Entries Tagged ‘2010 Birdfair’:

I have just returned from three wonderful days at this years Birdfair.  It was my first time as an exhibitor at the Birdfair after many, many years going as a visitor.  We both really enjoyed the three days and found the organisation of the event brilliant and very professional, so full credit to the staff and volunteers.  My stand was set up in the same way as my other exhibitions at Buxton, Derbyshire, with the idea of creating a gallery-style format giving people space to walk around and the oppotunity to ask anything they wished about my images.

As every image I take has a name and meaning to why I took it, I like to explain the reasons, style and what I was trying to achieve in the image.  Where its so important in my style of wildlife photography to capture the wild animal, within their natural environment and showing how they live, breed and go about their lives, their behaviours and so on.

The stand and my images went down really well I feel.  I managed to sell some of my Limited Edition Tiger images, which was great, with the cheque having been sent this morning to 21st Century Tiger Charity where I am trying to help in anyway I can towards the survival of the wild Tiger throughout the world, so thank you on behalf of the Tiger for the sales.

I met so many very nice people and made some many good contacts, so a big thank you to all those that came to see me.  There were many people from the various different forums I am on, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter etc, where it was great to put a face to the name.  I have a few ideas I will be working on alongside my current ventures.  I will be field testing a range of brilliant products and equipment from Stealth Wildlife after meeting up and getting on great with their owner Neill.

I will be trying to give him a different customer perspective on an already great range of products from a ex-sniper’s, fieldcraft experts point of view eg-shape, shine, silhouette, toughness, durability, camouflage pattern etc so I’m really looking forward to promoting and adding value to Neill’s products.  The first one will be very soon on his Bag Hide I will be using this on a Kingfisher project that I have been working on from scratch on the river Trent for the past three weeks.  This part of the river runs through the beautiful Trentham Estate, a place I’ve known from my childhood.

With the help of Jack the head warden from the Deer Study Resource Centre who has shown me around this brilliant estate.  I will be running Wildlife One-day Workshops, set in these amazing grounds, where they have a healthy population of Fallow deer, Badger, Fox and Kingfishers that have never been photographed before due to the privateness of this beautiful area.

We are just finalising this great event where I will show and teach everything I use to produce the images, I get from the wild, with the key focus on fieldcraft, tracking skills,approaching your subject with minimal disturbance,wind direction, all designed for you to read whats happening around you and help you to build a picture of the wildlife in the area.  Pool these skills together with the simply composition and camera skills, I will show and teach and you all the ingredients for a great day and in turn improving your wildlife photography skills and competancies throughout these one day workshops.

The day will include hot or cold lunch, drinks and refreshments and will last all day.  More details will follow and I will keep you updated.  Should you want more details in the mean time then please send me an email here or contact Jack at the Deer Study & Resource Center.  With the start of the Rutting season soon these days will be up and running to coincide with this amazing time, capturing the stunning autumn colours of this beautiful countryside.

Just to say thanks again folks to those I met, many thanks for your trade and bookings on my One To Ones/Workshops and I look forward to meeting you all in the future, many thanks.

There a few places in the UK where you can experience the sights and sounds of nature any better than the North Norfolk coast during the Spring Tides that start in earnest from this month onwards and for me herald the onset of the Autumn and Winter months,where the seasons change from the Spring/Summer into the Autumn and Winter.

Having just returned for a wonderful One To One day with Mike Breedon from South Yorkshire,where it was his wish to learn more about wildlife photography after contacting me through my website,the skills I use,expert fieldcraft,lens techniques,light,camera settings and so fourth, the venue Mike chose was one of the Spring Tide/Barn Owl days I run.

The weather was amazing throughout the day,with the morning light being one of the best I’ve seen in years of coming to this beautiful place Snettisham is,with its moon-like landscape,vast open spaces,where thousands of birds fly past you,feet away,its just an amazing place to be during these Spring Tides they are now beginning to happen on this beautiful stretch of the North Norfolk coastline.

During a Spring Tide most if not all of the estuary is consumed by the sea and submerged underwater.Out on the mud and sand flats you’ll see thousands of wading birds feeding at low tide,as the tides rises,the mud and sand flats disappear underwater and the birds are suddenly forced to move closer into shore by the incoming sea.They then take off,and fly in vast and awesome flocks towards you on the beech at Snettisham,a place that provides a safe refuge in which to rest until the falling tide allows them back onto the tidal flats.

