I am proud to let you know that I am now part of the team at Wild Nature Fotoresor. (www.wildnaturefotoresor.se) Wild Nature fotoresor is a Swedish travel company specialising in nature photography tours and I will be guiding tours with them in the near future. Why not visit the website and read about all the exciting travels?
Proud to say that this photo of a Red Grouse in Scotland will be displayed at Festival de l’Oiseau et de la Nature in Le Crotoy, France in April this year. Visitors to the festival will be able to vote for this and other images for the Public Choice award. I doubt this kind of image will have a chance in such an award but you never know 🙂
I am excited to let you know that I recently partnered up with BLOC Eyewear. I have used their sunglasses for a few years now and I love them. I bought my first pair on an airport somewhere. I had left my sunglasses at home by mistake and I needed a new pair for my trip. I found a pair I liked and that was very comfortable. When I am out in the field I ALWAYS use sunglasses and since I sometimes use them for rather extended hours it is important that they are comfortable. The California model that I had purchased (I now have 3 pairs) ticked all the boxes.
The BLOC-representative over in the UK sent me some new models which I will take with me on my next adventure to Finland in September. I will give them a good beating and see if they measure up.
I am also working together with BLOC to see if we can give you guys some good offers, freebies or similar so check this website or my Facebook page regularly for updates.
Be safe!
It’s a pretty special post for me today! I’m proud and excited to announce that my image of a puffin with a flower in its bill has won the Wildlife Portrait Category in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2014. If that wasn’t enough the image was also choosen as the overall winner of the whole competition. A great day for me!
Last Sunday I set out to try to see and hopefully photograph the highly endangered Maltese Freshwater Crab (Scientific: Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi; Maltese: Il-Qabru, Granċ tal-Ilma Ħelu) here in Malta. It is en endemic species to the island and only exists in a handful of places on the island of Malta and in one place on the sister island of Gozo. To be honest I didnt’t have much faith I would find one, and even less get a decent shot of the animal. How wrong I was… A friend of mine had kindly sent me some detailed directions to one of the spots where one can find these crabs.
WOW! after 2-3 minutes I had spotted the first Maltese Freshwater Crab. I was rather surprised on how large it was. The first crab I saw was in its burrow and rather hard to photograph. It seemed comfortable and safe in its burrow. I snapped a few shots.
This year I have decided to try to work more locally here in Malta. Presently we have the bird migration going on here in Malta. Birds migrating from Europe to Africa to spend the winter in a more pleasant climate (I don’t blame them…) A local bird watcher and photographer suggested I go to Buskett which is a semi-wild woodland in Malta. I had to squeeze in my visit between other family-related activities (as always… 🙂 and I knew I was going at a bad time of the day but I wanted to check it out to see if it was any good for photography so I gave it a shot. The spot was a beautiful elevated spot with excellent views. Not many birds unfortunately but that is probably more due to the time of day I visited than the actual location. I saw some Honey buzzards, a few bee-eaters and some other “less exotic” species. Unfortunately they were all too far away for any decent photography but at least I got a feel for the location and I will definitely go there again. I did get some decent shots though… Of a dragonfly 🙂 This very often happens here in Malta I have noticed. I go out for chameleons and come home with praying mantis, I go out for birds I get dragonflies etc etc.
As long as I come home with something useful I am happy!
I went out in the scorching heat to search for mating Chameleons in Il-Majjistral National Park here in Malta. But to no avail 🙁 No mating chameleons or any chameleons at all for that matter. But that is how wildlife photography is sometimes. It is just to soak it up and try again. I did find an interesting Mantis though which seemed to be comfortable in my presence and were willing to pose. I got some decent shots and I have also got indications that this is a very rare species in Malta. I’ll keep you posted…
Just saw a photo on Facebook of two Chameleons mating. The image was taken here in Malta not far from where I live. The photo itself wasn’t anything special but knowing that the mating season is on I need to get out. The chance is rather slim to find something of the sort but the chance is always slimmer if you stay inside 🙂
Tomorrow is Chameleon-day!
If you are interested in any of my chameleon workshops please don’t hesitate to contact me
Malta might not be well known for its wildlife except from the extensive migration of birds over the islands every year. We do have other subjects to photograph here such as the Mediterranean Chameleon. At this time of the year the island is teeming of little baby chameleons. Although very hard to find due to their camouflage and size they are there. Last week I was out looking for these small cuties and managed to find one. I tried photographing it but it looked quite stressed and changed to a dark colour so I left it alone. Chameleons change to a darker hue when feeling stressed or threatened.
Yesterday I tried going to the same spot again and managed to find what I believe to be the same individual. This time he felt more relaxed with me around and remained green. It was late in the day and the sun was high in the sky so not optimal for photography but I spent an hour or so with him. I got some decent shots for my project and most importantly a great hour of his company.
Photo By: Wim van den Heever
Just a few days left now until the first photographic adventure of the year. An 11-day visit to Cairngorms National Park. The first 7 days as part of an organised tour called Winter Wildlife with organiser Northshots. 7 days of birds, deers, maybe ptarmigan and hares. After these initial days I will spend 4 days in Peter Cairns’ squirrel hides. 4 days to maximise the chance of getting really good shots in various settings. I hope for loads of snow and freezing weather.
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