SHOOT WILDFLOWERS + PHOTOGRAPH BATS + IN SEARCH OF A BLACK LEOPARD

landscape | wildlife | nature | adventure

 Meet the demands of any
destination with f-stop
camera backpacks
Stocked in the UK with free next day delivery
Browse the complete f-stop range at
photo-tools.co.uk

Call +44 (0)1386 335 497

Email hello@photo-tools.co.uk
www.photo-tools.co.uk
@PhotoToolsUK
Authorised UK f-stop distributor
Spring forward
There’s something special about heading out with the camera early on a spring
THE ISSUE
morning. As colour returns to our gardens and new life bursts out in the fields and
hedgerows, it feels as though our senses are also coming to life again. Spring adds
a bounce to our step. Energies are renewed. Enthusiasm is restored. We are
at a glance
invigorated and full of ideas.
I’ve always loved the cycle of the seasons. Each one offers us as photographers a
different set of opportunities. But I wonder if this spring will feel extra special. For
many of us, the air will feel softer, the colours more beautiful and the sounds more
extraordinary because of the challenges and restrictions of the last 12 months.
By the time you read this, many of those restrictions will have eased and freedoms
we once took for granted will be restored. We can at last plan new photography
projects and visit locations beyond our immediate vicinity. Hopefully, we will all be a
Paul Harris on the power
little bit wiser as well. We will treat the natural world with more care, as individuals
of storytelling – page 10
and as a society. And when we set up our camera and compose our shot, we will have
a deeper sense of the beauty of a spring day and how fortunate we are to enjoy it.
Sometimes a particular season lingers in the cultural memory. People still refer to
the harsh winter of 1963 and the brilliant summer of 1976. I wonder what we will say
about the spring of 2021 – and how we will capture it in pictures.

Mark Bentley

Will Burrard-Lucas goes in search

of the black leopard – page 22

Master the art of photographing

wildflowers – page 32
ON THE COVER
Picture by Ross Hoddinott.
See page 32.

GET IN TOUCH
Email markbe@thegmcgroup.com
Write to us Outdoor Photography, 86 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XN

Keep right up to date with news by ‘liking’ OP at facebook.com/outdoorphotographymag

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/opoty Fabulous pictures from Travel

Photographer of the Year – page 56
Find us on Instagram at instagram.com/outdoorphotographymag

Outdoor Photography 1
10

FEATURES & OPINION LEARNING LOCATIONS

10 In conversation with…
Paul Harris
Travel and documentary
photographer Paul Harris on
the importance of storytelling
20 One month, one picture
Pete Bridgwood considers
the art of simplification
in photography
22 In search of the
black leopard
Acclaimed photographer
Will Burrard-Lucas describes
his wildlife adventures
30 Lie of the land
Jon Gibbs responds to
lockdown by taking some
beautiful experimental
landscape pictures
44 In the spotlight
Mathew Browne on night
shoots, planning and
photographing in Wales
55 Inside track
Nick Smith on how the outdoor
photography world has
changed in the last 12 months
56 Showcase
Our pick of the best pictures
from the Travel Photographer
of the Year
ZONE GUIDE
32 Photographing 47 Viewpoints
wildflowers Recommended locations
Inspiring ideas from Ross to shoot around the country
Hoddinott for photographing
wildflowers this spring
47
38 Photographing
bats in flight
Photographer and ecologist
Andrew McCarthy shares his
insights into the challenges
of photographing bats
NEXT ISSUE
OP 268 ON SALE
20 MAY

2 Outdoor Photography
 56 44

30

NATURE GEAR ZONE REGULARS YOUR OP

ZONE
70 Life in the wild
Laurie Campbell on using
artificial light in wildlife
photography
72 Nature guide
Great ideas from Laurie
Campbell for shooting flora
and fauna this month
74 A moment with nature
Craig Jones on an emotional
encounter with an orangutan
76 On the wing
Night photography with
Steve Young
6 Newsroom
All the latest from the outdoor
photography world
8 Out there
Our pick of the best new
exhibitions and books
78
NEVER MISS
78 Camera test
The Nikon Z 50 tested AN ISSUE
and rated
Have Outdoor Photography
80 Gearing up delivered direct to your door
Tasty photography gear and save up to 30%.
for your wishlist See page 82.
64 Reader gallery
We focus on the work
of one photographer
68 Your chance
Discover how to get your
work published in OP
83 Next issue
What we’ve got in
store next month
86 If you only do one thing
this month…
Fabulous pictures on the theme
of shooting locally, plus our next
challenge for you
96 Where in the world?
You could win a great prize

Outdoor Photography 3
OPENING SHOT

Bengaluru, Bangalore, India

by Peter Walmsley
Peter Walmsley’s picture is among the winners in the Travel Photography of the Year competition. He writes: ‘You think you’ve
visited busy markets before? You haven’t until you’ve visited Bengaluru. The flower market is absolutely chaotic! Dive in and
you will be carried along with the flow of customers. Photographs in the middle of this melee are hard to achieve, but think
a little laterally (well, upwards) and you can climb a couple of storeys and get this bird’s eye view of the scrum below.’
See more fantastic pictures from the competition on page 56.

4 Outdoor Photography
Outdoor Photography 5
THE LATEST BULLETINS

NEWSROOM
CONSERVATION NEW LAUNCHES COMPETITIONS OUTDOORS TECHNOLOGY OTHER NEWS

© Janis Palulis / Sony World Photography Awards © Jamie Bussey

Animal antics
The Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2021 are open and ready for your
rib-tickling animal photos.
This year the awards will support the Gunung Palung Orangutan
Conservation Program, a grass roots conservation project which aims to
protect the species and the rainforests of Borneo. Regular judges such as
TV presenter Kate Humble, actor and comedian Hugh Dennis and wildlife
photographer Will Burrard-Lucas (see interview, page 22) will be joined
by wildlife photographers Daisy Gilardini and Tim Laman.
The CWPA is open to all and entry is free, with a safari to Kenya’s
Maasai Mara and a handmade trophy up for grabs for the winning shot.
Deadline 30 June. See comedywildlifephoto.com.

Urban beauty
The National Trust will plant circles of blossom trees in cities across
England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next five years. The
conservation charity has committed to planting 20 million trees in
the next decade as part of its work to tackle climate change and its
latest project is designed to meet this target and create beautiful
spaces for communities to come together and experience the natural
world. The first blossom circle will appear in
Light painting one evening in a Latvian forest by Janis Palulis Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London,
close to the NHS Nightingale hospital,

National awards and will commemorate the lives lost from

coronavirus and honour the key workers.
Landscape and wildlife photographers from Thailand, Slovenia and Japan Newcastle, Nottingham and Plymouth
are among the 57 artists selected as part of the Sony World Photography are next in line and other cities will
Awards 2021 National Awards. be announced soon.
Winners that caught our eye include Patrick Mueller (United States),
Aljaž Žnidaršič (Slovenia), Saowanee Suntararak (Thailand), Hiroki Nose
(Japan), Brian Mena Laureano (Mexico) and Janis Palulis (Latvia).
The National Awards initiative was set up by the World Photography
Organisation and Sony to support local photographic communities
around the world. This year’s winners were chosen from the 165,000
images entered into the Sony World Photography Awards’ Open category.
The overall winners of the Sony World Photography Awards 2021 will be
announced on 15 April.

6 Outdoor Photography

People’s choice winner
Robert Irwin, son of conservationist and TV
personality Steve Irwin, has won the Wildlife
Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award.
The Australian nature photographer’s winning
image, Bushfire, captures a dramatic aerial view of
flames and smoke billowing from a conservation
area near the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Cape
York, Queensland.
Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History
Museum which organises the competition, said:
‘Robert’s image is both stirring and symbolic. Last
Damming news
The Wildlife Trusts are set to reintroduce beavers
to five more counties in 2021.
Derbyshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,
Nottinghamshire and Montgomeryshire will all see
adults and kits released at enclosed sites, while
Dorset has already released an adult male and
EDITED BY BEN HAWKINS
© Robert Irwin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
About-turn
A group of Bewick’s swans
returning to the Arctic tundra were
forced to turn back due to Storm
Darcy – a rare event known as
reverse migration.
Having started their migratory
adventure from Slimbridge Wetland
Centre in Gloucestershire, 11 of the
20 birds reappeared four days later,
with a new Bewick’s swan joining
the group along the way.
Kane Brides, WWT’s research
officer, said: ‘Arctic migrants like
the Bewick’s swan are used to chilly
weather and given the extremes of
climate they experience, are very
adaptable as a result. However,
freezing conditions reduce food
availability and blizzards reduce
visibility for migration. With the
easterly wind direction against
them for their onwards migration
to Russia, they were very sensible
to sit this out!’
year the world stood aghast at the devastating
wildfires that struck much of Australia, and this Used and approved
photograph depicts just one example of a staggering Four in five photographers have
biodiversity loss caused by the detrimental impacts bought or would consider buying
of climate change, habitat loss and pollution.’ used kit, according to a new
The highly commended photographers included survey carried out by secondhand
Andy Parkinson (UK) and Neil Parkinson (UK). All specialist MPB. Even better, 65%
shortlisted images will be displayed in the Wildlife believe that buying used is better for
Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural the environment and 45% believe
History Museum, London, when it reopens. The unused kit should be recirculated
exhibition will continue until 1 August. to help and encourage other
© Steve Gardner / Scottish Wildlife Trust photographers develop their skills.
In a curious twist, however, the
survey also found that 55% own
cameras they haven’t used in over
two years and are more likely to buy
used than sell or trade due to strong
emotional connections.
‘It is crucial that more people
trade in their unused kit so
photography can be enjoyed by
more people without costing the
earth,’ said Matt Barker, MPB’s
CEO. ‘We know that people become
emotionally attached to their kit, but
when someone opts to sell, they
are playing an active part in driving
the circularity our field relies on to
continue to become as sustainable,
accessible and diverse as possible.’
Newfound nature
Lockdown and the Covid-19
pandemic have increased our
Adult beaver at Knapdale, Scotland awareness and appreciation of local
wildlife, says a new RSPB survey.
female into enclosed wetland this year. In addition, More than 60% of respondents
an enclosed 12-hectare site has been identified found solace in watching birds and
in the heart of Shropshire, where a pair of beavers listening to birdsong, while over
will be released in 2022. The long-term aim is to 50% fed garden birds at some point
harness the rodent’s unique ability to restore during the past 12 months.
and maintain important wetland habitats.
Outdoor Photography 7
OUT THERE
© Niall Benvie
of the images are shocking, portraying the
cruelty involved in practices such as wildlife
trafficking and poaching. Often the focus is
on an individual animal, but all of the images
represent a bigger story, which is further
revealed in the accompanying captions.
Every image in Unforgettable Photojournalism
has required considerable research and
dedication, as well as photographic and
fieldcraft skills; the book is testament to the
photographers working to make a difference.

Colours and Faces

of India
David Krasnostein
teNeues
Hardback, £45
David Krasnostein fell in
love with India the first
time he visited as a young
man, and he has spent
the past 40 years learning about and exploring
BOOKS Wildlife its fascinating history, land and people.
Photographer of the The Melbourne-based photographer is
Year: Unforgettable interested in recording traditional India rather
Photojournalism than the modern side of cities like Mumbai. In
Edited by Rosamund the introduction he writes that he hasn’t sought
Kidman Cox to give a balanced view of India; rather, the
Natural History Museum book portrays his own personal journey and
Hardback, £25 experience of the country. His travels have
One of the reasons Wildlife Photographer of the taken him to the streets and alleyways of Delhi
On Nature and Photography: Year is so highly regarded is its emphasis on and Jaipur, the banks of the Ganges and remote
Selected essays 2000-2020 critical environmental issues and the threats tribal villages in Gujarat. Turning the pages of
Niall Benvie to our planet’s wildlife. For more than half a Colours and Faces of India, it’s quickly evident
Ebook, £12 century the international competition has that it is the people who capture Krasnostein’s
Niall Benvie has been pushing the boundaries given a platform to images that communicate imagination. Photographed going about their
of nature photography for 30 years, and one of important conservation stories, and some of the daily lives, they offer us a window into India’s
the things that sets him apart is the value he most memorable of these are presented here. rich and vibrant culture, traditions and rituals.
places on the written word as well as the image. Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Packed with striking images, beautifully
His essays exploring all aspects of the genre Unforgettable Photojournalism includes reproduced so that the colours leap from the
have been published in a number of magazines the work of more than 50 photographers pages, this is a stunning coffee table book that
over the years, including Outdoor Photography, representing nearly 20 countries. Some will appeal to anyone passionate about India.
and in his new ebook he presents a selection
of the best.
A companion volume to Retrospective:
Thirty Years of Photography, published last year,
On Nature and Photography includes 22 essays
drawn from 20 years of work. Divided into three
sections – Communication, Making Sense and
Journeys – the ebook is designed to ‘stimulate
thoughts about your own work, to help you
develop and evolve your practice’. Benvie
hopes the Journeys section, in particular,
will encourage you put down the camera and
‘pick up a pen too, now and again’.
As well as being informative and thought-
provoking, the ebook is also visually arresting,
with more than 90 nature and landscape
images; some of these demonstrate Benvie’s
signature style of combining words and pictures
to convey a message. Like the essays, the
photographs are wide-ranging and illustrate
how an experimental approach can deliver
powerful and engaging results. On Nature and
Photography is a must-read for anyone keen to
get under the skin of outdoor photography and
will inspire you about the endless possibilities
of what can be achieved in the genre.
© Tim Laman/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016

8 Outdoor Photography

‘Duo Tone’, Wester Ross, Scottish Highlands by Richard Fox
ONLINE EXHIBITIONS
Society of Scottish Landscape
Photographers exhibition series 2021
To 3 May
Online at soslp.com
Not letting Covid-19 get in the way of
celebrating Scotland’s wild beauty through
photography, the Society of Scottish
Landscape Photographers has gone virtual
with its 2021 exhibition. Hosted on a 3D
platform that allows visitors to ‘walk’ around
the gallery, the exhibition features around
150 images by 44 photographers. There are
three rooms, each of which is dedicated to
a particular genre: Landscape, Seascape
and Intimate, with work by pros and amateurs,
including Mark Hughes, Alistair Dick, John
McSporran and Richard Fox.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Online at nhm.ac.uk/wpy/gallery
While it may not be possible to visit the
Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife
Photographer of the Year London exhibition
this spring, you can view the latest competition
winners via a new online gallery. The 100+
images on display – chosen for their artistic
composition, technical innovation and truthful
interpretation of the natural world – are by
photographers working at the top of their
game. From stunning animal portraits to
extraordinary wildlife behaviour and hard-
hitting photojournalism, the competition has
once again brought together a breathtaking
collection of pictures from around the planet.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is
developed and produced by the Natural History
Museum, London
© Frank Deschandol/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020
EDITED BY CLAIRE BLOW
PODCASTS
From fine art landscape to nature
and wildlife, here are two very
different but equally enlightening
podcasts to tune into…
Biblioscapes
– In Discussion
Euan Ross began
his podcast series,
In Discussion, in
September 2020.
In it, he talks
with the artists, publishers and book
designers whose work is featured in
Biblioscapes, a digital library of his
personal collection of photobooks.
There are already more than 25
episodes of the podcast to enjoy. Artists
who have so far discussed their books
with Euan include leading lights in the
world of landscape photography such
as Rachael Talibart, Sam Gregory,
Marc Wilson, Colin Bell and Paul Kenny.
Recorded in a single take and unedited,
the podcasts are both captivating and
insightful – essential listening for any
photobook fan.
Into the Wild
Dedicated to nature and wildlife, this
weekly podcast is hosted by Ryan
Dalton who chats to experts in the field
of natural science. It covers everything
from individual species to complex
conservation issues; orchids, bird
migration and rewilding are among the
recent topics discussed, along with
more controversial topics such as bird
crime, trophy hunting and poaching.
There are also interviews with top wildlife
photographers and filmmakers including
Jack Perks, Luke Massey and Nina
Constable, plus a monthly side series
about plants, trees and fungi, titled Into
the Foliage with co-host Janet Garner.
This excellent podcast is a great
resource for anyone interested in the
natural world.
Outdoor Photography 9
10 Outdoor Photography
In conversation with

Paul Harris
A professional travel and
documentary photographer
of four decades’ standing,
Paul Harris has seen plenty
of changes in the world of
photography on the creative,
commercial and technological
fronts. Not all of them bad,
he admits…

