Photography Blog

A good Photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart, and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. Four years ago today my website went live and I turned my childhood hobby into my profession. I don’t see this as work but a way of life for me.  My first blog post was about one of my images Family Life being commended in the British Wildlife Photography Awards- BWPA. It was the very first time I had entered any image into any form of competition and in the year that my website had launched it was a nice moment for me.

When I first started out I had no clue really how to work a computer, I had no knowledge of  working Digital cameras, no formal photography training or background, I had no business or marketing plan, no money and had to borrow and beg off credit cards. I brought a prime lens with what money I had saved from working on the mobile cranes and rope access work I did for a living before photography. I learned how to work my camera and get the best from it in a way that works on the ground. I learned how to process images really getting the image right in camera rather than changing it in Photoshop.

I knew I had alot of knowledge of wildlife, I had great skills in fieldcraft and approaching animals and my heart was always among nature. I set up a few workshops that took clients to places I had visited since I was a kid to see and photograph some of my favorite wildlife and so my business started and grew. I was one of the first to start One to Ones with clients, offering a real encounter with wildlife at the same time learning key skills to improve my clients own wildlife photography. I still run these and my other trips very successfully today.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you for the support of my clients, editors, and people over the years that I have had the pleasure of working alongside. I am launching a photo competition today where the prize is a One to One with myself in the UK. With my ethics as the backdrop to this competition I want those that choose to enter to have captured a truly wild moment. No props, no perches, no animals made to do something in return for food. I just want a simple image taken by the photographer who used his/her own skills and knowledge.

During those four years I have tried and will continue too be as real with my images as possible. Capturing truly wild moments using my own skills rather than rely on bringing the subject to you through bait, food or using captive animals. In an age where you can almost buy any set-up image you want, choosing your perch or prop, setting the background. Where the animal is made to jump, fly,dive and stand on two legs and so forth in return for food and getting the paying guest his or her chosen image.

My wildlife photography was born out a sheer love and passion for nature from a young age. From those early days I spent so much time being at one with nature, close to and watching, hidden from view on the off chance I would see a certain animal. Learning to get close to wildlife without disturbing the life of the animal, almost forgetting the outside world and becoming part of the animal I was getting close to or watching. By doing this I could understand the animal better, gaining many skills by observing their behaviors at the same time giving the subject complete respect which allowed me a private window into their personal and private lives.

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. Respect for wildlife has to be the first thing in any image obtained, love nature and she will give up her secrets to you.

The result is real images where the subject is completely relaxed by your presence.  At the same time the photographer will learn so much more about the subject and the environment in which the subject lives. You have to learn about your subject and fieldcraft to really embrace the world of wildlife I feel and in turn wildlife photography.

Wildlife photography for me is capturing a moment in the wild, I make no bones about disliking set up images, captive images or where the animal is made to do something in return for a reward, this is image making not true wildlife photography where the subject becomes a commodity in order to facilitate those paying guests.  Where the photographer has  given no real explanation to how and what was behind the image.

The photographer has a duty of care not only to the wildlife but also to the general public who view your work. And in my eyes if you do this for a living and you work in this manner than you should have the integrity to tell those that judge you how you got the image and what skills you used in the pursuit of such an image. Wildlife is not a commodity in which you use to make money from one minute then try and use it as a vehicle to promote your own interests and cause the next.

What I’ve always tired to offer with my workshops here in the UK and abroad is an experience, a true moment in nature where you have learned how to work the land, learned abit about the subject and other skills. The hope is you go home afterwards and apply these skills learned and apply them to your own photography, this is my aim and what’s behind my workshops/trips.

Those clients that have spent time with me really benefit from this approach and learn much more in my eyes. Many have wrote their own thoughts on my Testimonials page which can be seen here.

So with all this in mind I have launched my competition today and its meant to empower those that enter to work in a more ethical way, love wildlife first and foremost and the rest will fall into place I believe.  Its open to anyone and by showing a total understanding of your craft and the ethics behind the image you send in.  I will look forward to seeing all these images and the winner will learn more of what they have already demonstrated with their winning image.

Competition

The competition will run from the 1^st October until the 21^st October.  The winners will be announced by Friday 25th October. You don’t have to have any fancy camera gear, or be a pro or think you’re not good enough if you think you have a nice shot your proud of and its a truly wild moment then enter. The prize is the One to One day with me. Where I will show you everything I know, how I work and it will be fun at the same time very rewarding in terms of knowledge shared and fieldcraft learned.

Please email/message your image at 600 x 600 and 72dpi to my Craig Jones Wildlife Photography facebook page here.

The rules are very simple:-

1. Anyone, any standard may enter the competition.
2. Only one entry per person.
3. The competition is open only to UK residents.
4. Your image must be completely wild were nothing has been changed by the hand of man.
5. The competition will run from October 1st until Monday 21^st October.
6.  The winner will be announced by Friday 25th October.

