Entries Tagged ‘Dippers Of The Dale’:

Natures Healing Power

Filed in Advice On Wildlife, Articles on Jul.06, 2020

In August’s 2020 issue of Bird Watching magazine there is a sixteen page pull on why birding can change your life. I’m pleased to have contributed to this and hope it helps to inspire people to get out, into nature for their physical health but just as important their mental health.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photograph


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Dippers of the Dales

Filed in Places Of Interest, Workshops on Jun.26, 2020

My love of the Dipper started as a small boy, I’d catch two buses from my home with my bag packed with cold toast and a flask to get to Lathkill Dale, in the Peak District. Once I got there I’d sit and watch these incredible birds play out their lives before me.


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Dippers- Early Nesters

Filed in Places Of Interest, Workshops on Feb.28, 2019

The Dippers in the Peak District have been incredibly active over the last few weeks, they are normally early nesters and have two broods per year but with this month’s glorious weather giving the feeling its summer it seems to have spurred the Dippers on even more and they are already mating and checking out nest sites and building new ones.


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Wildlife Photography – In the Field

Filed in Articles, Workshops on Jun.15, 2017

The beauty of photographing wildlife is that it is always changing and evolving, encountering the unexpected. In this environment the photographer must learn to work with these changing environmental conditions and behaviours, and the result cannot always be predicted. For me this only adds to the excitement of wildlife photography. Its been a really busy period for one to ones and workshops with clients over the last several weeks. Here are a few images from the field I took alongside them all, as well as a few from my own project.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography


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Spring Has Sprung

Filed in Articles, Workshops on Mar.28, 2017

The onset of spring cannot be denied now, with the warming temperatures, lighter evenings and the morning dawns becoming earlier. Spring is upon us, though there maybe many false dawns before the days of frost and grey fog are behind us. Spring is one of the four seasons and my favourite. It’s the period between winter and summer, and for me the words Spring and Springtime bring thoughts of life, birth and regrowth to our countryside.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography


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Historical Connection

Filed in Wildlife, Workshops on Oct.10, 2014

It’s been a busy few weeks for me with One to One bookings and Workshops. Its always really nice for me to go to places that I have had an historical connection with, and alot of the one day workshops I offer visit some of those places that I went to from my early teens. Looking back at times it was a  form of coping with my late mums battle with cancer from the age of 12. Where I’d draw what I saw in the absence of a camera, learning so much about nature and those subjects that fascinated me and still do. .

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

I have a lot to thank nature for and I hope thats reflected in my work today. I’d often take a pencil and paper and just sit and watch Dippers, Water voles along the rivers of the Peak District. I’d get a bus pass and my mum would allow me to catch several buses at the same time packing me up with enough food to last me a week rather than the day. It was an amazing adventure I can always remember and I was very lucky.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

With the onset of autumn arriving daily its a wonderful time to be out with your camera and I have really enjoyed meeting several clients over the last few weeks where I have taken them to those same spots I talk about and have very fond memories of.

Knowledge of places and more so animals is key for me and elements that have made my photography really what it is today in the absence of any formal photography lessons or course and help really.  A great sense of passion and knowledge and you can’t go wrong as a wildlife photographer.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

When I started as a professional wildlife photographer in October 2009 I built my business around some of these places where I take clients now. Nothing is ever promised as I don’t do baited, bird on perch workshops or change an animals behavior by my presence in order to get a certain image. I offer an experience and show what I use employing many different skills learnt from those younger days.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

Fieldcraft is key and something I’ve seen talked about alot in recently years.  Ive had a few different articles published on the subject which is one if not the strongest tool in any wildlife photographers box when dealing with wild animals in front of your camera.

For me it’s what made me who I am and shaped me and still does as a wildlife photographer. All the  images on this post are from those One to Ones over the last several weeks . It was lovely to meet you all and I hope you learned more about your subjects at the same time improved your wildlife photography.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

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I’m often asked what bit of camera gear is the best.? What do you think of this make and model..? How did you get into wildlife photography..? How can I take images like you..?? Every time if they are in front of me, I touch my heart and point at my eye, meaning your image is created in your heart and projected through your eye. I often get a puzzled look, a look of confusion and awkwardness but them the reassuring smile replaces that puzzled look and people get me then and understand my point.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/contact.php

Passion, time-served knowledge, fieldcraft, love and respect for your subjects come way before any make and model of camera and this is something I always say and have done. Put this with my historical connections with wildlife and places I’m then able to see those image that I later capture with my camera. The best advice I can give to anyone in this time of I want it now and overnight is to spend time with nature, watch, look and learn then introduce your camera and slowly it should all come together.