Setting moon, Goreme,

Cappadocia, Turkey

Outdoor Photography 11
TOP STRAP

12 Outdoor Photography
Opposite Tribal Rabari, Kochi, Rajasthan, India | Above Pilgrim at Buddhist Shrine, Hundar, Ladakh, India
I
f you’re lucky enough ever to go behind the
scenes of the Royal Geographical Society and
venture up a seldom-used stone staircase
located close to the old front door on
Kensington Gore, you’ll find a remarkable sight.
Lining the walls, floor after floor, is a series of
absolutely stunning photographic portraits of
20th-century explorers. This largely forgotten,
unseen treasure trove is by Paul Harris,
better known as one of the best British travel
photographers of his generation.
The experience of seeing these portraits is
revealing in that it is confirmation of something
that Paul is keen to stress: even if there is
generically something as definable as a travel
photographer, he’s more than that. His travels
are more often than not expeditions. His
photographs of these expeditions have more
in common with documentary photography.
His pictures – portraits or not – always seem to
include the people he meets along the way. They
also tell stories. The idea of images containing
a narrative is a theme he keeps returning to.
Before our interview starts, he tells me he’s
been looking at a recent monograph about a
river. ‘The pictures are fine,’ he says. ‘But
there’s no story.’ Which means that for Paul,
the photographer’s missed something essential.
Based in rural Powys in the Welsh Borders,
Paul has spent his lockdown year thinking a
lot about the profession he’s devoted his adult
life to. He’s a man of strong opinions and
doesn’t mince his words when reflecting on
what he considers to be the shortcomings of
21st-century photography. He thinks the digital
revolution, for all its benefits, has dragged
in with it a dependency on quick fixes, while
much of the old-school learning – the basics
of film technique and process – has been
thrown out with the bath water. He laments
the ubiquity of digital eroding the modern
photographer’s potential to make a decent
living, as commissions become increasingly a
thing of the past. There are creative fads he’s
studiously steered clear of, preferring to rely
on his orthodox approach to the craft, which is
based on such old-fashioned concepts as getting
compositions right in the camera and not just
sorting out glitches in post-production. He’s
also keen to point out that his aren’t the views
of some old-timer carping on about things not
being what they used to be.
Although as a youngster he did all the usual
part-time jobs that people fresh out of college
inevitably do – such as stacking shelves in
supermarkets – in terms of his professional
career, Paul’s been in the photographic
industry right from the beginning, despite
it taking ‘a little bit of time to actually
become a freelancer’. The route to becoming
a photographer will be familiar enough to
professionals of a certain age: first he took
his HND in documentary photography led by
Magnum luminary David Hurn at Newport
College of Art and Design. ‘It couldn’t be given
degree status,’ says the 62-year-old, ‘because
there wasn’t enough writing involved in the
course, which was sort of the point given
the image-heavy coursework.’ Then he cut
his teeth in the pre-digital world of printing
and processing, getting to grips with how
things worked in the darkroom, a sanctum
he found a magical place – a space where he
discovered his affinity with the photograph
as a physical entity.
Outdoor Photography 13
 If you go back to why, rather than how, he
became a photographer, Paul traces the creative
instinct to his grandmother, an artist and a
walker who would take the young Paul out
into the countryside. ‘At the time I probably
complained bitterly that my feet hurt, but
there’s no doubt in my mind that the concept of
observation came up a lot. She would talk a lot
about the landscape, and you can see it in her
painting. I’m sure that this stuck in my brain
somehow, although I wasn’t conscious of it.’
Meanwhile at school, Paul was enthusiastic
for geography field trips to places such as
Snowdonia. ‘Again, I think this was partially
subliminal in that it carried on this thing about
observation,’ he says. ‘But what really kicked
it all off was while I was waiting for my A-level
results I went on a camping trip to Dartmoor.
I had a little cartridge Kodak camera.’
Of course, says Paul, the pictures that came
out of that particular instrument were best
characterised as ‘expletive deleted’, leading him
Left Street Parade, Havana, Cuba | Right Milking Goats, Korzok, Ladakh, India | Opposite Birdcage, Highlands, Bali, Indonesia
14 Outdoor Photography
to the realisation that, ‘I’d had enough of this.
I wanted better pictures than this. I wanted
better documentary out of this’. He adds: ‘I
must have dropped a few hints to some family
members, because my uncle gave me his old
Voigtländer rangefinder on my 18th birthday,’
he recalls. ‘At the time I had no idea what a
brilliant camera it was. Precision engineering –
it was fantastic. That was the start of it.’
In fact, it was only half of the start of it,
because Paul’s real passion was rock climbing.
‘I was going on expeditions, and when you
go away with friends climbing you take
pictures. But I wasn’t thinking seriously
about photography. I didn’t really know what
I wanted to do.’ But after spending some time
climbing in Peru, Paul had his first photographs
published, ‘and there was this real excitement
of seeing this picture in print. So, I had to make
the choice between becoming a professional
climber or a professional photographer. That
was the decision. I remember thinking that I’d
never be good enough to become a professional
climber – I actually looked into it – and I think
it would have taken away too much of the
pleasure of climbing to do it for a living. This
was when I thought photography was for me.’
Looking back from today’s digital
stronghold to the type of analogue technology
professionals were using when Paul got his
start, it’s tempting to think there were no
advantages to film. But this isn’t necessarily
the case. ‘There was a permanency to film,’
he says. ‘Permanency is a good word, because
with digital there is that feeling that it could all
disappear in a puff of smoke. There’s a physical
element to film.
‘Don’t get me wrong, there are many
advantages to digital,’ he says. But on the other
hand, these days, there are apparently limitless
opportunities to give your work away on digital
platforms and increasingly, fewer lucrative
commissions available to the professional
photographer. ‘This is a massive change,’ says
Outdoor Photography 15
16 Outdoor Photography
Paul. ‘It’s a bit like looking at A-list actors,
where one percent of them are earning the
big bucks, while the others are working in
Starbucks. The fact is that today everybody
has a camera in one form or another. When
I was first shooting there was still a value to
photographs that there doesn’t seem to be
now. And I’m not just talking about monetary
value. It’s also to do with the perception
of photography.’ Paul conducts a thought
experiment involving a scenario where you give
someone £500 with which they must either buy
a painting or a photograph presented to them
side by side. ‘Now most people will buy the
painting because they’re pretty sure that they
couldn’t have painted it, while they’re pretty
sure that they could have taken the photo.’
At this point Paul reflects on one of his
earliest expeditions to Mongolia, which he
regards as a critical moment in his career.
‘I was fresh out of college and had all these
ideas about storytelling. I shot 380 rolls of
film and worked with some of the greatest
explorers and travellers. And that all stemmed
from the portrait project that’s in the Royal
Geographical Society. I was broke and wanted
to find a way of meeting expedition leaders like
Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Wilfred Thesiger,
Tim Severin… all these people. And out of
that came two trips with Tim, four trips with
Robin. It was almost by accident. I didn’t have
a business plan.’ And yet, by chance on the
back of the Mongolia project came commercial
client work in the form of corporate shoots for
Cable and Wireless. ‘That was timing really.
I met a bunch of engineers in the only hotel in
Ulan Bator. They wanted to use documentary
photographers rather than technical or
industrial photographers, and I ended up
taking pictures of PBX telephone units.’
One of the reasons for viewing the late
20th century as a golden age is because
there was simply more paid work for
professional freelance photographers. ‘I’m not
complaining. Of course, I’d like to do more
work for magazines that I like, but it simply
doesn’t work that way anymore.’ Which means
that today’s jobbing photographer, ‘needs to
look for other avenues’, which in Paul’s case
has been to shift his attention to shooting
projects in the environmental conservation
space. This more recent phase in his
photographic journey has included working
with UK-based clients such as the National
Trust, developing projects that call on every
ounce of his experience to meet the creative

Sled dogs, Oqaatsut,

West Greenland

Outdoor Photography 17
TOP STRAP

demands of the task. The challenge here isn’t Above Fisherman, Majuli Island, Assam, India | Below Drying Squid, Banggai Islands, Indonesia
so much the photography itself, but the fact
that opportunities to get out in the field have
been severely hampered – ‘to put it mildly’ – by
the restrictions imposed in response to the
Covid-19 pandemic. Which means that for
the past year he’s been revisiting his old stock,
reacquainting himself with a back catalogue of
images that for the most part have been filed
away and forgotten as he’s moved on to more
pressing jobs. This in itself could be good news,
because the one thing that seems to be missing
from Paul’s career so far is the retrospective
coffee table monograph. So, when can we
expect to see the definitive book of Paul’s
photography? It’s not as easy as all that, he says,
before explaining that before he could take on
such an enterprise, he’d have to work out what
the book would be about. ‘It’s easy to fill a book
with photos,’ he says. ‘But I want to know what
the story will be.’

To see more of Paul’s photography,

visit paulharrisphotography.com

18 Outdoor Photography
‛Best Photo Lab Worldwide’
‛Best Photo Lab Worldwide’
Awarded by the Editors of 26 International Photography Magazines
TIPA World Award 2013, 2017 and 2020
Awarded by the Editors of 26 International Photography Magazines
TIPA World Award 2013, 2017 and 2020

Daniel Zielske
WhiteWall Ambassador
Daniel Zielske
WhiteWall Ambassadors are among the most respected, talented, and influential
WhiteWall Ambassador
professional photographers in the world, and they rely on WhiteWall‘s gallery
quality services
WhiteWall for theirare
Ambassadors exceptional
among theartworks. Discover unique
most respected, photo
talented, products,
and influential
made in-house at our facility in Germany, such as the original photo print or fine
professional photographers in the world, and they rely on WhiteWall‘s gallery
art print framed with a passe-partout.
quality services for their exceptional artworks. Discover unique photo products,
made in-house at our facility in Germany, such as the original photo print or fine
art WhiteWall.com
print framed with a passe-partout.
Berlin, London, Paris, New York

WhiteWall.com
Berlin, London, Paris, New York
OPINION
ONE MONTH, ONE PICTURE
Distilling a vast three-dimensional world into a flat two-dimensional rectangle requires the photographer
to artfully manipulate reality. We can even bend and shape time itself, marvels Pete Bridgwood
Photography is a process of simplification.
Making a photograph starts with us finding
a subject and choosing the direction to point
our camera. We can then start to engage
with the scene and choose the two most
important variables affecting composition:
our viewpoint and our framing. The place we
stand is the most obvious decision affecting
viewpoint, but small movements to the left
and right can sometimes make huge changes
to our composition, revealing or concealing
background elements; moving the camera up
and down can have an even greater effect.
The next challenge is how to frame our
image. We can make imaginary square or
rectangular frames around sections of the
reality that lies before us and try to visualise
how this is going to affect our final photograph.
Whereas an artist starts with ‘nothing’ – a blank
canvas – and slowly adds paint to create their
final masterpiece, photographers work in the
opposite direction; we start with ‘everything’ –
20 Outdoor Photography
our entire visual awareness – and by cropping
away huge swathes of reality we arrive at our
final framing choice for our composition. Our
final photograph is always just a small simplified
extraction of the scene that lies before us.
The other major way a camera simplifies
reality is by compressing dimensions. The
reality that exists before us at the scene
is present in three spatial dimensions –
length, width and depth – but a camera
compresses three-dimensional reality into
a flat two-dimensional photograph and we
can accentuate this in myriad creative ways.
We can choose viewpoints that juxtapose
complementary or conflicting elements to
emphasise visual relationships, or we can
photograph a more two-dimensional scene
like a wall or a shopfront, as I have done here,
creating a photograph that moves one step
closer to reality because the camera doesn’t
have to compress perspective as much.
It’s always worth remembering that our
cameras also compress or expand time: the
magical fourth dimension. Every image we
make has a ‘perfect’ shutter speed and its
selection – or delegation – should always
be a conscious decision. In an image like
this, the perfect exposure was ‘whatever the
camera selected’ because I was shooting in
fully automatic mode. If there are moving
elements such as clouds or water, using
the ‘perfect’ shutter speed can simplify an
image by allowing time to show itself, using
a long exposure to smooth out otherwise
distracting textures to a ‘perfect’ degree.
We haven’t even begun to talk about
what is probably the creative icing on the
cake – the simplification of colour palettes
– but that’s a story for another day.
Monks Road, Lincoln
Fujifilm X-Pro2 with XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS
lens at 30mm, ISO 200, 1/200sec at f/4, handheld,
Adobe Lightroom: Vintage 09 profile
 In search of the black leopard
Rumours of a rare sighting in Kenya led Will Burrard-Lucas on a nocturnal adventure that would result in a spectacular
series of images of a young black leopard cub, the first scientifically verifiable specimen in over a century
Interview by Toni Stemp

Above At last, the African Black Leopard. Opposite Our paths cross.

B
lack leopards, or more to the point
black panthers, are ubiquitous in our
culture, says Will Burrard-Lucas.
‘Everyone has come across the black
panther in one form or another, whether it’s
from a cartoon or a superhero movie. But in
real life, so few photos of them exist that they
have an incredible aura of mystery about them.’
The legendary black panther is a leopard or
a jaguar with melanism, a genetic mutation
which, in a beautiful and advantageous
twist of nature, renders animals all-black.
The result is an extraordinarily photogenic
subject and, in the case of a nocturnal big cat,
a particularly well camouflaged one.
Jaguars are found in the Americas and
leopard species exist on two continents: Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa. Photographer John
Rowell took some wonderful photographs of
a black panther in 2016 at the Nagarhole Tiger
Reserve in Karnataka, India, and Will was
inspired by these images. In Africa, however,
the black leopard had not been scientifically
documented in the wild since 1909. It was
this elusive creature in his beloved Africa that
captured Will’s imagination. ‘Of any subject
I can think of,’ he says, ‘there’s not one that
compares to the black leopard in terms of its
mystery. For me, it was the ultimate dream to
photograph one in the wild.’
Will is blessed with determination and
a propensity to act on ideas. A celebrated
wildlife photographer and entrepreneur, his
wonderful pictures have been published by
National Geographic, the Guardian, the New
York Times and the BBC. For his fourth book,
The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph
One of Africa’s Most Elusive Big Cats, he begins
with the story of his childhood in Tanzania
and how growing up on a continent so rich in
wildlife instilled a life-long passion for animals
and adventure.
One of the first photographs in the book is
of a five-year-old Will holding a small snake.
There is a tenderness and courage evident in
this young photographer-to-be and the image
perfectly captures an adventurous child who
followed his passions into adulthood.
By the age of five Will had seen more
animals in their natural habitat than most
of us can hope to see in a lifetime: elephants,
cheetahs, lions and vultures were just some
of the incredible species he was lucky enough
to observe. But it was a desire to see a leopard
that was to become an obsession. ‘In my young
mind,’ he says, ‘I feel as if we spent an eternity
searching for these elusive cats, and I had