I would then like a brief explanation of the story behind the image as I am very strong on this and again it tells the full story to those not lucky enough to have been there when the image was taken.

Good Luck to everyone who enters.

A major sign for me that the onset of Autumn and Winter is around the corner are the Spring Tides that happen around our coastline at this time of year symbolising the changing seasons, as we leave the Summer and enter into the lovely, warming colours of Autumn where the trees lose their coat of leaves, left exposed and bare to the elements, to the frosty Winter mornings, with the winter sunset proceeding over frozen landscapes where things take just that bit longer to awaken.

No where does this amazing spectacle happen better than on the North Norfolk coastline, an area that supports thousands of Waders, Geese, and other birds during our Autumn and Winter months.

A brief  explanation of these Spring Tides is when the gravitational effects of the Sun and the Moon combine, resulting in these Spring Tides which have nothing to do with the season of spring.  The term refers to the action of the seas springing out and then springing back.  These are times of high high tides and low low tides.  A spring tide occurs when the moon is in its second and fourth quarters, more commonly known as the new and full moon phases respectively.

You get them all year but their numbers are greater during our Autumn and Winter months resulting in this amazing experience, accompanied with the sights and sounds of nature you’ll never forget. I have spent the last three days there with clients who booked  these Spring Tide/Barn Owl days I run.

Birds start to take off as the others wait on the ground for their turn to join their group and return to the sea. Peeling off , perfectly timed formations take to the air back to where they belong, the power and force can be felt as you sit in the hides.  With the photograph above I wanted to convey this moment, a truly amazing site within our wonderful wildlife in this country.

Knot, Dunlin and other waders were arriving each day, their numbers increasing all the time forming their customary aerial flocks where they fly inches from each other, twisting and turning, a breathtaking site to witness. My clients captured some great images and have taken away valuable advice and tips, and techniques that I use and apply to my own photography, where I show and teach not only these but concentrate on fieldcraft, the habitat and the environment of the subject, reading what is happening around you.

All of these skills can be taken home by the client and applied to their own photography where hopefully over time they will help to increase and improve their overall photography skills, techniques and images, as this is the main aim of all the one to one/workshops that I do.

The weather during this time would be best described as a mixed bag, the sun broke through and rose in the east lighting up this beautiful yet bleak place on a couple of the mornings.  We had a amazing sunset on some of the evenings, alot of the time though it was overcast but the clouds did clear after  a few light showers. The light is amazing just after rain, where the atmosphere is cleansed and there is a clearer light perfect for taking photographs. The numbers of Oystercatchers were high where they like to form large flocks on the land, constantly calling with their piercing call.

I always say to clients that there is always a shot to be had so while we were waiting for the larger flocks I wanted to show and demonstrate the effect of using aslow shutter speed  and what it can produce, where a sense of movement in the subject is frozen and captured giving the image a sense of impending movement.  Adding a little drama to a photograph, as shown below with a flock of Knot altogether on the sandbanks. Freezing that movement, and adding movement to the image as well as making the most of the overcast conditions where the photographs look like they are taken in black and white.

There are so many different subjects to photograph on the Norfolk coastline that its a wildlife photographers dream in my eyes, and a great place to learn about these subjects and these amazing events by watching and capturing their behaviors, flight patterns and so fourth. Where all the birds are being pushed closer to the shoreline by the incoming spring tide, forcing them closer to the shore, landing, taking flight until the very last piece of land is submerged by the sea, all the time the birds fly around in vast numbers mostly for protection avoiding the raptors that work this stretch of coastline in large numbers looking for an easy meal.

It was a great few days for all my clients and I was really happy that they got some if not all of the shots that they wanted.  We  finished off each day at one of the many different Barn Owl sites I know in Norfolk.  They weren’t disappointed with views of the female and male quartering and hunting for food.  We also had a viewing of their young which was brilliant to see.

With the changing seasons, come changing wildlife, and throughout the Autumn/Winter period I will be running many different days capturing the stunning wildlife the UK has to offer during our shorter months. Mountain Hares in the Peak District, the only place outside of Scotland you can see them, Fallow and Red Deer rutting at two different sites, Whooper Swans start arriving to spend their Winters with us, these days are on the North-West Coast of the UK.  Short-Eared Owls and Raptors on this coastline also. All these days and many more can be booked either through my one to ones or the workshops page seen here.

One of my clients, Steve Tucker has wrote a wonderful review I wanted to share with you. Hes a well schooled photographer in his own rights. I have had the pleasure of his company now twice and he’s had some wonderful images and encounters on both days. To read his review please click here.

I’d like to thank all my clients for your company over the last three days, its been great to show you the amazing wildlife and events that happen in this part of the UK. I will be running these Spring Tides/ Barn Owl days throughout the year so should you wish to find out more information on these amazing days or any other the other brilliant days I have mentioned here then please send me an email  many thanks.

