My Number One Tip for Wildlife Photography

Excuse the slightly clickbait-y title, but this is a pretty excellent tip for anyone wanting to get more into wildlife photography:

Get a ghillie suit.

Seriously, if you haven’t already, you should. They’re amazing. You can pick up something like the above for around £25.00. It fits in your bag, it’s easy to put on over the top of your usual clothing, and it greatly reduces your chances of being spotted by wildlife, in turn greatly increasing your chances of seeing wildlife up close.

Case in point; this wild hare. I was walking up through a spot of woodland, when much to my surprise as I reached the corner of my path, I could see what I initially thought was a muntjac deer, given the sheer size of the thing. Soon I realised it was a huge hare.

Luckily I was wearing the jacket part of my ghillie suit, so quickly crouched down, pulled the hood up and started snapping away.

Then, in a moment of great excitement/panic, it became clear the hare was heading straight in my direction, so I quickly optimised my settings for the shot (expecting some pretty swift movements), and tracked it all the way.

Sure enough, it came casually sauntering up the path towards me, completely oblivious to my presence (- stillness really is your friend in these situations). It was only when it was within around 12 feet that the hare realised I was there. Had I been in the full gear and hidden within the bushes - instead of on the open path - I dare say it wouldn’t have realised, even then. At this point it darted off out of the woods immediately, probably trying to work out what on earth it had just seen.

This ranks as one of my favourite wildlife experiences. It might sound corny, but it always feels like a real honour and privilege to be in the presence of truly wild animals like this.

I’ve had several experiences a bit like this over the years, largely thanks to the camouflage afforded by the ghillie suit, so again, I can’t recommend them enough to anyone wanting to get closer (quite literally) to nature.

The above were shot with the Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 at 1/1250, f4.5, ISO-25600. As such, I put them through DxO Pure Raw 4 for some subtle noise reduction (people really overdo it on these programs I find) before editing in Capture One.

Deer, oh Deer

I managed to conjure up a small amount of energy this last week and ventured out to a tried and tested area I know near me where I always seem to spot some good wildlife.

This particular evening didn’t disappoint as I managed to sneak up on a family of wild roe deer, a lone hare, and a buzzard.

I’ll save the latter two encounters for future posts, but here are some of the wild roe deer I crept up to and hid behind a bush from.

All images were taken with the Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 lens, whilst wearing a camouflage ghillie. In post, for the first five images I’ve exaggerated the pinkish tone that was already naturally present in the scene.

Grebes, House Martins and Horses

A random assembly of photos taken over the last month or two, on the rare occasions I have enough energy to get out and about. All taken with the Nikon Z 400mm f4.5.

My mission to capture the grebes doing their mating dance appears to have failed for this year as I’m pretty sure they have now packed up their dancing shoes for the season.

I did however get some nice shots of house martins in flight at Charlecote Park. My intention was to just see the deer, but when I saw these birds zipping back and forth over the lake it was too good an opportunity not to practice some bird in flight photography.

Enjoying Photography With a Chronic Illness or Hidden Disability

A slightly more serious post than what I would normally publish here, today. I want to write a little bit about trying to make the most out of my photography hobby, in the face of chronic illness, hidden disability and exhaustion. It’s something that’s increasingly on my mind as, sadly, my health has become more and more difficult to manage with each year that passes. And one of the things this affects the most is my ability to socialise, and my capacity to enjoy things that people without any health concerns most likely take for granted.

One of those things is photography. It’s easily my number one hobby (- and despite the wedding photography elsewhere on this site, I have to be honest at this point and state that a hobby is all it is now. I’ve not done a professional shoot in probably well over 5 years at this point. I’ve not pursued it in any meaningful way, due to my health, and in fact there are multiple jobs I’ve avoided or outright turned down as a result). I love exploring with my camera, going off on walks and seeing what sights will present themselves. Over the last few years I’ve become more and more attracted to wildlife photography. I love discovering wild animals in their natural habitats and trying to get good pictures of them. It’s incredibly rewarding.