22 Outdoor Photography
All images © Will Burrard-Lucas

Outdoor Photography 23
Above Who’s looking at who? Opposite (top) Encounters of the spotty kind. Opposite (below) Nothing tires BeetleCam. Overleaf Stars and Rosettes.
almost given up hope that we would ever find
one. There was probably nothing in the world
I wanted more.’
Photography became the connection Will
sought to wildlife and travel. Living in England
as a young adult, he flirted with a future as a
chartered accountant before abandoning this
conventional career to pursue life as a full-time
photographer. By 2010, he had made this dream
come true.
In the early days of his photographic career
Will often partnered with his brother, Matt,
also a photographer. Together, they shot
close-ups of wildlife taken with wideangle
lenses. These intimate and unique portraits
of penguins, caiman and meerkats showed
off what became a signature style. But Will
imagined bigger and better photographs.
In 2009, he dreamed up the idea of a remote-
controlled buggy for his DSLR, which he
affectionately called BeetleCam. The first
prototype was rudimentary but the incredible
24 Outdoor Photography
low-angle candid shots he got with it drew
attention from fellow photographers. Today,
and several incarnations later, BeetleCam is an
advanced system with tilt and levelling controls
sold through Will’s company Camtraptions,
which also produces, among other things,
camera traps.
‘With all my devices,’ explains Will, ‘the
idea always comes from an end result that
I’m trying to achieve. It’s then about figuring
out what I have to do to be able to get it. With
BeetleCam, it was about capturing a close-up
wideangle perspective that I’d really fallen in
love with when I was first getting into wildlife
photography. I wanted to get shots of these
dangerous wild animals in Africa, so it was
simply a matter of just building it and booking
a trip to get out there. I have realised it’s always
worth pursuing these crazy ideas,’
It was a decade later, in 2019, that Will had
another crazy idea. On hearing a rumour about
a melanistic leopard that had been sighted in
Laikipia County in Kenya, he saw a fantastic
opportunity to locate and photograph the first
scientifically verifiable African black panther in
more than 100 years.
The plan was to photograph the leopard in
the night, lit subtly by studio lighting and using
his own design of camera traps. Remembering
the early stages of this idea in his book, he
writes: ‘Imagine a black animal subtly lit
against a black backdrop – it would be totally
stunning and unique.’
By good fortune, Will crossed paths with
scientists from San Diego Zoo, California, who
were researching African black leopards. They
had independently heard rumours of a young
male, the only melanistic cub of a leopard, in
Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya.
Utilising the expertise of the scientists,
guides and friendly locals, Will travelled to
Kenya where he set up a system of camera traps
wired with motion sensors to trigger hidden
cameras and flashes. So far, there had been a
Outdoor Photography 25
26 Outdoor Photography
Outdoor Photography 27
TOP STRAP
Above Infrared portrait. Opposite (top) Young leopard in twilight. Opposite (below) Leopard courtship.
lot of planning and effort spent on this quest.
He describes cracks in his confidence during
this time, writing: ‘Did I really expect to get
a photograph of a leopard that the guides at
Laikipia Wilderness Camp had only caught
glimpses of on a handful of occasions over the
past few years? The more I thought about it, the
less hopeful I became. Surely this was going to
be a monumental waste of time and effort.’
Incredibly, Will didn’t have to wait long
until he finally struck gold. After a few days
of inspecting his cameras with no reward, he
returned to the wilderness to check for images.
Retrieving one of the cameras, he looked on the
back of the screen and found he had a beautiful
shot of the black leopard cub prowling through
the undergrowth, eyes burning brightly in the
black night.
‘It still feels like a dream,’ he says of the
moment he realised what he’d captured. ‘I had
so little expectation of getting the shot that the
actual shock of getting it… I don’t think it sunk
in for a few days. It was so unexpected and so
momentous. The excitement continued as
I went on to get more photos of him and work
towards more and more ambitious images.’
In total, he captured 26 ‘significantly different’
images that became his story of the young
28 Outdoor Photography
black leopard cub in Laikipia County.
In a typically conscientious move, Will had
agreed with the scientists from San Diego Zoo
that they would co-release their findings. On
an agreed day, the researchers released their
stills and video footage in the name of leopard
research, and Will his photographs. The
incredible detail in Will’s shots helped identify
that the big cat was indeed a rare African
melanistic leopard, by the characteristic
rosette pattern on its flanks.
Almost immediately, Will’s photographs
caught the attention of the media and his
images were published by National Geographic
and numerous other news outlets. It’s the
ultimate success story for a career photographer
who has put his heart and soul into a quest.
But for Will, there’s more to it than that. It’s
the significance of contributing to a universal
narrative of nature with his photography.
In the book, he talks about the value of creating
a coherent body of work that really tells a story.
While planning his projects, a vital
consideration is to support a higher purpose.
‘On almost all my projects I am partnered with
conservationists or scientists,’ he says, having
worked with a number of conservation societies
including World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),
the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme
(EWCP) and the Zoological Society of London
(ZSL) to name a few.
‘My plan now is to work towards a book at
the end of each of my projects,’ says Will, who is
currently working on a project taking nocturnal
lion photographs in both the Maasai Mara
Nature Reserve and the Rift Valley in Kenya.
‘Having a book to work towards gives me so
much more purpose and direction and pushes
me to continue to get variety and diversity. It
really pushes me to be more creative. If the
book can have a clear conservation motive as
well it adds purpose to the project.’
The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph
One of Africa’s Most Elusive Big Cats by
Will Burrard-Lucas is published by Chronicle
Books, price £26. See blackleopardbook.com.
Outdoor Photography 29
LIE OF THE LAND
Who’s afraid of a little abstraction?
Shooting landscapes wide open? Only the merest hint of shape and form?
That will be one of Jon Gibbs’ increasingly frequent ‘f/1.8 moments’,
his experimental answer to the lockdown conundrum
I borrowed the title above from the lyrics of
one of my favourite bands – Rush. It seems
an appropriate term for my photography
at present as time in the natural landscape
is very much limited. To keep the creative
juices flowing, myself and many other
photographers have had to try new
photographic techniques or learn new skills.
What I have brought into my photography
recently is an element of experimentation.
I’m a fairly regular landscape photographer,
the world is beautiful enough for me as it
is and I have no need or desire to employ
lots of computer work or follow the latest
processing look. Usually, I bring this
experimentation in as something to break
the monotony of shooting straight shots, or
simply as a challenge or just a bit of fun; call
30 Outdoor Photography
it what you will. Normally, I will do this at
the end of a shoot and it involves creating
just a few images that are not straight
photographic representations.
The strange thing about shooting this
type of work is that it is most often the first
thing I will look at when I come to download
my memory cards to the computer. Perhaps
I know the straight shots will be OK and
therefore they hold no mystery, but the
experimental shots have their own secrets
yet to be discovered. When I referred to my
processing earlier, it is true, I keep things
very simple, but with the experimental shots,
any slider can go anywhere.
One of my main areas of experimentation
has involved shooting wide open and merely
hinting at the shapes and forms of my
chosen subject. If anything is in focus it is
usually unintentional in this case. These
moments are normally called my f/1.4
or f/1.8 moments; each lens has its own
characteristics wide open and the results to
me are quite beautiful. As I mentioned, it’s
about hinting at shapes and forms and also
adding a little bit of mystery; I’m no deep
thinker or a fan of arty talk, but I do like
these moments in the unknown.
With the day-to-day bombardment of
regular landscapes on social media, often
of places I have seen many times before, it is
just nice to see something a little different
that you have created yourself. Of course,
this kind of technique is nothing new, but it
is a change and in these uncertain times we
all need a little light relief.
LIE
LIE OF
OF THE
THE LAND
LAND

Outdoor Photography 31
LEARNING ZONE
Photographing wildflowers
From focal length and viewpoint to light and creative vision, natural world expert Ross Hoddinott
explores the many ways in which you can take a more innovative approach to your plant photography
You will never run short of inspiration when
photographing wildflowers and plant life. In
the previous Learning Zone, I highlighted a
handful of tried and tested techniques and tips
to help you capture the beauty and design of
insects. But insects are not the only abundant
subjects that can be found and photographed
close to home. Spring is a time of renewal,
with fresh growth, blossom and blooms
appearing almost everywhere – in woodland,
meadows, verges, hedgerows, in our own back
gardens and even decorating pavements and
wasteland. Plants are so incredibly diverse
– their structure, size, complexity, colour
WHAT FOCAL LENGTH?
Quite simply, you can use any lens for flower
photography. A wideangle or fisheye will allow
you to record flowers en masse in order to
capture their expanse, density and context.
A macro lens or close-up attachment will
enable you to magnify a single bloom and
highlight shape and repetition. Longer
telephotos or tele-zooms have a narrower
field of view and can be used to isolate flowers
from their surroundings, particularly when
combined with a large aperture to produce a
32 Outdoor Photography
and design provide nature photographers
with endless and varied photo opportunities.
Unlike insects, plants aren’t suddenly going
to fly or scurry away. You can take your time
– slow down, don’t rush. You possess a huge
degree of control over your choice of set-up,
depth of field, lighting and perspective – the
creative possibilities are unlimited.
I’m always inspired by floral images with
a creative edge – photographs that intrigue,
convey awe, highlight exquisite shape or
design, boast great bokeh or are just beautifully
or creatively lit. I’m less and less motivated
to capture flowers just as we see them and
shallow depth of field. Auto extension tubes
can be handy for reducing the minimum
focusing distance of longer focal lengths to
increase their magnification and usefulness.
Whatever lenses you currently have in your
system, you can make them work – you just
need to match the subject and approach to
the focal length. Personally, my favourite lens
for close-ups is a 200mm macro lens, which
not only provides the magnification I desire
for smaller plants and detail but also
increasingly inclined to be innovative or
interpretive with my approach. I’m far more
inspired by flowers and plant life growing
wild and naturally than I am cultivated
varieties in gardens. Why? Maybe because
their beauty is often subtle and understated
and they are less regimented and obvious.
Last time, I discussed the importance
of focusing and background choice, and these
things are just as relevant when photographing
plants as they are when shooting insects.
But to avoid repetition, I will refer you to the
previous Learning Zone (see OP 266) rather
than discuss them again.
Above For this shot of oxeye daisies, I handheld my
camera near the ground, pointing upward, and then
relied on live view to compose and focus.
Nikon D700 with 17-35mm lens, ISO 400,
1/125sec at f/16
generates a more comfortable camera-to-
subject distance. With shorter focal lengths,
you have to get closer to your subject, which
can result in light being obscured. This can
also make it trickier to use lighting aids such
as reflectors.
 LEARNING ZONE

GET LOW
A ground-level viewpoint will suit many types
of flowering and non-flowering plants. Not only
is this a natural and intimate perspective, but
a worm’s eye view will help you place more
distance between your subject and what
forms its background, throwing clutter and
distractions neatly out of focus. A diffused
background will help your subject pop from
its surroundings, and a long lens and large
aperture – in the region of f/4 or f/5.6 – will
help you achieve this. Foreground grasses
and vegetation should also be out of focus
and blurred, creating an attractive wash of
colour at the bottom of the image space
(known as a dirty frame).
For low-level photography, use a beanbag
to support and stabilise your set-up and wear
waterproof clothes – or use a groundsheet
– to avoid getting damp and grubby. Digital
cameras with an articulated monitor make it
far easier (and more comfortable) to compose
and focus at awkward angles.

OVERCAST LIGHT
What type of light is best for plant life? Well,
that is impossible to answer and will greatly
depend on the subject, situation and result
you wish to achieve. Strong, directional light,
backlighting and reflected light all suit flower
photography. However, one of my favourite
light types is soft, even light created by that
giant softbox in the sky – cloud. Overcast days
are perfect for shooting wildflowers as the
low-contrast light will help you record colour
and intricate detail faithfully. In bright sunlight,
ugly reflections and hotspots can appear
on reflective petals and foliage, and deep
shadows can obscure miniature detail. But
this can be avoided by shooting in shade.
On bright days I’ll either venture into
woodland or wait for a cloud to obscure
the sun for a few minutes. Alternatively,
I may shade my subject using my body or a
small Lastolite diffuser (which I always keep
in my camera backpack). Shutter speeds
are naturally slower in overcast light. While
this won’t cause any issue if the subject is
motionless and you are using a tripod, it is
a consideration if the flower is windblown or
you are shooting handheld. I encourage you
to regularly replay images to check image
sharpness – increase ISO sensitivity if you
need a faster shutter to eliminate movement.
Right (top) A low viewpoint will help you isolate
single blooms from their surroundings. Nikon D850
with 200mm Micro, ISO 800, 1/320sec at f/4.2

Right (below) Overcast conditions can suit flower

photography – allowing you to capture superb
detail and punchy, natural hues. Nikon D850 with
200mm Micro, ISO 250, 1/200sec at f/11

Outdoor Photography 33
 IF YOU GO DOWN
TO THE WOODS
You can find potential subjects pretty much
anywhere you look, with heaths, meadows and
wetlands being particularly flower-rich habitats.
However, the best place to visit with your
camera during springtime is ancient, deciduous
woodland. In April and May the woodland
springs into life and few sights can compare
to a dense carpet of bluebells. Meanwhile,
wood anemone, wild garlic, herb-robert, lesser
celandine, greater stitchwort, common dog
violets, wood sorrel, red campion, primroses
and lily of the valley are just some examples
of the type of blooms you will discover, each
delicate and beautiful in close-up.
Don’t overlook non-flowering plants such
as uncurling ferns, lichen, mosses and fungi.
Shots won’t always be obvious so be prepared
to get down on your hands and knees and
look at plants closely, and from different
perspectives in order to unearth their picture
potential. Woodlands tend to be dark, so a
small reflector and LED device are useful
lighting aids for woodland close-ups. Always
be careful not to trample neighbouring plants
when setting up your shot.

CREATIVE VISIONS
You don’t always have to record your subject
conventionally, so be creative with your
approach. Abstract your subject by highlighting
just a small area of key detail with a macro
lens, or shoot wide open using a large aperture
such as f/2.8 to soften or blur everything
other than your exact point of focus. Embrace
motion – either the subject’s or the camera’s
– to create shots with energy and flow. Or use
your camera’s multiple-exposure function to
layer two or more frames together in camera –
images that are framed or focused differently –
in order to create soft, painterly results. Flowers
are well suited to creative techniques like this.
Another trick is to shoot ‘through’ vegetation
or flowers close to the front of your lens. With
longer focal lengths and careful placement, this
can produce a diffused and transparent veil of
colour. The key with any creative technique is to
experiment and persevere if things don’t work
out at first. Be prepared to take plenty of shots
that fail before finally achieving the effect or
result you are after.

Left (top) Bluebells look extraordinary en masse,

but in close-up you can highlight their exquisite
beauty and shape. Nikon D850 with 200mm Micro,
ISO 1250, 1/1600sec at f/4.8
Left (below) I enjoy playing with my camera’s double
exposure mode to create dreamy, painterly results
like this. Nikon D850 with 200mm Micro,
ISO 1000, 1/400sec at f/5

34 Outdoor Photography
 LEARNING ZONE

PERFECT TIMING
Flowers are ephemeral subjects that may
only remain in perfect, pristine condition for
a matter of days. Misjudge when is best to
photograph a species and you may find you
have to wait another 12 months for another
opportunity. Books and online research will
arm you with the knowledge of where and
when to find certain subjects, but many
plants are affected by seasonal variability,
with cold or warm weather either delaying
or accelerating the peak flowering period.
Ideally, visit suitable habitats regularly
throughout the main flower seasons to
gauge when subjects are at their best.
Doing so will enable you to visit with your
camera at just the right time.
Right Irises are among the blooms that are
only at the best for a day or so before they get
nibbled or damaged by weather. Nikon D850
with 200mm Micro, ISO 1000, 1/2500sec at f/4

Outdoor Photography 35
 BACKLIT BLOOMS
If you wish to add drama, contrast and depth to
your shots, shoot towards the light. Backlighting
has a wonderful ability to highlight miniature
detail and a plant’s shape and design. Although
you can use artificial light to simulate natural
backlighting, nothing compares with the pure
quality of low, warm sunlight. Early morning or
late evening is best for shooting backlit plants,
when the sun is close to the horizon. Shoot
towards the light but keep the sun slightly to
one side, out of frame, to minimise the risk
of flare. Attach a lens hood and expect TTL
metering to be deceived into underexposing
results. Look at your histogram and increase
exposure if necessary. Also consider going one
step further and silhouetting your subject – the
most extreme form of backlighting. Choose your
subject carefully – flowers need to be instantly
recognisable to work as an outline, for example
bluebells, snowdrops or foxgloves.

GO WIDE
So often my instinct is to get close to subjects
and isolate just one or two blooms using
a macro or telephoto. But if you want to
create a true sense of place, or tell a story,
consider going wider and capturing your
subject in context with its surroundings.
Going wideangle will only work if there is an
appropriate backdrop – for example, mountain
peaks, rugged coastline or an urban scene
that offers a neat juxtaposition with the
delicate beauty of your subject. Your flowers
should still be the centrepiece of your photo,
though, not merely foreground interest. By
including a slice of their environment, you will
convey so much more about the species.
You will typically want a large zone of focus
when shooting environmental portraits like
this. Wideangles in the region of 17-35mm are
a good choice and have an inherently large
depth of field. An aperture of f/11 or f/16 is
often a good starting point, generating good
front-to-back sharpness. Get close to subjects
and focus carefully. You may or may not
want complete front-to-back sharpness –
in some instances, it is quite acceptable for
the background to drift slightly out of focus
so long as it remains recognisable. However,
if you want complete sharpness throughout
the scene you may need to focus stack.

Left (top) This image was actually taken on an

overcast evening, but I positioned two small LED
lights just behind and either side of these common
spotted orchids. Nikon D850 with 200mm Micro,
ISO 1600, 1/1250sec at f/5
Left (below) You don’t always have to get close-
up to plants. With a carpet of flowers, like these
sea pinks on a Cornish clifftop, a wideangle will
showcase their beauty and context. Nikon D800E
with 16-35mm lens, ISO 100, 10secs at f/16

36 Outdoor Photography
 LEARNING ZONE

WIND MOTION
While some people might consider flowers
easy subjects to photograph as they don’t
move and can’t be camera shy, wind motion
can be a major headache. As we highlighted
last time (when we discussed taking better
insect photos), any type of motion appears
vastly exaggerated when magnified. I look
for a forecast predicting a windspeed
of below 15kph (9mph). Plants growing
in exposed locations can be tricky to
photograph if it is much windier. Movement
will make it harder to compose and focus,
while a faster shutter is required
to ensure critically sharp results.
Taller, more delicate plants such as
poppies are particularly affected by wind,
while sturdier flowers such as orchids are
more resilient. On windy days, consider the
shelter of woodland or use a windbreak of
some sort. An umbrella can be effective, but
you ideally need a helper to hold it in place
for you while you take photos. Alternatively,
create a makeshift windbreak using heavy,
clear polythene held in position by aluminium
rods. You can sometimes stabilise subjects
using a clamp or Wimberley Plamp. However,
you need to be very careful that you don’t
damage or break delicate stems if you do this.

GARDENING
Use a tripod whenever possible – legs provide
stability and give you time to think and
refine settings and composition. With your
camera in a fixed position, your eye has time
and opportunity to really explore the image
space. Examine your subject for any flaws
or imperfections that you may have missed
at first glance. Look for and eliminate any
distractions from the subject’s foreground
or background – bits of decaying leaf, twigs
or grasses; distracting highlights or abrupt
changes to tone; light or background texture
that competes with your subject for the
viewer’s attention. A slight change in camera
angle may solve the problem, or you might
need to indulge in a spot of ‘gardening’ by
gently flattening grasses with your hand or
removing bits of debris. Scissors and a small,
soft brush can help with this process and
prevent you having to tidy-up your plant shots
during processing.

