Autumnwatch Blog

I was approached by the BBC Autumnwatch Team this week who wanted to use one of my photos for their own blog.

The photo is of a red grouse peering over a snow covered ridge. I had to walk through snow which reached my thighs to get into position for the shot during the recent cold snap.

Red grouse © Shared Earth Photography

You can view the Autumnwatch blog here.

Pownall Green Christmas Fair

On Saturday 4th December Shared Earth Photography attended the Pownall Green Christmas Fair.

Thank you very much for all the support and to everyone who visited my stall. The whole fair was a great success and had a really fun and friendly atmosphere. I have a much wider range of photographs on the website so please feel free to place an order for any of these if you couldn't find what you were looking for at the stall.

© Shared Earth Photography

The photograph of a mouse proved very popular with both children and adults alike. It is a very cheeky mouse and in the spring he found and ate my nephew's easter egg before the egg hunt had begun!

Wood mouse © Shared Earth Photography

Competition news

I recently entered a national wildlife competition and I'm pleased to announce that three of my images were selected as finalists. The three images were all entered into the mammals category and the subjects were red and fallow deer. In total there were eight images chosen as finalists in this category so I'm really pleased that three of those were my photographs.

All of the finalists can be viewed here:

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/photo/wildlife-photography010.html

Red deer silhouetted at dusk © Shared Earth Photography

 

Red deer roaring at dawn © Shared Earth Photography

Fallow deer peering around tree

© Shared Earth Photography

The season of colour

I can't remember the last time we had such a colourful autumn and now the trees are sadly looking more bare as each day passes. As I write this a light rain is whipped against my window by a bitingly cold November wind. The sky is a uniform and featureless slate grey but this doesn't always mean that the camera must be left in its bag until the sun once again shines.

An overcast day can actually bring out the colours of autumn woodland to their vibrant best and reduces glare on water. With this in mind I set off to Padley Gorge on a day similar to today. It is a beautiful spot and after the recent heavy rain the river was gushing over the mossy boulders. The gorge is also covered in ancient woodland including beech, oak, and sycamore, which offer a rich palette of autumn colours. I spent a very enjoyable morning with my camera and found it hard to walk more than a few paces without a photographic opportunity presenting itself.

Millstone at Padley Gorge © Shared Earth Photography

Burbage Brook, Padley Gorge 

© Shared Earth Photography

Burbage Brook, Padley Gorge

© Shared Earth Photography

The rut

Throughout October I made frequent visits to my local deer park to capture the red deer rut.

The red deer is Britain's largest land mammal and the rut takes place during early autumn, usually peaking sometime in October. During this time the mature stags 'roar' to attract females which form groups (known as harems) around the dominant stags. The stags will compete fiercely for control of the harems while they wait for the hinds to come into season. Rival stags will perform parallel walking to size each other up and a fight will often break out if the stags are evenly matched. The stags will not eat for the entire rut which can last for many weeks.

Here are a selection of my favourite photos taken during this years rut:

 Red deer stag roaring © Shared Earth Photography

 Juvenile red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

Red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

Red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

Dawn shoot

I recently awoke to a cold and clear frosty morning so I quickly gathered my camera equipment together and headed for my local lake.

I arrived in the predawn gloom to find a layer of mist swirling mysteriously above the surface of the lake. I settled down on the bank opposite a grey heron which was standing statue still as it hunted for breakfast. The sun had nearly cleared the trees and had woken the noisy black headed gulls who mobbed the unfortunate heron who was forced to move on.

 Black headed gulls © Shared Earth Photography

After several minutes of waiting quietly on the bank the sun cleared the trees and the lake came to life. The mist was bathed in golden light, swirling upwards in intricate patterns. A flock of geese swam into view followed by a great crested grebe which hunted stealthily for its prey.

 Great crested grebe © Shared Earth Photography

 Black headed gulls © Shared Earth Photography 

In the few minutes of golden light even the most common of birds were transformed into images of rare beauty. As the sun rose into the sky and the mist dispersed I returned home feeling tired but happy that I'd witnessed something special.

Mallards © Shared Earth Photography

New website launched

During the past month I've been working hard at redesigning the Shared Earth Photography website and I'm happy to announce that the updated version is now online.

Red deer stag © Shared Earth Photography

 

The new website now offers -

• Over 500 images for sale
• Prints, canvas prints, mousemats, coasters and placemats, mugs, bookmarks, and jigsaws
• A range of images available for purchase as framed prints
• A fully integrated shopping cart facility with products shipped quickly and efficiently directly to your door
• A full catalogue of images from events and commercial work which has been undertaken by Shared Earth Photography

The website address remains unchanged so please feel free to visit us at www.sharedearthphotos.co.uk.

New blog

Welcome to the Shared Earth Photography blog. This is the first in a whole range of exciting updates as the main site undergoes a major redesign.

The blog is where you can catch up on all the latest news and events. May we take this opportunity to give all new followers a very warm welcome.

Mike