Really proud to show you a wonderful article that has now been released in the world renowned Nikon Owner Magazine. The coverage of this magazine is worldwide and once more the plight of the Sumatran Orangutans will be seen on a global stage. My promise and continued mission for these apes is to give them a voice through my images and that’s what I have done tirelessly over the last 12 months since my visit to Sumatra.

For those of you on here that wont be able to see this magazine I have carefully placed all the pages from the PDF document the owner of the magazine has just sent me so you get to see this. The article is dedicated to those Sumatran Orangutans that are killed, trapped, slaughtered and sold as pets each and every week.

My images though speak for those Orangutans and all these images have been donated by myself to a wonderful charity SOS- Sumatran Orangutan Society headed up by Helen Buckland from their small office in Oxford. She works very hard for these apes and its been a pleasure to work and help SOS and Helen. I will be back there in the early part of next year and also later on in the year with my trip. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the article and thank you.

Nikon owner Magazine can be seen by clicking here or you can see their facebook page here. Some of my prints from this trip can be brought from SOS”s website where 100% of the money goes to helping these great apes in their native country of Sumatra, click here to see and purchase them.

If you would like to visit Sumatra and join me on an amazing adventure into the jungles there at the same time support the charities that work tirelessly to save these great apes then click here to see my 2014 photo tour to this amazing place. Its open to anyone and everyone not just photographers.

I will show you the amazing jungles and the unique wildlife that live there and you will get chance to see the work that’s been done to rebuild the rainforests there. Some of your money too will go directly to the Sumatran Orangutan Society- SOS, a charity set up to help these beautiful apes.

A massive thank you to the team at Nikon Owner Magazine for publishing this article and helping me in spreading the word on what’s happening in Sumatra and extending the Orangutans voices to a wider audience, many thanks guys.

I have been asked by high street giants Currys &PC World to become a judge on their six week photo challenge.  The competition see’s you putting your skills to the test in a series of photography challenges where the winner could win one of several amazing new compact cameras as well as a chance to attend a one day photography course with an expert photographer.

My challenge that goes live today is “ Composition” and to read the blog post that goes with this challenge then click here.

Currys have teamed up with six of our favourite on-line photo takers, writers and experts and each week, one of them will reveal a photography challenge for you to take part in. They will be setting the tasks in line with their area of expertise.

Its a great way to learn and get some feedback at the same time you’re in with a chance of winning so for more details on how to enter click here. Good luck to everyone that enters and I will update my blog when the competition has finished and the winner announced.

There are few places to compare with the Falkland Islands when it comes to photographic opportunities. I have joined forces with Island Holidays offering a photo-tour designed especially for photographers – amateur and professional. After the amazing success of this years trip I return in February 2014 and still have spaces available.

Our 14-night holiday includes stays at Stanley, Darwin, Sea Lion Island, Carcass Island (with a day trip to West Point) and Saunders Island as well as a trip to Volunteer Point, home to the largest colony of King Penguins on the islands. We travel from the UK with the Royal Air Force out of RAF Brize Norton and, on the islands, by 8-seater Islander aircraft and LandRover.

Accommodation is in comfortable hotels or lodges except on Saunders Island where it is more basic – but worth it just for the location.

FALKLAND ISLANDS Photo Tour 2014

A photographic extravaganza in the company of wildlife photographer, Craig Jones and operated by Falkland specialist, Island Holidays (ATOL 2725) 14 nights – departs Brize Norton Wednesday 5th February 2014. Fully inclusive cost £6,445 (single room supplement £600*) Deposit £800. Maximum number of clients: 8

Interest in my 2014 trip is already very good so if I have wetted your appetite and you would like to join me then please click on this following link, to read a couple of reviews on my 2013 trip please click here, many thanks.

I have had a wonderful response to my talks since I added this recently to my website making it easier to book me for a talk. Have a look at the link if you wish to book me and I travel to anywhere throughout the UK to present my work.  I go through how I work and my slideshows will inspire and show you the true beauty of the natural world around us.

One of my recent talks at the Natural History Museum in London can be seen below just giving you some idea what I show and go through hope you enjoy.

I’m available for talks covering a wide range of topics showing his beautiful images along with some moving music that is all geared to take you on a beautiful journey into the natural world. I have also been approached to talk aboard in Europe and further afield so if you live outside of the UK and wish to book me then check out the  following link many thanks.

I have just returned from the Shetland Islands, it is a wildlife photographer’s paradise with many opportunities to see and capture the amazing wildlife this island has on offer in beautiful light. I spent sometime on my own before my clients turned up to spend a week with me. Shetland’s 1200 mile long shoreline with its very varied habitat is the main reason why wildlife finds the islands so attractive.