Right (top) Poppies are easily affected by blowy

weather. If it is breezy, look for shelter, employ a
faster shutter, and be prepared to take more shots.
Nikon D7100 with 80-400mm lens,
ISO 800, 1/1600sec at f/8
Right (below) Before you shoot, allow your eye to
explore the image space. I had to remove some
distracting vegetation before I could achieve this
clean, diffused natural background. Nikon D850
with 200mm Micro, ISO 3200, 1/800sec at f/7.1

Outdoor Photography 37
Photographing bats in flight
Certain subjects require not just time and dedication, but also technical wizardry and problem-solving prowess.
Bats are one such example, but Andrew McCarthy’s efforts were rewarded with a true wildlife spectacular
s a bat-licensed ecologist and nature
A photographer I have long aspired
to photograph bats in flight, but
for various reasons this project
had, until 2020, spent too long on the one-
for-later pile. If I am honest, it is probably
because I knew that photographing such a fast-
moving and unpredictable subject in complete
darkness was going to be a major photographic
challenge. However, the Covid-19 lockdown
finally gave me enough impetus to make a start,
and this article summarises my photographic
journey over the six months of the 2020
summer bat season.
Several problems face the novice bat
photographer. The first is that flash photography
38 Outdoor Photography
of bats close to roosts (which is where bat flight
paths are most predictable) requires a special
licence from Natural England, which can take
several years of training to obtain. Another issue
is that information is scattered widely across the
internet. In order to get to a point where I could
begin, I spent a great deal of time undertaking
background reading and exchanging emails with
knowledgeable bat photographers, in particular
the very helpful Paul Colley in the UK.
Eventually, I was ready to make a start.
I am lucky enough to have a small night roost
for lesser horseshoe bats at the rear of our
Devon house; while numbers here are low, the
site is perfect for experimentation, since it is
possible to shoot during most nights when
Above Greater horseshoe foraging along
a tree-line – taken with an ultra-wideangle lens.
The bat was only 1m above me!
Opposite (top) Lesser horseshoe bat – one of
my first successful images and the shot that
persuaded me to continue with this project.
Opposite (bottom) Common pipistrelle bat against
a crescent moon – one of my first attempts
at using strobe flash settings.
there is suitable weather.
Initially, my equipment consisted of a tripod-
mounted Olympus E-M1X body with telephoto
zoom lens, two Cactus RF60X wireless flash
units, a V6 II radio transmitter and a Cognisys
Sabre trigger, along with cables, light stands,
various clamps, waterproof covers and a power
Outdoor Photography 39
pack to enable all-night photography.
The simplest technique for capturing images
of bats in full darkness is to allow a laser/
lidar trigger to fire the flashes directly while
the shutter is open. This avoids problems of
shutter lag and makes predicting the focus
point simpler. The length of time the shutter
needs to be open depends on the number of bats
anticipated – large numbers passing through
the frame in a short time can result in multiple
ghosted images, but the low number of bats
using my house roost meant that repeated
30-second exposures would be fine.
The first challenge was the size of our roost
entrance (a doorway), which meant that bat
flight paths were unpredictable. The small
number of bats using the roost compounded
the problem and the success rate was initially
very low. I largely resolved the issue by reducing
the size of the entrance – I had been meaning
to do this for several years anyway under my
licence (in order to increase its suitability
for bats by making it darker and increasing
thermal stability), but the secondary effect was
to direct bats through the zone covered by the
trigger beam/camera frame. This approach
increased the number of successful images to
an acceptable, although still low, level.
The second challenge was how to
consistently focus. Taking into account the
Sabre’s fast response time (10ms) and probable
bat flight speed (between 3ms-1 and 5ms-1),
I estimated the point at which I would need to
pre-focus would be 1-3cm beyond the beam,
40 Outdoor Photography
Above Greater horseshoe doing a passable
impression of a ballet dancer – my personal
favorite from the project. Full-spectrum converted
Sony A7 III with IR/UV cut filter fitted.
Opposite (top) Greater horseshoe flying towards
a hedge illuminated by four strobe flash pulses.
Opposite (below) Greater horseshoe bat in mid
wingover. For such a large, fast-flying species,
Greater horseshoes are amazingly manoeuvrable!
in order to take into account distance travelled
by a bat before the flashes fired. Focus was
hit or miss for the first few months, until
I eventually worked out a more consistent
system using a carbon fibre rod at 1.5cm from
and exactly parallel to the Sabre beam.
By June, it was clear the main obstacle to
my further progression was the small size of
our home roost, as well as some equipment
limitations. More flash units and clamps
were purchased, giving five in total to provide
more powerful and even illumination. I also
obtained an infrared (IR) set-up to enable me
to shoot without disturbance at the sensitive
roost sites I was undertaking paid survey work
on. I opted for a full spectrum-converted Sony
A7 body (since upgraded to an A7 III) supplied
by Infra-Red Camera Conversions on the Isle
of Wight, coupled with a cheap kit lens and
homemade IR flash filters.
Several exciting photo opportunities
presented themselves around this time. The
first was a survey I was commissioned to
Choice of flash trigger
Unlike a laser trigger, which requires a
separate transmitter and receiver, the
lidar-based Cognisys Sabre fires when its
integral sensor picks up the beam reflected
back following interception by a bat. There
are advantages and disadvantages to
lidar (the main one being cost), but the
self-contained Sabre offers me a great
deal of flexibility given the sites I have been
photographing, as locations are often well
above ground and some are difficult to fix
equipment to.
Flash power settings
With speedlight flashes, the lower the
power output the shorter the flash duration.
After some experimentation, therefore,
units were set manually to 1/16th power to
give an effective shutter speed of roughly
1/8000sec. This duration enabled sharp
images while at the same time keeping
equipment well away from the bat flight
paths. At lower power settings, I found the
flashes needed to be so close to the focus
point (to provide adequate illumination) that
they could block the flight path. Lighting
was controlled by noting flash distances
after each session. I progressively moved
each unit closer to or further away from
the point of focus until optimal illumination
was achieved.
Outdoor Photography 41
TOP STRAP
undertake of a large lesser horseshoe roost
in a former convent. The roost entrance here
was very photogenic, consisting of weathered
timber beams that I knew would render well
in monochrome. The first few nights were
disappointing; I captured many bat images
but all were out of focus. I revisited the site
repeatedly, adjusting equipment prior to each
night’s shooting. Eventually, after a series of
‘lash-ups’ while perched precariously at the
top of a ladder, I managed to get focus and
exposure nailed and so finally obtained the
shots I wanted.
A unique opportunity was also kindly
provided courtesy of ecologist Tom Kitching
at the Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT). The
trust manages a number of important roosts
for rare species such as greater horseshoe bat,
and the site I was given permission to access is
home to a very large number of this species. At
dusk in summer, this site offers a true wildlife
spectacular and I was privileged to regularly
sit alone while more than 1,000 bats flew
past me at head height, before dispersing to
surrounding farmland to feed.
Despite high bat numbers here though,
photography proved challenging. Roost
entrances were high and very large, which
made making compelling images difficult.
Nonetheless, after extensive trial and error
(including a period of six weeks when I
experienced frustrating technical challenges
with unsynchronised flashes and image
ghosting), I finally managed to establish a
42 Outdoor Photography
Above Strobe shot of soprano pipistrelle females
swarming around a roost entrance prior to entering.
Opposite (top) Pair of Greater horseshoes returning
to their roost at dawn – shot with multiple IR flash
and full spectrum converted Sony A7 III.
Opposite (below) Greater horseshoe bat leaving
the roost.
system of photographing the emerging bats
and also bats flying through nearby woodland.
The latter was satisfying to resolve, since it
required patient observation, followed by
incremental framing, focus point and lighting
refinement over a period of weeks. I finally
settled on regularly photographing the bats
as they returned to roost at dawn through
a wooded ‘tunnel’ where, at one particular
location, they would undertake wingovers
and other aerial acrobatics prior to changing
direction towards the roost.
By early October, the cooler nights saw
a significant reduction in bat activity and
I made the decision to call a halt to the
project until 2021. To say I had been hooked
by this new genre of photography would be an
understatement and, although there is a great
deal of room for improvement in my images,
I have been really pleased with progress
made during the six months since the project
was conceived. Hopefully, this year will see
further progress and I have already visualised
the images I hope to capture in the coming
months. It should be another busy year!
Using strobe flash
From June onwards, once the basic static
equipment had been set up and switched
on (a 40 to 90-minute job depending on
location), I would often spend a productive
hour photographing bats against the
darkening sky using a mobile set-up. The
camera was still tripod-mounted, but the
rig incorporated a pair of bracket-mounted
flashes set to strobe mode (typically around
seven pulses at 14 pulses per second,
coupled with a 1/2sec exposure), as well
as an ultrasound bat detector and (on
occasion) a hotshoe-mounted mini-IR lamp.
The result was a more interpretive style of
photography, in which I was attempting to
show bat movement patterns, as individuals
hunted and swooped around me.
On one occasion I was lucky enough to
capture the swirling chaos of large numbers
of female soprano pipistrelle bats returning
to their roost. One image even included a
number of bats carrying young, which to
my knowledge is the only time this has ever
been captured in a still image in the UK.
Legislation
While research indicates that bats in
open flight are unlikely to be disturbed so
long as flash power settings/durations
are kept very low, all the photography for
this project was undertaken under an
appropriate Class II licence from Natural
England, which I have held since 2001.
Outdoor Photography 43
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Mathew Browne
Welsh photographer Mathew Browne specialises in photographing his homeland in all its natural glory.
But he’s also a big fan of cityscapes, especially London. Nick Smith puts him in the spotlight…
Nick Smith: How did you become
a professional photographer?
Mathew Browne: My background is in web
development and I was working at that full-
time when out of the blue I got an email from
a book publisher asking if I’d be interested
in producing a book about Wales. They came
knocking, saying: ‘You have 120 pages to fill
and complete creative control, do you want
to take it on?’ So, I decided that it was now or
never, and I went for it. I spent the best part of
a year photographing all over Wales.
44 Outdoor Photography
It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
NS: Can you remember the moment you
wanted to become a photographer?
MB: There’s actually a definitive light bulb
moment for me. I love travelling and I’d
always wanted to see the Northern Lights,
so I went to Iceland about a decade ago.
At the time I had a modest point-and-click
camera and very little knowledge. I’d gone
for my bucket-list moment, and I didn’t
know how to capture it.
NS: And that was the inspiration?
MB: I was looking at the pictures on the backs
of the cameras that some other guys were
taking and I just thought: ‘I want to be able to
do this.’ I remember on my way home I bought
a photography magazine at the airport and
read it front to back. By the evening I was on
Amazon buying my first DSLR so that I could
get started. I vowed not to go back to Iceland
until I knew what I was doing.
NS: Once you got your start, what made
you stick to it?
MB: Because I was enjoying the journey, the
learning didn’t feel like an effort. My progress
wasn’t swift to begin with because I didn’t
have a preconceived notion of where I wanted
to be. Also, the better I got, the steeper the
learning curve became. Then the deeper I got
into it, the more I realised how little I knew.
NS: How did the photography take
over from your job?
MB: Around 2017 I noticed that it was
interfering – maybe that’s too strong a
word – with other things. I wanted to be
photographing when I should have been
working. Maybe there was some snowfall,
and I was desperate to go out and take photos,
but I couldn’t because of work commitments
like earning a living.
NS: So, you’ve got to manage your time well?
MB: One of the most important things I
learned doing the book was that you couldn’t
afford to do anything speculatively. There was
always a plan, especially if I was travelling any
distance, say, to North Wales. I wasn’t going
to do that unless I was fairly confident of the
weather conditions and an idea of the places
that I wanted to shoot. I tend to plan a lot.
I know that some photographers love to just
get out there and see what happens, but I like
the feeling of having a shot in mind and then
knowing I’ve captured it.
NS: You have a strong interest in the
city at night…
MB: First, I love cities and shooting at night
is practical because you don’t want people
Left (top) The most spectacular sunset I’ve seen
yet, at Lake Vyrnwy. This became the cover
of my book Wales in Photographs.
Left (below) Aberystwyth seafront at dusk.

Above (left) The Milky Way core is clearly visible
from the rugged south Pembrokeshire coast.
Above (right) Comet Neowise above Paxton’s Tower,
Carmarthenshire. The glow on the brightest stars
can be achieved in-camera using a diffusion
filter, or digitally.
Below (left) Dolbadarn Castle, Snowdonia.
Below (middle) The International Space Station,
Mars, the Milky Way, and even a hint of
bioluminescent seas combine at Three Cliffs Bay.
Below (right) Morning mist carpets the Tywi valley
beneath Dryslwyn Castle, Carmarthenshire.
walking through the frame and then going
through all the hassle of getting a model
release. If you’re shooting on a long exposure,
these people become ghostly and can’t be
Mathew’s critical moments
2010 First DSLR 2015 Completed first
camera – a crop sensor commercial commission
Canon Rebel
identified. But cities are much quieter in the
early morning and that means you can get
portfolio-level imagery straight out of the
camera. Creatively, there’s something about
the technical challenge of the night shot that
appeals to me. It’s not as easy as shooting
in the day: you need to get your technique
and timing right, maybe even compositing
multiple exposures.
NS: You also have a fascination with London?
MB: It’s funny because when I lived there,
I had no interest in photographing it. But
now I’m in Wales I love the cityscape as
a subject, and before coronavirus I’d go
up there whenever I could. In fact, it’s
going to be the theme of my follow-up
To see more of Mathew’s work, visit mathewbrowne.co.uk
2017 Became a full-time 2018 Published first book
professional photographer – Wales in Photographs
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
book. The photos for that are ready, but
unfortunately it’s been put back for now.
Mathew’s top tips
One thing I never go on a shoot without is…
An L-bracket. It’s an inexpensive investment
that has saved me so much time in the field.
My one piece of advice would be to…
Invest in improving your technique.
Money spent on tutorials improved my
images far more than a better lens.
Something I try to avoid is…
People. Anything – unsociable hours, even
compositing multiple exposures – is easier
than chasing model releases.
2019 Co-founded PhotoHound, a 2020 Shortlisted for
community to help photographers Astronomy Photographer
find beautiful locations of the Year
Outdoor Photography 45
 Landscape
Photography Workshops
Supported by Kase Filters, UK Digital and Novo

Take your photography to the next level with Sarah Howard

Outdoor Workshops (subject to UK Government guidelines)

© Martyn Ferry © Sarah Howard

Long Exposures Waterfalls of the Vale of Neath

May 11th & June 10th 2021 May 25th & October 14th 2021

© Daniel Wretham © Sarah Howard

Dorset’s Jurassic Coast Enchanting Exmoor

May 18th - 20th & September 24th - 26th 2021 June 4th - 6th & August 20th - 22nd 2021

©Martyn Ferry ©Sarah Howard

The Peak District Yorkshire’s Coastal Treasures

August 11th - 13th 2021 Sept 16th - 19th 2021

Practical based workshops • Expert tuition

All abilities welcome • Inspiring locations • Small group sizes

For more information on all our workshops

www.imageseen.co.uk 07760 498 112
LOCATIONS
GUIDE 6
1

VIEWPOINTS
We want to see your best shots from
around the country. Each month the
winner will receive a fantastic £200!
Turn to page 69 for submission details.

5
1 The Quiraing
Isle of Skye
2 Washburn Valley 4
North Yorkshire
3 Happisburgh beach 2
Norfolk
4 The Great Langdales
Cumbria
5 Giant’s Causeway
County Antrim 3
6 Bagh Steinigidh
Isle of Harris

ACCESS RATING
These are based around an ‘averagely fit’ person.
Below are loose guidelines to what the ratings mean
(N.B. they are assigned by the author and not verified by
OP. Walk distances are one-way only):

1/5 Easy access. You can
pretty much get straight out of your car and quickly be
at the viewpoint via good quality paths.
2/5 Gentle walking is
involved, which may be on mixed quality paths.
3/5 Medium length walk 5/5 The most difficult
of up to about two miles, over quite easy terrain. access. Long hike over challenging terrain (e.g.
mountains/summits/steep coastal terrain); or involves
travelling over particularly extreme ground (e.g.
4/5 Longer length hike scrambling on rocks/exposed coastal paths or
up to about four miles over mixed terrain, possibly with mountain ridges) over any distance.
some quite steep gradients.
VIEWPOINTS

WINNER JOHN CUTHBERT Distance: 11 miles from Idrigil • 20 miles from Portree ACCESS RATING
facebook.com/john.cuthbert.963

The Quiraing, Isle of Skye

ometimes an image speaks for itself, How to get there To get to the Quiraing, What to shoot Stunning rock formations,

S and images taken on the beautiful

island of Skye are no exception.
The Quiraing is one of those magical,
visually stunning places on Skye that can
widen your eyes and take your breath away
at the same time.
head northward from Portree on the A855.
After about 18 miles, just before a village
called Brogaig, take a left, heading up to
some impressive mountains. There is a
car park for the Quiraing about two miles
waterfalls and huge vistas aplenty.
Other times of year Due to the popularity
of Skye, out-of-season visits are advisable,
during autumn and winter.
Nearby locations An Corran beach (4 miles);
up the lane. Old Man of Storr (12 miles).

48 Outdoor Photography
WIN £200!
We want to see your pictures of great photography locations around the UK and Ireland.
The best Viewpoint of the Month will win £200. See page 69 for details.

Congratulations!
John Cuthbert wins a fantastic £200 for his great photograph!

Outdoor Photography 49
David Henderson
Washburn Valley, North Yorkshire
he delightful, wooded river valley
T
between Thruscross and Fewston
reservoirs is a splendid area to practise
capturing water movement and varied forest
details. A recent sympathetic replanting in
this area reintroduces the more historic tree
varieties which, in years to come, will further
elevate the photographic potential of the
already magnificent trail linking the reservoirs.
How to get there From Harrogate, take the
A59 towards Skipton. After nine miles, turn left
Distance: 9 miles from Otley • 11 miles from Harrogate ACCESS RATING
50 Outdoor Photography
into Fewston reservoir car park. Carefully cross
the main road and go over the crash barrier. Go
right and take the footpath on the left. This path
follows the right-hand side of the river valley all
the way to Thruscross reservoir.
What to shoot Thruscross reservoir’s
southern dam structure, the river Washburn,
mixed woodland.
Other times of year Any time of year when
the river is in spate.
Nearby locations Otley Chevin Country Park
(8 miles); Brimham Rocks (10 miles).