Some of the birds from Geese,Redshanks,Oystercatchers and Grey Plovers are wonderful to watch in flight as the fly overhead escaping the oncoming tide,but for sheer size and show the smaller waders,such as Dunlin,Knots really steel the show for me.They perform for the gathering public that make the early start to witness one of natures most amazing spectacles.These smaller waders gather in great ,dense packs and lines,almost like bee swarms,rising,falling,twisting and turning all in perfect,rhythmic sweeps and stalls,before pouring into the roost site like falling hailstones.

Once they have landed they seem like they are not quite happy,un-decided its safe from birds of prey that circle the sky on the lookout for an easy breakfast.So up they come and do it all again,twisting and turning in the sky,until, once again they land almost in the same or close to where they were in the first place.When the birds are in the sky they are almost as one,one minute dark,the next silvery white,turning their backs to you,then their pale undersides in a show of coordination that’s second to none.I have never seen two birds make contact,making this site a truly magical event to witness in nature.

I have a few more dates free between now and December so should you wish to book or just found out a little more on these dates,my One To Ones,Workshops and how I run them then please send me an email here or call me on the number provided

Mike came away from the day with some great best practises I feel,where I was able to help him to understand the concept of capturing wild animals within their natural environments,in turn showing the general public where these birds,animals live,feed and breed and how they conduct their lives within the habitats around us.

Mike sent me his thoughts on the day-

Looking at my own images compared to other professional and amateur wildlife photographers I thought I needed a push to get to the next stage in order to improve in all areas of photography, field craft, and composition and general wildlife photography skills. I decided the best way would be to go to a total stranger who would hopefully recognise my faults and shortfalls and then not be afraid to show me where I was going wrong. I was fortunate to find Craig’s website which was easy to follow, looked clean, tidy and well organised and very professional as well as indicating that the type of One to One day he was offering matched all my requirements. I was not disappointed, I found Craig to match his website, easy to get on with, very informative, very professional and passionate about all aspects of wild life in its own environment, willing to offer advice and teach field craft skills in such a manner that made it all fit together to make the day good value for money. Professionalism was evident right the way through the long day even down to the standard of the packed lunch, a great day Craig and one which completely fit my requirements. Now all I have to do is try to put all that information and the practices into action. Now then, what did Craig say about composition.
Regards,Mike Breedon, South Yorkshire

The importance of simple composition,giving the images room to ‘Breath’ and the most important tool in the box of being a wildlife photographer, which is fieldcraft,approaching subjects without causing them distress,using the cover available to break up your shape and silhouette where the wildlife will see you before you know it.

Using simply techniques to establish the wind direction,reading tracks,helping you to see whats around you and many more things I know and teach on these day(s) all major factors in getting close to wild animals.Which I have mastered in over 30 years of love and passion for wildlife alongside my expert fieldcraft skills from my military background,giving the client the very best in wildlife photography on all the events I run.

All my One To Ones,Photo-Tours,Workshops are run along the same lines,with my great passion for nature being one of the key elements in showing and teaching people how to have a contact with nature,which is all around them,by watching,listening,hearing nature,which in turns builds a picture of whats happening around you at that time.The camera skills I show are the same ones that I use and that have improved my own wildlife photography.

I do this in many ways,one of which is to show the client(s) how I use my own camera,illustrating the processes at first hand,giving an insite into which and what settings I use,showing techniques in camera,composing the image in different ways and showing the clients the ideas I have etc.I feel this is a very powerful learning tool for people that attend my workshops.

I hope that has helped you all to see how passionate I am about everything within nature, and what nature means to me,any questions then please don’t hesitate to contact me.A big thank you to all those of you that have emailed me wishing me luck in my first Birdfair next week.Those of you that are going please drop by Marquee 6 to say hello to my wife and I,where you will see a selection of some of my work in framed,mounted or canvas format for sale,alongside many other iteams.

Should you wish to ask for any advice on wildlife photography etc then  drop by and ask I’ll be more than happy to help you.Also please give as much money as you can in their Auction this year as this helps projects,Birdlife all around the world.I have a limited Edition Framed Tiger print I have given to help,and its lot number 83 so please bid as much as you can to help the great cause’s Birdfair help each year Many thanks.

Over the last two weeks I have found that my time just vanishes and the days turn into weeks,where with the early summer time light you find yourself getting up in the middle of the night,packing your car in total darkness and heading off in search of your images for that day.I always go with a relaxed mind and find this has always resulted in good sightings and images in most cases,where just being out in nature is enough for me.This approach works and by adopting this attitude you put less pressure on yourself to get the image(s).

