Wild Dorset: The Year in Photographs by Colin Varndell

In the January 7 issue of Amateur Photographer, I read an inspirational article about planning ahead for a year of nature photography. It gave a concise breakdown of the opportunities in each month, with a handy timeline that I cut out and stuck on my notice board (I wish I'd paid more attention to it January to May, but that's another story.)

So when I found out that he had written a book in a similar vein, I was really keen on reading it. It differs from his articule in AP in that it is specifically about the Dorset countryside and wildlife, and doesn't focus primarily on photography. It has almost 200 photographs, superb landscapes and wildlife shots showing almost anything you can think of. (I love the pictures of bank voles and weasels, and the kingfisher shot is excellent - but there isn't a duff photo in the whole book.)

With 140,000 images in his stock library, Colin Varndell must have photographed just about everything relating to nature and wildlife in the British Isles. It certainly seems like it - his book is simply packed with information, and is a vital resource for anybody interested in nature not only in Dorset, but in the UK in general. The idea of a chronological tour through the year works really well and makes it easy to dip into to see what is going on at any particular time.

Colin Varndell's book is well worth reading, it is an inspirational resource for wildlife photographers and his photographic output is staggeringly good. I hope that sometime he follows it up with a book specifically relating to wildlife photography, as his technique is clearly faultless and the AP article contained a mine of useful information.

Article on Colin Varndell in DorsetLife Magazine

Wild Dorset: The Year in Photographs at Amazon.co.uk

I can't find his website, but Google Images shows a lot of his pictures

Great Stuff from the Philippines

Excellent bird images from Romy Ocon in the Philippines (link below.) He has a large collection of equipment which he uses expertly, and as well as a huge collection of excellent bird images, his site has a lot of useful technical information including a number of lens and body tests.

The picture shown is a Spotted Wood-kingfisher, endemic to the Philippines.

Romy's pbase site is here.

Tooth and Claw

I can thoroughly recommend a subscription to the Tooth & Claw newsletter published by Peter Cairns, Mark Hamblin and Ian Rowlands. It's a companion to their website, which concerns itself with wild UK predators. Their statement:

"We strongly believe that polarized views held about Britain’s wild predators - both present and future - can be reconciled through a shared willingness to celebrate our natural heritage and through partnership and open discussion. This challenge can be met with a greater understanding of predators’ ecology and a stronger empathy with the many communities whose lives are affected by their presence."

The April edition contains information on sea eagles, nordic predators, wilderness reserves in Scotland, the re-introduction of lynx to Scotland and the control of sparrowhawks, amongst other things. Well worth a read!

• The Tooth & Claw website

Andy Rouse Newsletter

There's a new newsletter from Andy Rouse at the WarehouseExpress website. It details his mammoth trip around the bottom of the world: Antarctica, The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Ascension Island. It's well worth a read.

The newsletter.

Picture shows Andy's highly commended image from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2005 competition.

Little Owl

Little Owl
Originally uploaded by vlad259.

We spotted this little owl at about 4pm whilst driving down the lanes to Shardeloe's Farm, near Amersham. It flew across in front of us and then obligingly hung around whilst we reversed back and snapped it. If I hadn't left my cameras on the back seat ready to go, I wouldn't have got it. (I know I'm going to regret this at the next emergency stop...)