Distance: 9 miles from North Walsham • 19 miles from Norwich ACCESS RATING
Helen Storer
storersphotos.com
Happisburgh beach, Norfolk
appisburgh beach is an easy walk down
H from the car park, as long as the slipway
hasn’t been destroyed by the sea again.
The locals are very good at rebuilding the
slipway, sadly something that must be done
several times a year. Every trip to Happisburgh
is different. At low tide, the sea defences are
uncovered and many hours can be spent
exploring along the water’s edge. At high tide,
pop back to the car park which is next to the
famous red-and-white lighthouse – a particular
favourite with local photographers when the
wheat fields surrounding it are golden.
VIEWPOINTS
How to get there From North Walsham,
take the Happisburgh Road. Follow the main
road through the village. The car park can be
found at the end of Beach Road and is well
signposted from Whimpwell Street, which
runs through the centre of the village.
What to shoot Sea defences, groynes,
the lighthouse and World War II pillboxes.
Other times of year All year round, and
especially at sunrise, as the beach faces east.
Nearby locations Happisburgh Lighthouse
(0.5 miles); Calthorpe Broad National Nature
Reserve (5 miles).
Outdoor Photography 51
 Distance: 6 miles from Ambleside • 17 miles from Broughton-in-Furness ACCESS RATING
Debashis Bandyopadhya
dbphotography.net
The Great Langdales, Cumbria
elcome to a jaw-dropping, spectacular
W
part of the Lake District – there is
just so much to explore, photograph
and soak in. Great Langdale is easily reached
from Windermere, Ambleside or Grasmere and
offers stunning mountain scenery, as well as
the beauty of hidden lakes such as Blea Tarn
and Elterwater. There are excellent mountain
Distance: 2.5 miles from Bushmills • 12 miles from Ballycastle ACCESS RATING
52 Outdoor Photography
views to photograph, as well as waterfalls and
wonderful valleys. Nearby Little Langdale is
a magnet in autumn, and early morning mist
can be spectacular.
How to get there From Ambleside, take Old
Lake Road to Lake Road (A591). Head north on
Gale Rigg towards Low Gale, then turn left on to
Low Gale. Turn right on to Old Lake Road. Follow
the A593 to B5343 for 2.5 miles. Continue
on the road and the peaks will appear almost
straight on, slightly to the left.
What to shoot Dramatic mountain scenery,
hidden lakes and beautiful valleys.
Other times of year This is a magnificent
location all year round. Autumn is great for
morning mist and colours. For the light falling on
the Langdales, early morning is best.
Nearby locations Blea Tarn (3.5 miles);
Little Langdale (3.8 miles).
Todor Tilev
todortilev.com
Giant’s Causeway,
County Antrim
he Giant’s Causeway is recognised
T worldwide. The result of ancient volcanic
activity, there are thousands of hexagonal
columns forming stepping stones that lead from
the cliffs out into the sea. I had always wanted
to visit and photograph this exceptional World
Heritage Site.
How to get there From Coleraine, take the B17
to Bushmills. At Bushmills, turn right on to the A2
heading north. The car park is roughly two miles
from here, off the A2.
What to shoot Cliffs, coastal features,
the basalt columns and ocean views.
Other times of year Any time of the year, but for
spectacular sunsets, autumn and winter are best
– it’s also quieter out of season.
Nearby locations Dunseverick Falls (3.5 miles);
Dunluce Castle (5 miles).

Distance: 13 miles from Tarbert • 45 miles from Stornoway ACCESS RATING
Richard Burdon
rjbphotographic.co.uk
Bagh Steinigidh, Isle of Harris
ith the wind raging, finding a
W sheltered location at the bay at
Bagh Steinigidh is always going
to be a priority. With its sloping beach and
bordering rocks, this is an ideal location
for capturing crashing waves and receding
tidal flows. Getting the correct exposure
time to capture some texture in the wave
flows takes some experimentation, but it
is always worth the time and effort. Add
in the squally weather coming in over
Taransay and you have a location with
endless compositional possibilities.
VIEWPOINTS
How to get there Head south from the
ferry port at Tarbert along the A859 towards
Leverbrough. You will see the small car park
and picnic site at Bagh Steinigidh, just after
the signs for Borve.
What to shoot Waves crashing on the
rocks and receding tidal flows, with
interesting weather over Taransay.
Other times of year Autumn and winter
when the island is quiet.
Nearby locations Sgarasta Mhòr beach
(2 miles); Loch Langabhat (8 miles).
Outdoor Photography 53
 Sony Alpha 1
Professional Mirrorless Camera

NO COMPROMISE ON
IMAGE QUALITY AND SPEED:
New 50MP Exmor RS sensor, up to
30 fps with no black-out, Class leading
9.44m dot EVF with high speed refresh
rate and 5.5 stops IBIS all thanks to the
new BIONZ XR processor.

£6499

Sony FE 35mm
F1.4 G Master lens

INCREDIBLY SHARP:
Two XA (extreme aspherical)
elements ensure outstanding
resolution in this F1.4 prime
lens.
Along with one
aspherical element deliver high
corner-to-corner resolution
and beautiful bokeh, making
this an excellent full frame lens
for landscapes, starscapes and
videography.

£1499
Bournemouth - 01202 526606
329 Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH9 2AD
Salisbury - 01722 339909
11 Endless Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 1DL
www.castlecameras.co.uk Prices correct as of 17/03/21. Prices subject to change, check website for latest prices.

What a difference a year makes
Twelve months on from the introduction of the coronavirus restrictions, Nick Smith
reflects on how the day-to-day world of the outdoor photographer has changed
Looking back through my work diary to exactly one year
ago, I can see there’s a matter-of-fact entry that reads:
‘Inside Track column rejected by Outdoor Photography.
Rewrite required. Overnight turnaround.’ Since I’m
not a writer given to using exclamation marks, or
‘screamers’ as they were once known in the noble trade
of journalism (where they used to be forbidden in all but
the most extreme of circumstances), the comment has
a rather resigned tone of voice. But, scratching around
in the memory banks, I do seem to remember privately
thinking the editorial powers that be might have been
a bit harsh on my copy that, in the face of the initial
phases of the coronavirus pandemic, pre-lockdown
restrictions, was buoyant and optimistic in its attitude.
In fact, the article that had been put on the
spike (another industry jargon phrase, this time
meaning ‘discarded as unfit for publication’), was
something of a potboiler. Roll your sleeves up and
get on with it was the general sentiment. It’s all a
tabloid newspaper overreaction to a ticklish cough I
opined, before warbling on about how, undeterred,
I’d defiantly taken my best camera out for a spin and
had resolutely spent a sunny springtime afternoon on
the local limestone cliffs photographing wheatears,
chiffchaffs and yellowhammers. I stopped short of
employing the expressions ‘tish and pish’, ‘balderdash’
and ‘poppycock’, but you get the picture.
You may be surprised to learn that writers have thick
skins, and so rather than taking umbrage that my muse
Calliope had been offended, I took a balanced view of
proceedings. There’s no automatic right to an explanation
for not going to press with an article, and so I was flattered
the editors communicated to me that given we could
hardly know what was going to happen next, and since
monthly magazines have an inconvenient production
lag between copy intake and hitting the newsstands
(even in these glorious days of digital publishing),
caution was the obvious watchword. We didn’t want to
catch a cold by taking an editorial route that may end
up in diametric opposition to an unknown future.
Although it seemed a tad inconvenient to rustle up
a new column in a few hours, I could hardly refuse
for two specific reasons: first, discretion was the
correct course of action and I understood that; while
second, I could hardly not roll my sleeves up and
get on with it, after recommending the procedure
to others, albeit in a different context. And I’m glad
this is where we ended up because, as we all know,
the year that followed was to be unpredictable and
extraordinary in so many ways. Besides, I’d read the
tea leaves wrongly and I’d been saved from making
an embarrassingly wayward public comment.
INSIDE TRACK
It turns out that getting on with it for the outdoor
photographer was easier said than done. As the full-
blown lockdowns (and here in Wales, bizarrely named
‘firebreaks’) came and went with their baffling and
convoluted rules, one thing became certain for the
photographer, and that was our ability to take pictures
outdoors was compromised. And yet we adapted.
One of the great things about having spent nearly two
decades interviewing photographers for this magazine is
that you get to speak to lots of them on a regular basis: we
stay in touch, mostly to keep the news network buzzing
with notices of forthcoming exhibitions and monographs,
although in one or two cases friendships have evolved.
With no prospect of travel, clients going to ground left,
right and centre, and the general imprecation to stay
home, stay local and stay bored, I found myself spending
hours on Zoom, Facetime and even the good old-
fashioned telephone talking with photographers, many of
whom, being freelancers, were uncertainly drifting up a
certain creek without any means of financial propulsion.
And yet we adapted. Naming no names of course, there
is the wildlife photographer in South Africa who, more
accustomed to roaming the bushveld, faced the reality of
lockdown in an urban hotel. He used the time to learn
macro photography, obsessively shooting insects in the
herbaceous border beside the swimming pool. There is
the Bristol-based polar photographer who reinvented
himself as a doorstep portrait artist. There is the French
documentary photographer who, unable to get into zones
of humanitarian crises, decided it was time to recalibrate
the mind a little by rebuilding the dry-stone walls on his
idyllic Normandy farm. Then there are the many, many
of us, that with the best intentions decided that we’d
been given the gift of time – a commodity that should
be spent performing all those general photographic
housekeeping chores we’d always meant to get around to.
The irony is, of course, that there’s a reason we
never re-organised our decaying film stock in the
first place: being that it was such a flagrant waste
of that gift. And for what it’s worth, I spent a year
pushing the camara in my smartphone to the limits
by producing two slim volumes of photographs, all
taken within five miles of my house by the sea.
I’m not going to sign off this column with any
predictions, and not just because I was way off piste
last time I tried. It’s because we just don’t know what
the world will look like in a year’s time. Although
I for one hope against all hope that we’ll be back
to some semblance of normality, with our best
cameras slung over our shoulders, striding across cliff
and moor, estuary and woodland, photographing
wheatears, chiffchaffs and yellowhammers.
Outdoor Photography 55
 PHOTO SHOWCASE

Travel Photographer of the Year

In spite of the travel restrictions imposed on us in recent times, the latest edition of this international
competition attracted thousands of entries – almost 25,000 images from photographers in 147 countries.
Here are some of our favourites, including the overall winner…
Vladimir Alekseev, Russia
Overall winner – Travel Photographer of the Year

Top Myanmar Below (left) Yamal Peninsula, Russia Below (right) Greenland
Travel photography does not always capture a From a very young age, the children of the This is a huge iceberg that floated past the
landscape; very often it records a macro world, little Yamal Peninsula know how to drive reindeer coast, shrouded in fog – a very rare natural
joys in life that we don’t pay attention to at home. on special sleds called narta. phenomenon.

56 Outdoor Photography
Above Below
Nayana Rajesh, USA Paddy Scott, UK
Runner-up, Young Travel Photographer of the Year Highly commended, Landscapes and Earth Elements portfolio
(15-18 category) Charakusa Valley, Karakorum range, Himalaya, Pakistan
Lone Pine, California, USA Standing at 7,282m, K6 is smaller than most of its ‘K’ cousins; however,
I took this photo in the summer of 2018 during a trip to Lone Pine with it rises almost 3,000m above the valley floor and dominates the head of
my dad and his friends. It was a thrilling experience for me to be under the Charakusa Valley. From this spot looking up at the mountain, I could
truly dark skies and to be able to see the night sky in all its glory. not help but think of the bravery of those that had attempted to climb it.

Outdoor Photography 57
 Above
David Swindler, USA
Special mention, Landscapes and Earth Elements portfolio –
single images
Mount Rainier, Washington, USA
During our visit to Mount Rainier we found this snow cave
carved out by the rushing flow. Going inside a snow cave can be
dangerous and you should have the proper safety equipment.
Below
Mauro Battistelli, Italy
Special mention, Landscapes and Earth Elements portfolio –
single images
Caddo Lake, Marshall, Texas, USA
Wonderful colours on a misty morning at Caddo Lake.
Bald cypresses and Spanish moss created a unique scene;
a painting from another world, peaceful and quiet.

58 Outdoor Photography
Above Below
Wenming Tang, China Marco Steiner, Austria
Runner-up, Nature, Sealife, Wildlife portfolio Winner, Nature, Sealife, Wildlife portfolio
Poyang Lake, Jiangxi, China Anilao, Batangas, Philippines
Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and provides This photo of flying fish (I’m not sure which species exactly)
a seasonal home for more than 100 species of migratory birds, was taken during a blackwater dive late at night, just below
11 of which are endangered. the surface, as you can see in the mirroring effect.

Outdoor Photography 59
 Above Below
Richard Li, Hong Kong Irene Becker, Hungary
Runner-up, Travel Folio Commended, One Shot – Solitude
Lake Magadi, Kenya Drina River, near Bajina, Bašta, Serbia
When I travel to Kenya, I like to take a helicopter to Lake Magadi. The idea of building the house in the middle of the
The aerial views of flamingos and the patterns on the surface river was born in 1968. Nowadays the River House
of the lake always amaze me. is a holiday place for a group of friends.

60 Outdoor Photography
Above Below
Mouneb Taim, Syria Jordi Cohen, Spain
Winner, People of the World portfolio Winner, Travel Folio
Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel
A man walks through the devastation of a street and is in a Women and girls separated by a net at the Lag Baomer
psychological state that is difficult to describe. He lost his celebration in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish quarter
children during a massacre that killed 80 people. of Mea Shearim.

Outdoor Photography 61
 Above
Paul Sansome, UK
Winner, Travel Folio – best single image
Long Bien, Hanoi, Vietnam
I had to exercise extreme patience to achieve this shot at a very busy
junction in Hanoi where traffic from the left, right and behind me
would constantly block the desired image. It took an hour before a
single bike drove past part of the world’s longest mosaic mural.
Below
Alex Zozulya, Russia
Special mention, Nature, Sealife, Wildlife portfolio – single images
Tonga
Humpback whales are inquisitive, friendly and graceful. When they move
underwater, sometimes it seems like dancing and soaring. And, last but not
least, thanks to their lateral fins, which can reach five metres each and are
like the wings of birds, it looks as if they can fly.

The winning images will go on display in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, London, from 12 May to 10 June and in other TPOTY exhibitions,
including Chester Cathedral, during 2021. They can also be viewed at tpoty.com

62 Outdoor Photography
WILD PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS

New and Exciting Photography Workshops Closer to Home

We are pleased to announce our all new UK-based workshops

visiting some of the country’s most beautiful areas. Many Scottish

locations inculding Orkney & Hoy, Harris & Lewis, Coigach and

Assynt. North Wales’ Snowdonia National Park and Portmeirion.

Whitby – Spirit of the Goths. Time to have a creative adventure!

www.wildphotographyholidays.com
 READER
GALLERY
Each issue we publish the best
images from those submitted to our
Reader Gallery – turn to page 68
to find out how to enter your work.
Here is this month’s winner...
Winner Hywel Evans

My interest in photography was initially

sparked when my parents bought me my first
digital camera for my 21st birthday. Since
then, I’ve been gradually self-teaching and
have tried my hand at loads of different types
of photography, including commercial shoots
such as weddings, but landscapes are where
my real passion lies.
I absolutely love big, dramatic vistas, and
living in an area with less of this locally has
pushed me to explore much more of the
country in search of stunning scenery. There
really is nothing better than standing in front
of incredible scenery and watching how it
slowly comes to life as the light does its work.
I love bold, vibrant colours and aim to
produce images that convey the mood and
atmosphere of a place. I’m also a huge fan of
the creative side of photography and often
use long exposures and graduated filters to
capture scenes that our eyes can’t see, even
Winner Hywel Evans though they exist right in front of us. For me,
it is shots like this that are really magical –
where my camera allows me to see the world
in another dimension.

Hometown Earls Barton, Northampton

Occupation Product marketing manager
Photographic experience Five years
hevansphotography.co.uk

Left Winding Road

The view from the top of Mam Tor in the Peak
District. I love the way the light illuminates
the end of the road and pulls you in.
Opposite Fairy Glen
I’d got my timings a little off this day and had
to wait a couple of hours for the light rays
to break into this scene in North Wales.

64 Outdoor Photography
READER GALLERY

Outdoor Photography 65
READER GALLERY

66 Outdoor Photography
 READER GALLERY

Opposite Bales
I was sitting in my garden and saw this sky
appear out of nowhere – I grabbed my camera,
ran to the field next to my house and managed
to get this just before the sun went down.
Right Hardraw Force
Hardraw Force, Yorkshire Dales.
My all-time favourite location for photography
in the UK – I’ve spent hours here.

Submit your best images

and win great prizes.
This month’s winner receives
a pair of Keen Tempo Flex WP
Mid boots, worth £130!

The just-launched Tempo Flex boots

feature Keen’s innovative new
accordion-like Bellows Flex technology
to enable hikers to move with less
effort, leading to many more miles
of comfortable performance during
outdoor adventures. In addition to this
energy-saving insert, these great
looking boots feature a rip-stop upper
with TPU overlays for durability, a Keen
Dry waterproof and breathable
membrane, and a super rugged All
Terrain outsole to deliver excellent
traction on the toughest terrains.
Available in both men’s and
women’s versions.