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/

Anything I have touched on here if you require more information on then please contact me here. Many thanks to all my clients again over the last month or so and I wish you all well with your photography.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography


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Testing Times

Filed in Articles, Workshops on Jan.25, 2014

The weather has been testing to say the least since Christmas, with driving rain, gales, and flooding to many areas of the UK. On top of which mild temperatures with little sign of cold or snow on the horizon.  I have had to put back and re-book many one to ones and workshops just because the weather has been so unpredictable.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

More alarming though I’ve started seeing birds acting as though its Spring almost , singing and defending territories in readiness for their partner and nest building. It was almost the same pattern last year until alot of wildlife got caught out around March/April time with snow, frost and freezing temperatures. I only hope nature doesn’t get caught out once more.

I have managed a few one to ones over the last few weeks though,and this cute, soaked Water vole was one such day.  His little face here really is a picture as he kept my client and I company for an hour or so on a rain-soaked windy day last week.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

And my Dippers are in full song on many of the rivers I visit throughout the Peak District too and my client had a wonderful day watching, learning and photographing these amazing birds.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

I have been lucky enough though on some days to be in the right place with the right weather, or should I say a break in the weather. My Barn Owl project was ground to a halt with the conditions but over the last week or so I have seen both adults around and managed a few photos this being one of my favorites.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

Barn Owls are having a tough time of it of late, with several cold winters, now with wet weather and flooding fields and also poisoning issues around the country this beautiful, iconic bird of the UK has its back against the wall and seems to be in real danger. To find out more about what you can do to help the Barn Owl Trust click here.  Its a charity I help with my images, a number of which are in their current handbook that helps farmers and landowners to manage their land better and live with Barn Owls.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

Another firm favorite owl of mine and one I was luckier enough to see in the last few days too is the Short-eared Owl. This perch had been put in a few days ago by another photographer and the owl had started to use it to land on. I placed my hide not far from this perch in an attempt to get a nice close up portrait. As the sun came up this owl woke and started to hunt and I was very surprised as I was all set for the long wait because they mainly hunt in the late afternoon.But as you can see by the angle of the light this was the morning, with the light low on the bird which tells you what time of day it is.

I don’t no who was more surprised, me to see him or him to see me here. I shot through the dense reeds to hide alot of the imposing branch that was there and this was the result, giving a defused effect to the foreground. He stayed for a few moments, once I took a couple of images I just watched him as this was close and its often nice to watch rather than take photos I believe. I love his crazy looking eyes, bright yellow as he looked straight at me, such a handsome owl.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

I really hope for all wildlife concerned that the weather improves and there’s not a nasty sting in its tail resulting in a spell of bad weather when nature least expects it. I wish you all luck in whatever you photography and please dont let the weather put you off as one minute its raining the next the sun comes up so always be ready. This Mute Swan was feeding in the dawn light, when I arrived at this site it was raining within fifteen minutes it had stopped and the sun came out so you never no, good luck.

Craig Jones Wildlife Photography


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Nature Always Shines

Filed in Wildlife, Workshops on Jul.23, 2012

With the weather in the UK still presenting wildlife with some very testing conditions I find nature always gives off her beauty whatever the weather. I will be sad to leave behind the Barn Owls that I’m currently working on. Hoping that on my return the UK wildlife won’t have had more rain and flooding to contend with. For me though rain or shine nature always shines and makes me smile whatever the weather.

I’m heading to one of Europe’s most mountainous countries, Slovakia, leading two trips for Tarta Photography. I will be photographing Brown Bears within the Carpathian Mountains so I’ll be a little quiet on my blog for the next two weeks. Really looking forward to the trip and meeting clients during this time, where I hope to bring you more on this amazing trip upon my return home.

I’ve had a few one to ones over the last several days amongst my own work, photographing Red Grouse, high up on the moors of the Peak District. Also Dippers, where some river levels have risen and the wildlife have either moved or drown, which is incredibly sad. On the days my clients booked we braved the weather reports and were treated with sunny but at times wet weather.

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After rain there always comes wonderful and very usable light for photography so sometimes it’s just worth taking a chance, where fortune often favours the brave, and those weather fronts I like to study turn out wrong sometimes.

Some of the moors are just starting to show some colours now, in full bloom it can be just a carpet of soft purples covering vast areas, making a wonderful back drop to the grouse. I have a number of workshops during the best times, so if you’d like to join me, learn more about these iconic birds and at the same time learn fieldcraft and how best to approach these birds then click here to see these ever popular days I run.

Many thanks to my clients for your company, where the gamble paid off and everyone got some very nice images of their chosen subjects.  The message here is work with what you have and the wet weather fronts can pass as quickly as they arrive, but wildlife will still have to feed to stay alive. For more information on my one to ones I run throughout the year and at the varoius locations I know well around the UK, then please click here to be taken to this page.

Dates for my talks in 2012/13 covering a wide variety of my work are filling up fast, so if your a camera club, organisation or chairty that would like to see beautiful images of wildlife, whats behind the images and my work then contact me for more details and rates, many thanks.


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