The image’s below where taken as I was waiting to photograph Kingfishers,a bird that has eluded me this year.As the sun came up it lit up the low lying mist on top of the water,breaking through the dense background and creating this amazing light and colour.I captured two Mute Swans coming into land and together in one of the shafts of light and the third image is a lone Grey Heron perfectly still,watching for the slightest movement below him.Two lovely images that I  never expected

In between this I have successfully completed four great days at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton where I’ve just finished another two day display this weekend at their Summer Fete event.Again great meeting so many nice people over the two days a few wildlife photographers came to visit me so that was nice,lots of bookings on my Workshops and One To Ones,look forward to meeting you all that booked.My next event at the Pavilion Gardens,Buxton is the Art & Design event Sat 18th,Sun 19th September.

I have had two great High-Tide Workshops in the last week  at Snettisham,where this place can be good for birds all year round but the best shows come only at the very highest tides when the birds are forced into the ‘Pits’ giving a breathtaking experience to those lucky enough to be there,seeing and hearing the sounds of this magical event in mothernature that you’ll never forget within this truly wild place on the Norfolk coast.

There was thousands upon thousands of wading birds flying around.feeding on this rich mud that Snettisham is made up of,where the birds are forced to take off and form vast flocks all the time heading closer into land adding to the drama of the place with the sounds and sights of nature that you will not forget. A quiet and remote experience to the intense noise known as the ‘Norfolk Rhapsody’, a truly astonishing spectacle.

The clients had some amazing views and bothdays where a complete success and joy for me.I have around two dates per month now until next February 2011 so should you wish to book just send me an email to see if the dates suit your needs.The cost is £160.00 per person and are for up to four people,homemade packed lunch,hot and cold drinks all provided and these brilliant,action packed days last from dawn until dusk,where we finish the day off at one of my many Barn Owl sights I visit in Norfolk.

Showing you everything I use from expert fieldcraft skills,simply tracking skill’s,building a picture of whats happening around you,reading nature,right the way through to the simple camera settings and composition I use.Where for me its all about nature and a little understanding of the wildlife around you,capturing the subject in their natural habitat,capturing beautiful,wild moments within the natural world.

I have been able to get out photographing wildlife at this wonderful time of year also and its a real joy to be in and around nature during the morning and throughout the day,so much new life and noises going on as you walk through our beautiful countryside.Chicks constantly begging for food they are able to catch for themselves but prefer the easy lunch.The image below kept me in suspense for nearly ten minutes,it’s a juvenile Whitethroat,not long fledged,here he was watching flies and bees going backward and forwards over these colourful berries.

As I watched him through the viewfinder,then in a flash he moved and tired to capture this fly that had become tangled up in this spidersweb.I just managed to capture that very moment here with this image in the morning light,in the end he missed and the fly freed himself ,the whole event had be smiling.I did feel sorry for this fellow as he had tied in vain to capture his breakfast,but still much to learn,lovely moments though just providing there is something you can witness anywhere and get so much fun at the same time.

A big thank you to all the wonderful people who have booked onto my trips,I’m glad I’ve helped and to all those booked on future trips you can see the level of help and passion that’s coming your way!!.My next big event is at this years Birdfair

Where it will be my first time there as a Exhibitor,having been there several times as a visitor so I’m really excited to have a stand there.I am in Marquee 6 right in the center of things which is great.Feet away from the Events Marquee,where there’s loads of talks and events throughout the 3 days.I have also donated one of my Limited Edition Tiger Prints for the Birdfair Auction helping them raise money for the brilliant cause(s) they help and support around the UK and World.The 2009 Birdfair raised £263,000 to support BirdLife’s work in saving critically endangered birds around the world. This takes the total raised, to date, to over £2,000,000 which is just brilliant and something I personally want to help them with so the Tiger print is Lot number 83,please give as much as you can many thanks.

If you plan on visiting this years Birdfair then please do drop in and say hello,where some of my work will be on show along with my Tiger images from this years amazing trip to India,Gift Vouchers,Workshops,One To Ones,30 years of knowledge on wildlife, I have something for everyone,or if you just need some advice in regard to Wildlife Photography then I run an Open-Door policy where I’ll help and answer all your questions on this topic.I look forward to seeing you all there in the meantime should you want any help on the tours and trips I do then please send me an email.

All my Photo-Tours,Workshops have now been updated taking you through until next June/July 2011.My Texel trip is nearly full,Mull trip filling up and my Tigers trip to,which is amazing in these hard times,so a big thank you to all who have booked so far.Next years Masai Mara Migration trip is also up now and my trip to Finland for Brown Bears next June, will be up very soon also.

I also have a Craig Jones Facebook page where I give tips,advice and up to date reports on my trips and day to day goings on,with over 1200 friends its growing all the time,its free to join and becoming very popular.Where it’s good to talk as the saying goes.Thanks again for all the support and hope to see you in the future,many thanks.