To find out more go to

keenfootwear.com

Outdoor Photography 67
 GET INVOLVED
ONE THING THIS MONTH
If you only do one thing this month…
Local Landscapes
In OP 264 we asked you to send us your best images taken on your doorstep as we wanted you to observe the
beauty in your local environment. Congratulations to Andrew Hocking who sent in this misty quayside scene,
and our superb runners-up. For the next challenge, turn to page 95
Above WINNER
Andrew Hocking
I was furloughed for seven weeks during the
first lockdown. Almost every day, I took a
sunrise walk from my house to local woods, or
to here: Penryn Quay, 10 minutes from home.
On this visit, the little light to filter through
the mist bathed the scene in warm, sepia-like
tones. I framed the dominant features (sun
and nearest boat) on the left, leaving the other
boats and river bank to fade away.
Canon EOS 6D MkII with 24-105mm lens,
ISO 100, 1/25sec at f/16
hocking-photography.co.uk
86 Outdoor Photography
86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 86
IF YOU ONLY DO
ONE THING THIS MONTH
Enter our Vibrant Spring photo
challenge and you could have your
image published in issue 270 of OP.
Plus, the winner will receive a superb Robens
Icefall Pro 3000 sleeping bag worth £135.
See page 95 for details.
68 Outdoor Photography
68-69 OP267_Your_Chance .indd 68
Your chance to take part
See your work in print + win great prizes!
Opposite (top) Paul Roberson
Captured in nearby Yattendon, Berkshire,
where a few poppy fields were in full bloom.
I wandered away from the crowds of visitors
to this spot where the view was framed
by trees and fence. From the gate in the
foreground, a path leads through a poppy
field to a farm on the horizon.
Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm lens,
ISO 64, 1/30sec at f/13
Online submissions!
Go to outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk
READER GALLERY
READER
GALLERY
Each issue we publish the best
images from those submitted to our
Reader Gallery – turn to page 68
to find out how to enter your work.
Here is this month’s winner...
Winner Hywel Evans
My interest in photography was initially
sparked when my parents bought me my first
digital camera for my 21st birthday. Since
then, I’ve been gradually self-teaching and
have tried my hand at loads of different types
of photography, including commercial shoots
such as weddings, but landscapes are where
my real passion lies.
I absolutely love big, dramatic vistas, and
living in an area with less of this locally has
pushed me to explore much more of the
country in search of stunning scenery. There
really is nothing better than standing in front
of incredible scenery and watching how it
slowly comes to life as the light does its work.
I love bold, vibrant colours and aim to
produce images that convey the mood and
atmosphere of a place. I’m also a huge fan of
the creative side of photography and often
use long exposures and graduated filters to
capture scenes that our eyes can’t see, even
Winner Hywel Evans though they exist right in front of us. For me,
it is shots like this that are really magical –
where my camera allows me to see the world
in another dimension.
Hometown Earls Barton, Northampton
Occupation Product marketing manager
Photographic experience Five years
hevansphotography.co.uk
Opposite (below) Robin Couchman
This was taken in Piper’s Hill, Worcestershire.
Some people walked into shot while there
was a lovely mist around. Left Winding Road
Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 24-105mm lens, The view from the top of Mam Tor in the Peak
ISO 640, 1/400sec at f/5.6 District. I love the way the light illuminates
the end of the road and pulls you in.
Opposite Fairy Glen
I’d got my timings a little off this day and had
to wait a couple of hours for the light rays
to break into this scene in North Wales.
64 Outdoor Photography Outdoor Photography 65
Outdoor Photography 87
64-67 Reader gallery OP267 Folder.indd 64 31/03/2021 13:12 64-67 Reader gallery OP267 Folder.indd 65 31/03/2021 13:12
30/03/2021 09:51 86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 87 30/03/2021 09:51
READER GALLERY
Send us your best outdoor
images, and if you’re chosen
as our winner you’ll receive a
superb prize. Our next winner
will receive a pair of Keen
Tempo Flex WP Mid hiking
boots, worth £130!
31/03/2021 17:12

COMPETITION
Where in the world?
If you can identify where this deserted and dilapidated township lingers you could win
a pair of Cooph Photo Glove Originals, worth £108!
ENTER ONLINE NOW!
Where is it?
This once bustling settlement in the US
was abandoned and became a ghost town.
But is it...
a) Bodie, California
b) St Elmo, Colorado
c) Cody, Wyoming
The answer and the winner’s name will
be revealed in OP 270.
You can enter the competition online at
outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk,
using Ghost267 as the code, or send your
answer to opcomp@thegmcgroup.com,
stating Ghost267 as the subject. Alternatively,
drop it in the post to: Where in the World –
Ghost267, Outdoor Photography, 86 High
Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XN.
The deadline for entry is 5 June 2021.
96 Outdoor Photography
96 Where in the world_266.indd 96
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
Tell us the location on page 96 and this month
you could win a pair of COOPH Photo Glove
Originals. These amazing photographers’ gloves
are designed for precision handling in cold
weather. They have a super-soft leather outer
layer and unique liner cuts giving your
thumbs and trigger-fingers the
freedom to control buttons –
even in frosty conditions.
See store.cooph.com.
VIEWPOINTS
WINNER JOHN CUTHBERT
facebook.com/john.cuthbert.963
Distance: 11 miles from Idrigil • 20 miles from Portree ACCESS RATING
The Quiraing, Isle of Skye
S
ometimes an image speaks for itself,
and images taken on the beautiful
island of Skye are no exception.
The Quiraing is one of those magical,
visually stunning places on Skye that can
widen your eyes and take your breath away
at the same time.
48 Outdoor Photography
48-53_VIEWPOINTS_267 Folder.indd 48
VIEWPOINTS
We want to see up to 10 of your best digital images from your favourite UK and Irish viewpoints.
If one of them is selected it will be published in the magazine, plus there’s £200 up for grabs each
month for the winning image. You can submit online at: outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk
Don’t forget to include your name, daytime contact number and email address.
And please include camera data for each image submitted.
68-69 OP267_Your_Chance .indd 69
THIS MONTH’S GREAT PRIZE
Worth
COOPH PHOTO GLOVE ORIGINAL
COOPH photographers’ gloves
are designed for precision
£108 handling in cold weather. These
one-of-a-kind gloves are not only
stylish, but truly the only ones on the market
designed specifically with photographers in mind.
Cooph gloves have a super-soft goat leather and
unique liner cuts give your thumbs and
trigger-fingers the freedom to
control buttons, dials and touch-
screens – even in frosty
conditions. Use of camera
touchscreens is still possible
due to the luxuriously soft
leather. The gloves also
feature a repeated silicone
imprint across the palm and
fingers for better grip of controls.
For more details see
store.cooph.com
How to get there To get to the Quiraing,
head northward from Portree on the A855.
After about 18 miles, just before a village
called Brogaig, take a left, heading up to
some impressive mountains. There is a
car park for the Quiraing about two miles
up the lane.
GET INVOLVED
OP COMMUNITY
Join the OP community on our social channels
where you can see what we’re keen to share
in the world of outdoor photography.
Keep right up to date with news
by ‘liking’ OP at facebook.com/
outdoorphotographymag
Follow us on Twitter at
twitter.com/opoty
OP 264 WINNER
In issue 264 we asked you to identify
the rock formation in the image below.
Find us on Instagram at instagram.
com/outdoorphotographymag
The correct answer is:
a) Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Shutterstock.com
Congratulations to our winner!
Marc Loftus from Hampshire
EMAIL ENTRIES
31/03/2021 14:03
We are unable to accept speculative
SOCIAL HUB submissions via email, so please do not send
Please send your views, opinions and other work in this way, unless requested to do so
musings to markbe@thegmcgroup.com, by a member of the OP editorial team.
or send them online or by post. If your letter Send via post or online instead.
is thoughtful and engaging we’ll be delighted
to share with all our readers. WEBSITE SUBMISSIONS
Please limit your letters to about 200 words You can send us links to your website, for us
or under and be aware that your words may be to view your general work only. Please note that
edited before they are used in the magazine. strictly no correspondence will be entered into
regarding website submissions. Send the link
to opweb@thegmcgroup.com.
PLEASE NOTE
Due to the many submissions we receive from
our readers each month, if you have not heard
from us within 10 weeks (except for Viewpoints)
then it is unlikely we will be using your work
in the magazine on this occasion.
GMC Publications cannot accept liability
for the loss or damage of any unsolicited
material, including slides.
EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
If you would like an exhibition or event included
in Outdoor Photography, please email
markbe@thegmcgroup.com at least 10 weeks
in advance. You can also submit it online
through our website.
NEWS STORIES
Is there a current and time sensitive story you’d
like us to cover in our news pages? Please email
What to shoot Stunning rock formations, WIN £200!
details to markbe@thegmcgroup.com or submit
waterfalls and huge vistas aplenty. We want to see your pictures of great photography locations around the UK and Ireland.
Other times of year Due to the popularity The best Viewpoint of the Month will win £200. See page 69 for details.
of Skye, out-of-season visits are advisable,
during autumn and winter. Congratulations!
it online at: outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk/
Nearby locations An Corran beach (4 miles); John Cuthbert wins a fantastic £200 for his great photograph!
Old Man of Storr (12 miles).
contact-us
Outdoor Photography 49
31/03/2021 16:53 48-53_VIEWPOINTS_267 Folder.indd 49 31/03/2021 16:53
WRITE FOR US!
We are always on the lookout for inspiring new
features. If you have a great idea for an article
then please send a short outline (no more than
60 words), plus five high-res JPEG images
for our consideration.
Outdoor Photography 69
31/03/2021 17:12
 LIFE IN THE WILD
Using artificial light – part two
If flash is your only option, using your speedlights remotely is the key to more creative lighting. Laurie Campbell
explains why a better understanding of the technicalities of flash is better for both photographer and wildlife
In the first of this two-part column (see OP 266), I
wrote about the ethics relating to the physiology
of animal eyes and whether exposure to intense
lighting caused disturbance or had a detrimental
effect on their vision. Much of what I described
was based upon many years of working in the
field with a wide variety of subjects, using
techniques and experience to mitigate the
risks and allow me to take photographs in
situations where there is often no other way.
70 Outdoor Photography
70-71 Life in the Wild 267 Folder.indd 70
The first thing to consider when choosing an
electronic flash unit for wildlife photography
is the output because this affects the range at
which we can work. The power of any flash
decreases the further the light needs to travel
and this is known as the inverse square law. It
states that when the distance between the flash
and the subject is doubled, only one quarter of
the amount of light reaches the subject because
the same amount of light is spread over a wider
area. A case of diminishing returns as it were.
The power of electronic flash units is given
as guide numbers (GN) and these are measured
in feet or metres at a given ISO. To calculate the
maximum working distance, we need to divide
the GN by the aperture. For example, my Nikon
SB-800 has a GN of 38 at ISO 100. So, divide 38
by an aperture of f/5.6 and this gives a working
distance of 6.78m, at f/4 it is 9.5m, at f/2.8 it is
13.6m and so on.
Unfortunately, guide numbers are often
calculated for indoor use, where there are
reflective surfaces such as walls and ceilings,
so when working outdoors it is best to assume
that we lose 1 stop of light. Using higher ISO
settings will obviously increase the range,
but remember that ‘working distance’ is the
distance between the flash and the subject
and not the camera to subject.
Removing the flash from the camera and
placing it closer to the subject means that
range is only limited by the strength of wireless
connectivity between the flash and the camera.
Operating a flash remotely allows the use of
lower ISO settings, smaller apertures and
weaker flash settings to improve recycling times.
It follows that using remote flash units
requires preparation and knowledge that a
subject is going to appear at a specific location,
but this also provides the opportunity to use
multiple flash units to achieve different lighting
effects. Removing the flash from the camera
hotshoe is preferable anyway because it helps
avoid the stark, flat lighting given by a single
flash fired over the camera axis as well as
reducing the risk of eyeshine from the subject.
If the flash can’t be removed from the camera,
such as in situations that require the flexibility
of a simple ‘walkabout’ set-up, then attaching
a softbox to the flash will help reduce shadows.
The whole subject of using electronic flash
to photograph wildlife can seem daunting but
digital capture has made it all so much easier.
Nowadays, we can look at histograms rather
than using external flash meters to determine
correct exposure and can immediately review
lighting effects on LCD screens rather than
having to wait on rolls of film being processed.
Left Habituated to come for peanuts placed
in this hollow log propped against an opening in
the front of my wooden hide, I lit this badger with
a speedlight and softbox in front, and a single,
more powerful flash from behind. Nikon F5 with
Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8 AF-D lens, Fujichrome
Velvia 50, 1/125sec at f/11, Nikon SB-25, Metz 60
CT-1 with telephoto attachment, handheld, hide
25/03/2021 11:16
 Options for flash photography
The simple pop-up flash units found on cameras
are underrated and although their limited output
means they are mostly only usable at close
range, there is a convenience to having a flash
with you at all times. The main downside is
their fixed position, but I’ve seen homemade
diffusers used for impressive macro images.
Pop-up flashes are excellent when using
fill-flash and it’s quite easy to dial in flash
compensation values. In bright sunlight,
reducing the output for fill-flash to minus one
and two-thirds of a stop is fairly standard.
Hotshoe-mounted speedlights give greater
range and can be fitted with flash extenders
to work at even greater distances when using
long telephoto lenses. Pop-up flashes may not
have the output to affect exposure at greater
distances, but are still capable of adding a
catchlight to the eye of a subject – invaluable
when photographing black-headed birds such
as terns in midday light in summer.
Top of the range flash units from camera
manufacturers are expensive. One of their most
useful features is focus-assist technology,
where an illuminator built into the flash emits
a grid of red light on to the subject for the lens
to focus in situations when there is very little
ambient light. Another is FP High-Speed Sync
(for Nikon) and High-Speed Sync (for Canon)
cameras, which allow the use of any shutter
speed when mixing flash with daylight. Many
third-party flashes offer both these features.
More powerful flashes used to be the
preserve of studio-based photographers. Now
that battery technology has come of age, we’re
seeing portable systems. I use the Elinchrom
Quadra set that comes with two flash heads,
reflectors, connecting cables, power generator
unit, battery and a wireless trigger that fits on to
the camera’s hotshoe. Just one word of warning:
not all units may be as weatherproof as the
average speedlight, and flash capacitors store
very high voltages of electricity when charged.

Right (top) For this simple rim-lit image of

a badger, I positioned the main flash with a
telephoto snoot attachment behind and to one
side and used the focus-assist facility on a
hotshoe-mounted speedlight set to its weakest
output – enough to trigger the main flash but not
enough to affect the exposure. Nikon F4S with
Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S lens, Fujichrome
Provia 100, 1/125sec at f/11, Nikon SB-800,
Metz 60 CT-1, handheld

Right (below) This song thrush was one of 13

species of birds we have recorded nesting in
our modest but unkempt garden. After carefully
introducing a low scaffold tower with a hide over
several days, the use of fill-flash was fundamental
in obtaining close-ups from a distance of 4.5m,
with no reaction by either parent on every visit.
Nikon D5 with Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR lens at
320mm, ISO 3200, 1/30sec at f/9, tripod, cable
release, hide, Nikon SB-800

Outdoor Photography 71

70-71 Life in the Wild 267 Folder.indd 71 25/03/2021 11:16

 NATURE GUIDE

Laurie’s seasonal highlights

Left
Blaeberry, windberry, whinberry,
whortleberry and myrtleberry are just some
of the local names for the low-growing shrub
common bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus).
One possible explanation for its many names
is the popularity of its delicious berries for
culinary purposes. Regardless, the origins of
the berries that ripen in late summer are the
beautiful red, bell-shaped flowers. At around
5mm in height, a macro lens that focuses
down to life-size is needed to photograph
them in detail.
Nikon F4S with Nikon 200mm f/4 macro lens,
Fujichrome Velvia 50, 1/15sec at f/16, tripod,
cable release, mirror lock

Opposite (top)
Although badgers (Meles meles) commonly
enter gardens, attracted to handouts and
seemingly appearing tame, they are in fact only
habituated to the people and surroundings they
have come to associate with food. Back at their
sett, it’s a very different situation, especially at
this time of year when young cubs born early in
the new year emerge above ground for the first
time. With little experience, badger cubs can
be much too confident for their own good at
this stage, but never be tempted to feed them.
Nikon D4 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 FL lens
at 130mm, ISO 1600, 1/13sec at f/2.8, beanbag

Opposite (middle)
The breeding season of dippers (Cinclus
cinclus) can begin as early as February with
football-sized, domed nests constructed above
water, beneath bridges or on rock ledges close
to waterfalls. Nest construction, egg laying and
incubation take around six weeks, with both
parents feeding chicks. From a distance, try
to identify the perches they use, usually rocks
in the river or stream, on their way to the nest
with food and stake these out using a hide or
by lying prone on the ground draped in camo
netting with your camera on a beanbag.
Nikon D3S with Nikon 500mm f/4 VR lens,
ISO 800, 1/60sec at f/5, beanbag,
cable release, hide

Opposite (below)
Slow worms (Anguis fragilis), so-called
legless lizards, are perhaps the easiest of
the six species of reptiles found in the UK to
photograph. All reptiles are cold-blooded and
rely upon heat from the sun to become active.
The only way they can regulate their body
temperature is to seek cooler conditions
under cover and out of sight. In marginal
conditions, such as early on sunny mornings
or in overcast weather, they may still be out in
the open, basking but relatively inactive – the
ideal time to crawl close with a macro lens
and a beanbag.
Nikon D7100 with Laowa 60mm f/2.8 macro
lens, ISO 500, 1/125sec at f/5.6, handheld

72 Outdoor Photography

72-73_NATURE_GUIDE_267 Folder.indd 72 29/03/2021 16:57

 More seasonal subjects
Flora

Bog Beacon Fungi

Nikon F3 with Nikon 200mm f/4 lens,
Kodachrome 64, 1/8sec at f/16, tripod, cable
release, mirror lock

Bog/swamp beacon fungi (Mitrula paludosa) –

resembling translucent white matchsticks with
orange-yellow bulbous tips, this species occurs
on very wet, boggy ground, especially where
there are decaying twigs and leaves.

