines the legal status of the world renowned Leuser Ecosystem. What’s more, it will not only seriously impact biodiversity and regional carbon emissions, but also seriously jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of many thousands of Aceh’s 4 million people”

I put a slideshow SOCP are using and my images will be used to raise much needed awareness before the December 30^th deadline. In the new year I’m hoping go out there with my camera and report on this I wish I could go tomorrow, in the meantime to everyone who follows my blog please sign the petition on the links below thank you.

This has to be stopped  –

Sign – www.change.org/LeuserHeritage
Fax – ww.endoftheicons.wordpress.com/?p=1710
Donate – www.sumatranorangutan.org

Thank You.

I was recently asked to do a talk/questions and answer session at Nottingham University for the students on the Biological Photography & Imaging MSc, BSc course, School of Life Sciences. It’s great to be asked back once more after last year’s talk which I really enjoyed. Helping others to “see” wildlife and use the medium of photography to capture what you see in an ethical, respectful was my message.

I was joined by other photographers where everyone talked about their own careers, where they started, their futures and what best advice we can give to the next generation of photographers.

It tops off a wonderful year talk wise for me and my wildlife photography, I have had the honor of presenting two talks at different times in the Natural History Museum in London as part of their Genesis program of talks alongside the amazing exhibition of Sebastiao Salgado. I love going through my work and how and where it begin showing the foundation to my wildlife photography today.

I have a designated page here on the talks I offer and booking details etc. Some of the talks I do are listed if you want to no the many others I do then just send me an email,many thanks.

Nikon Celebrates the 80^th Anniversary of NIKKOR Lenses : 80 Years at the heart of Your Images.

“Craig Jones is a professional wildlife photographer, an experienced expedition and workshop leader, who runs his own photo tours to many places throughout the UK and further afield around the world. Skilled as a wildlife photographer by interpreting and presenting wildlife as he sees, in a way that invokes beauty, mood and emotion with each moment captured.”  Nikon,  Japan.

I have been chosen to become one of the -Eyes of Nikon– Contributing photographers –

NIKON, Japan have now released this to the world, and the book is due in December 2013. I’m very pleased to be asked by Nikon to be one of the 20 “Eyes of Nikon” contributing photographers for this book. It’s a collection of stunning images taken with Nikon lenses to celebrate 80 years of Nikon lenses.

The book is due for releases in December 2013 and I’m really looking forward to receiving my copy. There are some massive names among both the “Eyes Of Nikon” and the “Master of Light” contributing photographers and it goes without saying I’m extremely proud to be asked to contribute to this amazing book and the displays at different venues around the world that will accompany the book and its release.

The press release from Nikon, Japan –

A collection of original photos by twenty photographers active around the world, as well as explanations of the NIKKOR lenses.

Release: Scheduled for release on December, 2013
Availability: Japan, the U.S., and countries in Europe and Asia
Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese
Contributing photographers: Ahn Jun, Andrea Bruce, Bob Martin, Colston Julian, Craig Jones, Daisy Gilardini, Donald Miralle, HASHi, Hiroshi Kaneko, Kabo, Marcelo Gomes, Keith and Mark Sutton, Norihito Ogata, Phil Knott, Taisuke Koyama, Takao Fujita, Tomoko Suwa-Krull, Topaz Leung, Yoi Kawakubo, Yuhki Touyama

To see the full story and all the contributing active photographers then please click here to be taken to Nikon’s site. I will update my blog when the book is launched and display some of the images they chose, many thanks.