Our photo-tour was timed to coincide with the height of summer where daylight lasts for almost 24 hrs.  Sea bird colonies will be frantically feeding their young, waders filling the air with their calls and Otters going about their lives all around us. I also loved the islands Shetland Ponies as captured in the image below.

What makes these Shetland Island sea birds so special is not just the quantity and variety of birds but their spectacular setting. Nowhere else in Britain, and hardly anywhere in Europe, can you get so close, so easily, to so many sea birds in such awe-inspiring scenery. It’s one of the best places also to see Otters playing, feeding all along the shores of this incredible island. The Shetland islands remind me of the Falklands Islands with the open landscape and vast areas of rocky outcrops and high peaks leading to mountains. 

Once I had picked up my clients we had a wonderful afternoon firstly at Sumburgh Head to photographing  the beautiful Puffins and other stunning sea birds that live on this south coast of the Shetland islands. Then it was on to our cottage and then straight out to encounter the amazing and varied wildlife Shetland has to offer. The pattern of each day was almost the same travelling to the well known areas for Otters, Waders and other amazing wildlife this island has to offer.

Each offering unrivalled views of some of the most amazing nesting colonies of Gannets, Razorbills and other seabirds all clinging to this vast cliffs at both of the places.  On the Monday we took the boat to Noss, a small island home to one of the biggest colonies of breeding gannets anywhere in the world.

Once you witness this place you feel dwarfed from your small craft, looking up at the vast cliffs and hearing the noises of these birds all communicating to each other. The smells too are very strong but the sheer size and scale of this place is unbelievable and my clients were completely blown away by it all. 

I had an amazing encounter with a female Otter during those first days on the island. She swam around then brought ashore a large fish and the key is to try and work out where and when she would come ashore. This time I got it right and she came ashore some twenty foot to my front. The wind direction was in my favour, blowing away my scent and the noise of the waves broke any shutter noise up. These images capture a magical fifteen minutes with her a really special encounter.

On the Tuesday we took another boat trip, this time to ferries to reach Hermenss nature reserve. After the tough walk to the cliffs what awaits you is just stunning, truly stunning.

You carry on for sometime, carrying your full kit, it does get you warm to say the least. Once you start to reach the cliffs to your front, the noise and pitch of the noise and calls begin to increase, its almost like your getting closer to a massive speaker system. The land to your front starts to level out and you see the sea at first. As you then start to double check where you put your feet as the ground starts to slope off in the direction of the sea. What then comes into view is one of if not the best and biggest breeding colonies of Gannets anywhere in the world and you cannot fail to just stand there and admire what you are now viewing, wondering is this place real.

The sheer size is something you have to see to believe and I walked around the top of these cliffs and came across a lone female sitting on her egg, tucked right up inside a small ledge with the background in a shaded part of the cliff. By under-exposing I was able to throw out the background light and create this dark effect which features strongly in my work and always has done. I waited to see if she would move or change her position and I was rewarded with her grooming and looking around her captured with these images.

Iain who helped my with my trip and lives on the Shetland island took this image of me at the top of the cliffs looking down on this lone female and the view was just amazing.

Both days offered some amazing images for all clients and they duly filled many memory cards with brilliant images from both boat trips I had planned.The rest of the week we looked for Otters and at times the weather was often against us with pouring rain making looking for those Otters just that but more difficult with choppy sea conditions replacing those calm conditions that help you when looking for tale tell Otter signs. My clients did see Otters but getting them ashore proved harder that it looked.

While looking for Otters and laying in wait at several top sites there was an abundance of wildlife around us. This place is just amazing for its wildlife and dramatic coastlines of rugged cliffs and pounding seas. Each day was rounded off with a lovely, home-made three course meal made by Iains wife that was the perfect end to those long days.

Its hard to do this place and its wildlife justice with these few images but I have chosen a mixture of my favourite ones for you. from Otters, to waders, and Seals to the varied flowers/amazing orchids and fauna this island offers up. All my clients had some amazing images from the week and I would like to thank them all for their company and the many laughs we had along the way.

The seas around the Shetland Islands support so much wildlife too the place is just amazing,

A massive thanks to Iain and his wife Anne who are good friends and live on this amazing island for their help in making my Stunning Shetland photo tour a great successes. I have put up next years dates now and interest has been amazing already from my updates on Facebook and Twitter I posted while I was there. If you would like to join me next year in July where I will show you some of the beautiful islands wildlife during the week long photo tour at the same time improve your own wildlife photography then click on this link for all the details and information, many thanks.

Over the last several weeks I have visited the amazing Natural History Museum in London twice to present two talks. Its been an amazing honour to do so and I thank the staff there for inviting me. I spoke about my images, my background and why and how I see using my camera. My work is true and real and I work with a great passion and I hope this came out to everyone that attended.