Silver birch (Betula pendula) – like beech trees

(Fagus sylvatica), the short-lived flush of fresh
new leaves is highly photogenic, either as a
macro image of a single leaf, or of a stand of trees
shot using evening or early-morning backlighting.

Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) – a curious,

orchid-like flowering plant that doesn’t produce
chlorophyll but is parasitic, taking nutrients from
the roots of trees. Without green chlorophyll, the
plant is creamy-white, tinged pink in colour.

Fauna

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Nikon F4S with Nikon 200mm f/4 AF macro
lens, Fujichrome Velvia 50, 1/30sec at f/11,
tripod, cable release, mirror lock

Black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) – April is a peak

month to photograph their amazing courtship
displays, but given the many threats facing
these birds, booking a place in a managed
photography hide is the best option nowadays.

Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) – often

confused with the black-legged chiffchaffs
(Phylloscopus collybita) willow warblers have light
brown pins. They also have very different songs.

Speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) –

a species with mixed flight periods/emergences,
from April to October, and one that is expanding
its range, particularly in the north.

Outdoor Photography 73

72-73_NATURE_GUIDE_267 Folder.indd 73 25/03/2021 11:16

 A MOMENT WITH NATURE
On the front line in Sumatra
Traumatised by her mother’s death, sold as a ‘pet’ at a local market
and imprisoned in a tiny cage – this tale is the tragic reality for many
of Indonesia’s critically endangered orangutans. Craig Jones recalls one
particularly emotional encounter while shadowing a rescue unit
O
rangutans are only found on the
islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
They are solitary animals, moving
through the jungles looking for
food. They are also arboreal, which means
they rarely come down to the ground from
the safety of the trees.
Their forest homes are encircled by illegal
logging and palm oil plantations. They are
afforded the highest protection in law but due
to habitat destruction, hunting and the pet
trade many meet a horrific end to their lives.
With their habitat being eroded weekly they
are often seen moving at the edge of their
forest, close to plantations and large open
areas. In turn they become easy prey
for poachers who can make huge earnings
from the black-market pet trade.
Mothers are killed by farmers and poachers
and their babies are kidnapped and sold on
the black market to become someone’s pet
or trophy. The shock of losing their mother
can be devastating for a baby and those that
survive have a marked existence with so
many crucial skills missing, their forest world
swapped for a life chained to a post or a cage.
This situation is tolerated and considered
normal in Sumatra and Borneo, where
keeping one of these orangutans can elevate a
person’s social status. When they are rescued
the road back to the wild is hard without their
mother, making their independent survival
almost impossible. Thankfully, I’ve witnessed
many rescued orangutans during my time
in Sumatra that have been saved and had a
second chance to return to freedom.
I’ve shadowed the Human Orangutan
Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU) many
times. This team was set up by Panut
Hadisiswoyo, director of the Orangutan
Information Center (OIC), to help rescue
orangutans on Sumatra that had been cut
off from the forests by deforestation and
human conflict.
I spent two weeks shadowing the rescue
team on this trip. On the morning of the raid,
we were up early, had some breakfast and a
team talk, and we set off. All I knew was that
a young Sumatran orangutan was being held
as a pet and that we could gain access into the
courtyard at a certain time and with the help
of the local police we would rescue her.
Once we arrived, we parked up and entered
the small courtyard. To my left I saw a tiny
74 Outdoor Photography
74-75_Moment_with_nature_267-JH.indd 74
cage with a Sumatran orangutan slumped on
the floor; the smell of urine was strong. This
tiny head lifted up and made eye contact with
me. In the distance I saw the owner arrive
and talk to the police while I lay level with
the female Sumatran orangutan and spoke to
her. She was banging her body into the cage,
perhaps excited there were new people in
the yard. I’d like to think that for those brief
moments she was happy as I whispered to
her that she would soon be free.
The atmosphere changed though as the
man started talking loudly and waving his
arms. I ignored him and carried on taking
images. ‘Craig, we have to go… he wants us
to leave.’ Once back in the car, I was told the
police got scared and didn’t want to take the
orangutan or apply the ‘law’ that they have
the power to impose. The owner had told
them he was an ex-Aceh rebel and part of the
local mafia and that if the orangutan was
taken, we would all ‘disappear’.
Fear, corruption, bribes and a total lack of
willingness to apply the rules the world has
applied to these critically endangered animals
is an endemic problem in Sumatra. This is
exacerbated by Panut and his team not having
the powers of arrest; instead, they depend on
the police to help them.
The orangutan was estimated to be six
years old and the owner had told the police
he had brought her as a baby from the local
market. This tiny cage had been home
for years and it was very upsetting to see.
Thankfully, efforts to free her continued and
she was later taken to a quarantine facility in
Medan, Sumatra’s capital city.
I wanted to capture her beauty despite the
conditions she was living in and what she
had gone through in the past. This image is
dedicated to her, the traumatic events she’d
witnessed so very evident in her eyes.
This is as close to the front line as it’s
possible to get – in the yard of a mafia man’s
home seeing the results of the illegal pet trade
up close for myself. Later that day I found
somewhere quiet and cried tears of sadness
and anger; I couldn’t believe that this was
happening while the world watches.
The task of rescuing these critically
endangered orangutans falls to young,
native Indonesians with limited powers and
resources. I couldn’t help thinking it
shouldn’t be like this though.
29/03/2021 16:58
 Nikon D4 with Nikon 24-70mm lens,
ISO 1000, 1/125sec at f/8

Outdoor Photography 75

74-75_Moment_with_nature_267-JH.indd 75 29/03/2021 16:58

 NATURE ZONE
STEVE YOUNG
On the wing
Otters come to those who wait. Or at least they do when you’re sat in a well-organised wildlife hide
custom built for such occasions. Steve Young continues his wistful musings from last month’s column
The first day in the pond hide was over, but
the picture taking wasn’t, as I was about
to experience my first taste of true night
photography, with everything entirely lit by
flash. I have to admit to being a total duffer
when it comes to flash. Yes, I dabbled with it in
my long-gone days as a wedding photographer
and have even used it occasionally for bird
photography, but not with any great success.
So, my experience with a multi-flash set-up
was nil, but that was what I was faced with
here when our guide, Tom, returned but,
luckily, I had to do nothing but watch as he
fitted six flashguns on stands at strategic spots
around the pool for the otter and then on the
other side of the hide for the owls.
These flashguns were then radio-linked
to the camera via a controller fitted to the
hotshoe. Different controllers were available
for different types of camera so everything
was superbly organised. All we had to do now
was sit and wait for darkness to fall and hope
the weather wouldn’t keep the subjects away.
After a meagre dinner (we realised we’d
eaten too much during the day) and a cup of
tea, it was time to settle down as it was now
dark and very windy, but the rain had kept
away. The area was lit by very weak lamps,
just strong enough to be able to focus both
binoculars and lens on the feeding areas.
76 Outdoor Photography
76-77_ON_THE_WING_267-JH.indd 76
It’s really strange staring into darkness,
despite the lamps, and I must admit I did
struggle a little bit when looking for the otter;
every ripple or slight wave caused by the wind
had me whispering ‘There it is’ – but it wasn’t.
The grey heron came down to feed and we
did take a few shots, but to be honest I wasn’t
that bothered about the heron and was more
worried that too much flashing might make
the other subjects more wary.
At 20.30 it was my turn to move over to
the owl side and as I sat down, I looked up to
see the tawny owl sat on a post. A little bit of
panic set in as I’ve never pressed a shutter and
then waited for six flash units to fire. Would
they work and would the owl fly off when
they fired? Only one way to find out. Lovely!
A quick check on the screen and everything
looked perfect exposure-wise so we took a
few more shots and the area was lit up like
a mini-firework display. The owl wasn’t
bothered, but the wind was getting stronger
and after about five minutes it flew off
silently into the night and didn’t return.
We could now concentrate on waiting
for the otter to appear. Even though my
eyes were now accustomed to the darkness
I still imagined the odd wave or floating
twig to be something else – that was until
an otter finally appeared at 21.38 and then
there was no mistaking it.
It swam across, took a fish and then
started eating it in the water. I was so glad
of autofocus as trying to be exact with the
focusing would have been tricky in this light,
but the AF worked perfectly even in the dark
and I managed a short series of shots before
the otter swam away. It returned a couple of
times but only briefly, once walking below
the hide window a mere foot away.
After staying up late and with the weather
deteriorating it was time to try to get some
sleep. My night photography had been
a great and interesting experience and
I marvelled at how much time and effort
had gone into the building of this hide,
the patience to bait and wait to see what
happened, plus the setting up of the flash
system; a fantastic achievement by Tom.
Little did I know as we made the long
journey home that with Covid-19 just
around the corner it would be the last trip
I would make for at least a year…
Below (left) Otter
I struggled to focus on the otter in the dark,
but the AF worked perfectly, the flashes
fired and I managed a few shots.
Below (right) Tawny owl
All the flash units fired but the tawny owl
just sat on the post not the least bit bothered.
29/03/2021 16:59
 BIRD OF THE MONTH

The sighting of a chiffchaff in March always
used to be a sign that spring was here, but
these days many individuals overwinter in the
UK, occasionally even singing on mild days.
This change in habits has been gradually
happening over the last 20 years or so and
is now commonplace due to our milder
winters, which allow these previously
migrant birds to feed throughout the year.
Left Chiffchaff in March
Whether this is an overwintering bird or
a fresh migrant doesn’t really matter – seeing a
chiffchaff in March always means spring is here.
Right Chiffchaff singing
A chiffchaff singing in a budding tree in mid-
April is a classic sight and sound. The bonus
is that it’s in my garden.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY TIP

As I mentioned in the main article, me and
flash don’t really get along and I struggled to
even find any examples to go with this feature.
I finally found these grey phalarope photos,
taken a few years ago on a very dull day. The
only reason I went to photograph it was in case
it wasn’t there the following day.
A grey bird on a grey/white-water day always
leaves me uninspired, but I thought a little bit
of fill-in flash would brighten up the subject.
It took a while to get the settings correct, but
after playing about a bit and checking the
screen for the results I managed a few decent
shots, shooting at 1/16th power which was
enough to light the close-feeding phalarope.

Top (left) Grey phalarope with too much flash

As you can see from this shot, I’m not great with
flash. It was an early test shot, taken when I first
arrived, and by checking the screen I could see
what was going wrong and adjust accordingly.
Top (right) Grey phalarope adjusted
With the wonders of Photoshop, I almost
managed to save the shot. It’s not great by any
means, but a slide like this in the old days would
have been thrown away. Saying that, if this had
been the only one I’d taken I would have kept it.
Right Grey phalarope with fill-in flash
This is much better, with just the right amount
of fill-in flash to light the bird on a very dull day.

Outdoor Photography 77

76-77_ON_THE_WING_267-JH.indd 77 29/03/2021 16:59

 GEAR ZONE

Nikon Z 50
The Z 50 is Nikon’s first APS-C mirrorless and
possibly the start of a new line of hybrid cameras
aimed at tech-savvy photographers on a budget.
Fergus Kennedy takes one for a day out at the
beach to see how it performs in the real world

Guide price £849 (body only)

Contact nikon.co.uk

Below (left) In the hand, the Nikon Z 50 feels
Dynamic range compact without being too small.
was good. Even It feels particularly pocketable when
when shooting sporting the versatile 16-50mm kit
directly into the
lens. The grip is quite deep, providing a
sun, the detail in
the darker areas secure feel and all the most important
was recoverable. controls are in the right places. Indeed,
the Nikon shares much of its control
Below (right) layout with its full-frame siblings, the
The metering Z 6 and Z 7. There is a thumbwheel
worked well even at the back of the right end of the top
in challenging plate and a finger wheel under the
situations, giving shutter release. A small joystick for
pleasing results in moving the AF point and navigating
most situations.
menus is well placed for the thumb.
The rear LCD articulates 90 degrees
LIKES
Effective AF tracking
Great image quality
Compact body and great
ergonomics
DISLIKES
No in-body stabilisation
No headphone socket
Rear LCD not fully articulating
upwards and 180 degrees down,
making it possible to take selfies or
vlog. It’s not fully articulating though,
so the only situation I found that
wasn’t ideal was when I wanted to take
portrait-orientation shots from a very
low angle.
Using the Z 50 to shoot fast-
moving wing foilers and kitesurfers
at the beach was a great test for the
autofocus. Once I got the hang of the
sequence of button presses, the AF
tracking worked very well in the tricky
lighting conditions. The sequence
was to press the OK button, then
half hold the shutter
button with the AF box
over the subject, then the box
effectively tracked subjects that
moved within the frame. I would have
liked the option to touch and drag the
AF point using the touchscreen when
my eye was up to the viewfinder, but
sadly this option is not available.
Touchscreen AF point selection
works well when you are using live
view on the rear LCD. The only time
the AF struggled slightly was when
the subject moved through any glare
on the water, presumably because
contrast was lost, but even then most
of my shots were sharp. Continuous
shooting was very snappy, with up
to 11fps, giving enough speed for
all but the most demanding of
sports photographers.
Back in the office, I opened up the
Z 50 files in Lightroom and had a good
play with them. I was very happy with
the results. The 21-megapixel sensor
rendered detailed images with great
dynamic range. I shot a few test images

78 Outdoor Photography

78-79_CAMERA_TEST_267-JH.indd 78 29/03/2021 17:04


TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
Sensor 21MP APS-C
Resolution 5,568 x 3,712 pixels
Lens Z-mount
Shutter speed
1/4,000sec-30sec plus bulb
ISO 100-51,200 (expandable to 204,800)
Viewfinder Optical 100% coverage,
1.02x magnification
LCD 3.2in tilting LCD, 1,040k dots,
static touch control
Flash Pop-up and hotshoe
Movie mode 4K (Full HD) up to 30fps,
1,080HD up to 120fps
Card formats SD/SDHC/SDXC (single slot)
Power EN-EL25 Li-ion battery pack
Size 127x94x60mm
Weight 450g (battery/no lens)
78-79_CAMERA_TEST_267-JH.indd 79
CAMERA TEST
Top (left)
The Z50
straight into the sun, then pushed the stablemates, the Z 5 and Z 6. There
exposure of the shadows to bring the is a fairly small but growing range of
proved a detail back. This worked very nicely, Z-mount lenses and you can also buy
very capable
particularly with Raw images. an FTZ adapter, allowing you to make
camera for
action sports. Video shooters will be pleased with use of Nikon’s F-mount DSLR lenses.
the 4K resolution at up to 30fps and
Above (left) full HD at up to 120fps.
Autofocus There is an HDMI out port for an FINAL WORD
tracking was external monitor and a mic socket, but The Z 50 has a lot going for it and
effective, even is certainly worth adding to your
no headphone socket. Talking of ports,
coping with
the USB-C port allows for charging shortlist if you’re considering
tricky backlit
from a USB power pack or a standard an APS-C mirrorless camera. It
situations.
USB wall charger. This is definitely represents good value for money,
particularly if you want to buy it as a
Above (right) a useful feature for photographers
kit with a couple of lenses. It’s easy
The dual lens on the go, particularly as the Z 50’s
kit opens a to use, has great image quality and
battery is relatively small, so it has is very compact. Combined with
wide range of
a fairly average battery life. the FTZ adapter, it makes sense
compositional
possibilities. It’s worth having a quick discussion for Nikon users who already have
of the format and lens mount system. a selection of F-mount glass.
The APS-C format is particularly
good for photographers who want
to use longer lenses without
RATINGS
Handling  92%
the bulk involved in full-
Performance  88%
frame equivalents. It’s also
Specification  88%
a good option for macro Value  92%
photographers. The Z 50
sports the new Z-mount, Overall  90%
also found on its full-frame
Outdoor Photography 79
29/03/2021 17:04
 Outwell sleeping bags
Danish outdoor specialist Outwell has introduced three new
collections of mummy-style sleeping bags to its extensive range.
Named after trees, the collections are Pine (budget), Fir (mid-range)
and Oak (premium), with the latter featuring two models – the Lux
(£165) and Supreme (£190) – that both cater for the more demanding
camper. Insulated with Outwell’s new Isoball fill under the sleeper
and Isoball Down mix on top, the Oak models
Benro SupaDupa also include offset dual zips for flexible heat
monopods retention, upper flap panels for extra
warmth and an hourglass shape for
Designed with travel and wildlife greater comfort. Other features
photographers in mind, these carbon include an extra-deep hood
fibre camera supports feature Benro’s with pillow sleeve and
twist-lock system and familiar foot compression sack for
designs, as well as a number of unique reducing the bulk
touches. The flagship SupaDupa PRO when not in use.
MSDPL46C features a fully waterproof outwell.com
shell, a levelling base that allows 20º of
tilt movement, built-in pan scale, levelling
ball and bubble level, and Arca-Swiss
compatible quick release plate. It also
boasts a fully extended height of 157cm
and collapsed height of 48cm.
Guide price £110
benroeu.com

GEARING UP Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | C

Sigma has added a new standard zoom to its range of Contemporary
lenses for mirrorless cameras. The 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | C features
an optical design based on the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | A, but with
fewer elements and a more compact profile. Key features include
Super Multi-Layer and Nano Porous Coatings for reduced flare,
a water and oil-repellent coating on the front element, nine-blade
rounded diaphragm and a minimum focusing distance of just 19cm at
its widest focal length and 38cm at its longest. Available for L-Mount
(Leica, Panasonic and Sigma) and Sony E-mount cameras.
Guide price £760
sigma-imaging-uk.com

Keen Bellows Flex

Keen has created what they describe as the most efficient hiking
boot ever, courtesy of its new Bellows Flex technology. By adding an
accordion-like insert into the forefoot, Keen claims hikers on average
require 60% less energy to bend and can therefore move with less
effort. This new technology has been deployed in the Ridge Flex WP and
Tempo Flex WP, two premium boots designed for serious adventurers.
The Ridge Flex WP (£150 mid, £140 low) is built from leather sourced
from LWG-certified tanneries, with an upper treated with PFC-free
water repellant and an inner featuring a pesticide-free Eco Anti-Odor
treatment that combats sweat and eliminates biocides. The Tempo Flex
WP (£130 mid, £120 low) is a ‘light hiker’ with a rip-stop mesh upper,
waterproof and breathable membrane and rugged all-terrain outsole.
keenfootwear.com

80 Outdoor Photography

80-81 Gearing Up 267-JH.indd 80 29/03/2021 17:04


Panasonic Lumix S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Macro
Panasonic’s latest S Series telephoto is aimed at wildlife and action
photographers. It features a Dual IS system (OIS and IBIS), half life-size
macro capabilities and a 54cm minimum focusing distance. The lens
comprises 17 elements in 11 groups, with one Ultra Extra-low Dispersion
lens, two Extra-low Dispersion lenses and one Ultra-high Refractive
Index lens to suppress distortion throughout the zoom range.
Guide price £1,260 panasonic.com
Rab Microlight Alpine Jacket
The Rab Microlight is an Alpine jacket that has been given an
eco-facelift which Rab claims makes it one of the most sustainable
down jackets on the market. With outer and inner fabrics made from
recycled Pertex Quantum – similar to Gore-Tex but lighter – and a
down fill made from old quilts, pillows and bedding and treated with a
water-based Nikwax, the Microlight will keep you warm and dry while
nailing your environmental credentials to the wall.
Guide price £195 trekitt.co.uk
80-81 Gearing Up 267-JH.indd 81
GET
10%
OFF
f-stop Mountain Series
The full range of f-stop modular camera bags is now available in the UK
via new distributor Phototools. Of particular interest to OP readers will
be the rugged Mountain Series, a system of pro-spec packs designed
for the most demanding of outdoor photographers. Available in five
sizes, from 32l to 80l, design features include weather-resistant ripstop
nylon, weather-sealed zips, internal aluminium frame, enhanced
support system and adjustable internal camera unit. Mountain Series
packs are available in three colours – black, green and orange – and
come with a 20-year manufacturer’s warranty. Order from Phototools
by 31 May 2021 using code OP10 and get 10% off.
Guide price From £235 photo-tools.co.uk
Robens SIMs
Fed up with uneven ground spoiling a good night’s sleep while wild
camping? Tent guru Robens has added new foam core profiles to
its range of self-inflating mats (SIMs) that promise advanced sleep
comfort. While the offset profile, which ensures an even thickness of
insulation across the whole mat, has been used in Robens’ Iceshield 55
(£73) and 75 (£85) SIMs, the grid profile, which utilises the company’s
Peak Valve system for rapid inflation, has been used in the Sunstone
80 and 120 SIMs, available in both single (£150 and £180) and double
(£210 and £260) sizes. The Sunstone SIMs also feature a new bonding
technique that prevents the walls from deforming under pressure.
robens.co.uk
Outdoor Photography 81
25/03/2021 11:18
 Subscribe
and save up to 30%
Blake Cheek/Unsplash.com

outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk/subscribe
 NEXT ISSUE
Outdoor Photography 268
On sale 20 May
EDITORIAL
Editorial Mark Bentley, Scott Teagle,
Claire Blow
How to shoot epic landscapes
markbe@thegmcgroup.com
Designer Toby Haigh
The joys of photographing spring
ADVERTISING Tristan Gooley on the secret world of weather
Guy Bullock
gmcadvertising@thegmcgroup.com
01273 402855
MARKETING
Marketing executive
Anne Guillot
anneg@thegmcgroup.com, 01273 402871
PRODUCTION
Production manager Jim Bulley
Production controller Scott Teagle
Origination and Ad design
GMC Repro. repro@thegmcgroup.com,
01273 402807
Publisher Jonathan Grogan
Printer Precision Colour Printing, Telford,
01952 585585
Distribution Seymour Distribution Ltd
Outdoor Photography (ISSN 1470-5400)
is published 13 times a year by GMC Publications Ltd.
86 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XN.
Tel 01273 477374
© Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd. 2021

SUBSCRIBE
FROM £26.95
(including free P&P)

Save 10% with 6 issues

Save 15% with 12 issues
Save 20% with 24 issues
Plus UK subscribers
can save an extra 10%
by choosing Direct Debit
For further details:
Email
pubs@thegmcgroup.com
Visit
gmcsubscriptions.com

Buy OP as an app
Get Outdoor Photography
magazine for your iPhone,
iPad or Android device!

Visit the Apple App

store, find it on Google
Play Store or go to
pocketmags.com

GET IN TOUCH
Email markbe@thegmcgroup.com
Write to us Outdoor Photography,
86 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex
BN7 1XN
Keep right up to date with news
by ‘liking’ OP at facebook.com/
outdoorphotographymag
Follow us on Twitter at
twitter.com/opoty
© Lee Frost

Find us on Instagram at
instagram.com/
outdoorphotographymag

Outdoor Photography 83

83 Next month_267.indd 83 01/04/2021 08:56

 SUBSCRIBE TO

& SAVE 30%!

SHOOT WILDFLOWERS + PHOTOGRAPH BATS + IN SEARCH OF A BLACK LEOPARD

landscape | wildlife | nature | adventure

Spec
ial
US
subsc A
riptio
n
offer

Receive 6 issues for only $36.40

Visit lightningpublications.com/outdoor-photography
Use code USOP at checkout
Offer available to NEW subscribers only. Expires on 7/31/21
085_OPHO_267.indd 85 31/03/2021 11:41
 ONE THING THIS MONTH
If you only do one thing this month…

Local Landscapes
In OP 264 we asked you to send us your best images taken on your doorstep as we wanted you to observe the
beauty in your local environment. Congratulations to Andrew Hocking who sent in this misty quayside scene,
and our superb runners-up. For the next challenge, turn to page 95

Above WINNER
Andrew Hocking
I was furloughed for seven weeks during the
first lockdown. Almost every day, I took a
sunrise walk from my house to local woods, or
to here: Penryn Quay, 10 minutes from home.
On this visit, the little light to filter through
the mist bathed the scene in warm, sepia-like
tones. I framed the dominant features (sun
and nearest boat) on the left, leaving the other
boats and river bank to fade away.
Canon EOS 6D MkII with 24-105mm lens,
ISO 100, 1/25sec at f/16
hocking-photography.co.uk
Opposite (top) Paul Roberson
Captured in nearby Yattendon, Berkshire,
where a few poppy fields were in full bloom.
I wandered away from the crowds of visitors
to this spot where the view was framed
by trees and fence. From the gate in the
foreground, a path leads through a poppy
field to a farm on the horizon.
Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm lens,
ISO 64, 1/30sec at f/13
Opposite (below) Robin Couchman
This was taken in Piper’s Hill, Worcestershire.
Some people walked into shot while there
was a lovely mist around.
Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 24-105mm lens,
ISO 640, 1/400sec at f/5.6

86 Outdoor Photography

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 86 30/03/2021 09:51

 Outdoor Photography 87

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 87 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Left (top) Jayne Winter

Using a low angle to ensure the British Camp
fort was visible in the background and waiting
for the sun to kiss the top of the hill, I was
trying to get a slightly different angle on the
usual bluebell picture.
Nikon D800 with 28-300mm lens,
ISO 400, 1/60sec at f/22
jaynewinterphotography.co.uk

Left (below) Justin Garner

Making the most of foggy conditions in
New Mills, I decided to visit a local wood.
The first tree gave me the foreground interest
to capture this foggy scene.
Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 16-35mm lens,
ISO 500, 1/3sec at f/10
jags-photography.co.uk

Opposite (top) David Eberlin

Gunthorpe Bridge is a few hundred yards
from home and on a calm morning in early
autumn or spring the mist from the weir
envelopes the moorings and Toll House
(now a restaurant), giving an ethereal feel.
On this particular day, it was also thick
enough to lower the contrast of the sun,
which bathed the photo in a lovely warmth.
Canon EOS R5 with 24-240mm lens,
ISO 400, 1/1600sec at f/6.3
davideberlin.uk

Left (middle) Pieter Dompeling

Wetlands of the renaturalised Nuthe-Nieplitz
area just outside Berlin.
Fujifilm X-T3 with 16-80mm lens,
ISO 160, 1/350sec at f/11
pieterdompeling.com/photography

88 Outdoor Photography

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 88 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Outdoor Photography 89

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 89 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Left (top) Tony Bateman

I live on a 1950s estate but our house backs on
to some old, mixed, deciduous woods which,
in October 2020, exploded into a display of
autumnal goodness the likes of which I’ve
seldom seen.
On the day this scene was shot, it had
rained heavily in the morning and, as soon
as it eased off, I dived out to make the images
I’ve always wanted to in this lovely small
patch of woodland.
Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 24-70mm lens,
ISO 100, 1/3sec at f/5.6
flickr.com/photos/113960907@N06/

Left (middle) David Queenan

This spot is only a 10-minute walk from my
front door and was taken on my morning dog
walk along the shore path at Bo’ness. As I was
leaving the house the sky was already ablaze
with sunrise colours so I grabbed my Fuji X-T3
and 18-135mm lens as it’s a good lightweight
set-up for slinging over your shoulder when
just going for a walk. By the time I reached
this viewpoint, where I can see the Forth
Bridges, the sun had just risen and was
casting a golden glow over the calm river.
Fujifilm X-T3 with 18-135mm lens,
ISO 800, 1/420sec at f/5.6
dqphotography.com

Left (bottom) Ulrike Eisenmann

A foggy autumn morning at Lake Starnberg,
Bavaria, Germany, with sailing boats still on
the water. This place is only a 10-minute walk
from my home, thus I visit it quite often, no
single morning being identical to another.
Nikon Z 7 with 24-70mm lens,
ISO 320, 4secs at f/16
lakeartphotography.com

Opposite (top) Tom Gilland

This neolithic burial site is situated on top
of a hill near the town of Bathgate and offers
superb views over the central lowlands
of Scotland. You can see from the west to
east coasts and this site was in use for over
4,000 years. Objects from as far as Cumbria
and Wales have been found buried here.
Canon EOS RP with 24mm lens, ISO 100,
1/50sec at f/13, 10 images stitched together

Opposite (below) Jo Farmer

I live about a half-hour walk away from
Weston-super-Mare seafront. The sea here in
the Severn Estuary is not the best of colours
and there is plenty of mud when the tide is
out. I found a nice composition among the
rocks, waited for the tide to be in and made
it a black & white.
Nikon D5 with 24-70mm lens, ISO 200, 6sec at f/11

90 Outdoor Photography

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 90 31/03/2021 16:54

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 91 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Left (top) Robin Dodd

Early start in the dark as the mist drifts on the
river in the pre-dawn light. In a short while
the rowers will be elegantly gliding past...
Canon EOS R with 24-105mm lens,
ISO 200, 2.5secs at f/5.6
fastfoxphotography.com

Left (below) Peter Richter

Vienna Woods in Lower Austria, west of Vienna,
after a night with fresh snowfall. The gentle
curves of the landscape caught my attention.
Panasonic GH3 with 12-60mm lens, ISO 125, 1/60sec
at f/9, panoramic image of six stitched images
peterrichter-photography.net

Opposite (top) Steve McDonald

Shot as the light was fading at Leonardslee
Lakes and Gardens. I was delighted to
see how the shaft of light caught the tree
covering this path. It summed up lockdown
to me by showing us some outside space in
nature and stunning colour.
Canon EOS 5DS R with 24-105mm lens,
ISO 100, 1.6sec at f/11
stevemcdonaldphotography.co.uk

Opposite (below) Helen Storer

A bitterly cold morning on the Norfolk coast
would normally mean a trip inland to the
Broads National Park. But, thanks to Covid
restrictions, I was limited to local walks along
the beach at Mundesley with dog and camera
in hand. Funnily enough, no one else was to
be seen that morning.
Olympus E-M1 MkII with 12-40mm lens,
ISO 200, 1/4sec at f/6.3

92 Outdoor Photography

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 92 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Outdoor Photography 93

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 93 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH

Above Christine Todd

A cold winter walk up to the top of Pendle
Hill from Barley (near Clitheroe). The sun was
rising behind us and we turned to enjoy the
sunrise and capture the scene.
Nikon D750 with 24-120mm lens,
ISO 640, 1/200sec at f/8

Left Phil Lewis

One of my lockdown discoveries, this is a
little patch in Dinas Powys Woods where
the light is always gorgeous. This particular
morning I decided on a small aperture
to give a little sunstar, and then I chose a
square crop, a conversion to black & white
(using Silver Efex Pro in the Nik collection)
and a vignette to emphasise the way the
light cascaded through the gaps in the trees.
Sony A7 III with 45mm lens,
ISO 100, 4secs at f/14

94 Outdoor Photography

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 94 30/03/2021 09:51

 ONE THING THIS MONTH
Left (above) Stephen Murphy
Usually at weekends I am hiking
mountains or coastlines, but the latest
lockdown has restricted me to looking for
compositions in local fields and woodland.
In this particular image, the farm track
leads nicely into a scene with frost-covered
grass and beautifully diffused morning
light. Shot in County Limerick, Ireland.
Sony A5100 with 16-50mm, ISO 100, 1/200sec
at f/8, two exposures blended in Photoshop

Left (below) Gordon Clark

Taken while out for walk at River Carron,
Scotland, on a cold, frosty morning. The
frost and fog just drew me towards the
scene and wee touches of colour just added
to the scene.
Olympus E-M1 MkII with 12-40mm lens,
ISO 400, 1/320sec at f/6.3

Your next challenge

ENTER ONLINE NOW!
Vibrant Spring
This month we are asking you to
send in your favourite shots of
spring. We want to fill our pages
with an explosion of seasonal
colour! The winner and runners-
up will be published in issue 270.
To submit your images, go to
outdoorphotographymagazine.
co.uk/submissions. Closing date
for entries is midnight 16 May 2021.
See page 68 for more details
and terms and conditions.

The winner of our Vibrant

Spring competition will win
a superb Robens Icefall Pro
3000 sleeping bag
worth £135
This high-performance sleeping
bag utilises Robens’ new
insulation fills – Thermo Hybrid
and MicroThermo Ball – which
offer the same level of warmth and
compression as down, but with the
added advantage of maintained
performance in damp conditions.
To complement this, a brushed
lining material provides a high
moisture transfer. Other features
include a 3D hood and body
profile, shark fin foot box and
double-sided zip baffle.
robens.de

Outdoor Photography 95

86-95 One thing this month 267 bh.indd 95 31/03/2021 17:11

 COMPETITION
Where in the world?
If you can identify where this deserted and dilapidated township lingers you could win
a pair of Cooph Photo Glove Originals, worth £108!
ENTER ONLINE NOW!
Where is it?
This once bustling settlement in the US
was abandoned and became a ghost town.
But is it...
a) Bodie, California
b) St Elmo, Colorado
c) Cody, Wyoming
The answer and the winner’s name will
be revealed in OP 270.
You can enter the competition online at
outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk,
using Ghost267 as the code, or send your
answer to opcomp@thegmcgroup.com,
stating Ghost267 as the subject. Alternatively,
drop it in the post to: Where in the World –
Ghost267, Outdoor Photography, 86 High
Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XN.
The deadline for entry is 5 June 2021.
96 Outdoor Photography
96 Where in the world_266.indd 96
THIS MONTH’S GREAT PRIZE OP 264 WINNER
In issue 264 we asked you to identify
COOPH PHOTO GLOVE ORIGINAL
the rock formation in the image below.
Worth COOPH photographers’ gloves
are designed for precision The correct answer is:
£108 handling in cold weather. These a) Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
one-of-a-kind gloves are not only
Shutterstock.com
stylish, but truly the only ones on the market
designed specifically with photographers in mind.
Cooph gloves have a super-soft goat leather and
unique liner cuts give your thumbs and
trigger-fingers the freedom to
control buttons, dials and touch-
screens – even in frosty
conditions. Use of camera
touchscreens is still possible
due to the luxuriously soft
leather. The gloves also
feature a repeated silicone
imprint across the palm and
fingers for better grip of controls.
For more details see Congratulations to our winner!
store.cooph.com Marc Loftus from Hampshire
31/03/2021 14:03