When my health allows it.

Frustratingly, since the age of 12, I’ve been plagued with two chronic illnesses. I’m 42 now. In layman’s terms, my lungs and my bowels have been FUBAR for the last 30 years. An industrial quantity of horrendous medicines (all designed to mask one symptom but create several other problems) and 13 operations later, with fewer internal organs and bits of me than I had previously, (with each surgery coming a desperate hope it will be the last) and I’m tired. Very, very tired. And still ill. And in pain. Every. Single. Day.

As a particularly rotten cherry on the cake, I’ve recently learnt that some medication that was prescribed to try and manage my bowel problems has caused toxicity in my body, leading to muscle and tendon damage, as well as a permanent change to my mitochondria - the cell responsible for creating energy. As such, I effectively have chronic fatigue. I’d always felt the symptoms of this, but associated them with the aforementioned illnesses and surgeries. But it turns out, it was a triple whammy all along.

People I’ve not seen in a while often tell me I’m looking well. It’s very kind of them to say - the silly, vain part of me really appreciates it - and I understand why they might feel compelled to tell me that when they know a small amount about my medical history. But, the reality is, five or six days out of seven, inside I feel a little bit like I’m dying. Everything aches. Everything is stiff and weak. My daily reserves are already depleted from the moment I get out of bed. I’ve never ran a marathon, but when I’m at my worst, I imagine that’s what most runners probably feel like once the exhilaration of passing the finish line wears off. There are a few days a month, when I’m at my worst, where I literally have to crawl around on all fours.

But, every once in a while I feel… not completely wretched. And on those days I (perhaps foolishly) try to make the most of things. Actually, that’s not strictly true. I (definitely foolishly) often try to make the most of things even when deep down I know it’s a terrible idea and my body is already crying out from every cell. Either way, there’s ALWAYS a penalty for doing so. Many years ago I watched the ‘spoony’ analogy that was going round online. It rang completely true and it still does. I guess I just struggle to accept things the way they are. That’s always been an issue for me. Since the age of 12 and being diagnosed with the bowel issues, I just wanted to be ‘normal’. I still do. Hence, on the ‘good’ days, my childlike naivety and hope kicks in - ‘maybe this will continue…’. It never does.

Yet, whenever I can, I try and get out and do some photography. I feel like I don’t want to be defeated. I don’t want to give up on something I love so much. It’s just getting harder and harder lately. I’m not sure what the solution is. I’m not sure there is a solution. I’m due more surgery at some point this year. The optimistic part of me hopes it might make some kind of positive difference to my pain and energy levels. The pessimistic part of me knows it probably won’t.

Anyway, here are some photos wot I took lately:

Light and Flight

This week on a post-work walk around the lake, the sun hit a window in the restaurant at the foot of the lake, so that the reflection created brilliant ripples on the water where the gulls were circling back and forth, eating flies. I took a little while to try and line up some bird in flight shots just above the golden patterns on the water’s surface.

It was definitely a bit of a challenge to consistently track the subjects, but these ones came out pretty well I think.

Spring is Here!

In what, for personal reasons, feels like much, much longer than normal, spring is finally here. There’s a fresh sense of optimism outside, with nature springing (heh) into action with new growth and life everywhere to be seen.
I think May may (heh again) be my favourite month. It’s when you can say for certain winter is behind us, the days are a proper length again, and everywhere looks so much nicer for the greenery and splendor.

Birds! Birds! Birds!

This month, I have been mostly photographing birds.

Followers of my Instagram page (@luke_bennett_photos) may be aware that one of my photographic missions this spring is to capture a nice photo of grebes doing their little mating dance ritual. I had some success with this recently; just in the last few minutes of daylight I witnessed a minor courtship display. It petered out very quickly and didn’t fully develop into anything much, but I captured what looked a little bit like a bird tango, with each grebe passing the side of the other, wings-a -flutter in charming choreography.

It wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned - I’d been thinking more along the lines of the classic face-to-face mirrored head and body movements - but it was still lovely to see. The mission continues…

On the same evening, in the last moments of sunlight I also had some fun playing with the ripples and reflections on the water and lining up whatever happened to be nearby. In this instance a solitary greylag goose.

When not walking around the lake near me, I’ve enjoyed watching the garden birds outside my window, taking advantage of the bird bath and feeder.

Birds (mainly herons!) in Flight

I’ve just been looking at some bird edits from the last 12 months or so and collated what I think are my most successful bird in flight images to date. As mentioned previously on this blog, it’s something I’ve been trying to do more of and improve on.

It seems, I have a bit of a leaning towards the heron, which forms most of the images below. When I think about it, it’s obvious why - They’re big, they fly low and close, they fly slowly, and they’re not at all uncommon. Luckily for me there are at least four that like to hang around the lake near me. Even better, they omit a loud, high-pitched squawk before taking flight, as if to let you know to get your camera ready!

BBC feature on Photographers from the Midlands

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to be asked by the BBC News website to submit a ‘favourite’ image from the previous 12 months, to be featured within a 2023 roundup of other midlands based photographer’s work.

I’m pretty indecisive/changeable at the best of times so don’t really do favourites, but I submitted the following:

Recency bias is definitely a thing, as I took this only a few weeks previously on a cold and frosty autumnal morning in Shropshire. I was very pleased with how the weather conditions combined with the peak autumn colour (- the leaves thankfully not having shed yet).

In a very clear demonstration of my changeable/indecisive nature, no sooner had I submitted the shot, I decided I preferred the photo below:

I think (at least at the moment I do…) it’s the more interesting composition and better highlights the colours of the season as they were that morning.

Either way, the article can be viewed via the following link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67754785

"I'm not much of an early riser, but I made the effort on this occasion to get up at the crack of dawn and head to Ragleth Hill, near Church Stretton in Shropshire, in the hopes of a scene like this presenting itself.

"This image comprises Caer Caradoc and Helmeth Hill, with the Wrekin in the far background. Just entering the scene on the right is Hope Bowdler Hill. It was my first time up Ragleth, and it's a beautiful view of the Shropshire Hills, so I plan on returning next year."

Autumnal Tree Photography

These were all taken within the last two weeks, where the colour of autumn has combined with some atmospheric weather conditions, to provide the perfect opportunity for some tree portrait photography!

Shropshire Landscapes - Caer Caradoc, The Lawley and The Wrekin

Below are three views of Caer Caradoc, as viewed from Hope Bowdler in Shropshire last month. The light that evening was really nice. Next time I want to try focus stacking so that the foreground trees/bushes are as sharp as the background.

The fourth image is from a different occasion, of the Wrekin, but I saw it in my catalogue by chance and liked it so thought I’d upload it :)

Wildlife in Warwickshire

This week, I have been mostly photographing wildlife in Warwickshire.

The kestrel, fallow deer and grey squirrel were all found on one outing, at Charlecote Park; a place I love to visit semi regularly, precisely because of these kinds of photographic opportunities.

The fox was found elsewhere (location to remain secret). While walking through the undergrowth, I suddenly saw a hint of movement and colour and realised there was a fox to my right. It was walking very close by, but quickly through the adjacent field and well hidden by the fence and shrubbery.

The settings on my camera were not optimised for this particular shot, so it’s one of a burst taken at 1/100 of a second (far too slow), and the only one remotely sharp or correctly focused as a result. The foliage in the foreground immediately next to me and that surrounding the fox made this a challenging photo to take in the split second opportunity provided, but I feel lucky to have got one worth keeping at least.

Shropshire Landscapes - Caer Caradoc and the Lawley

Usually when I go to Shropshire I tend to end up in the Long Mynd exploring the well known hills of Church Streton. This time, for a change I thought I’d check out some of the hills that can be viewed in the distance from the Long Mynd, but up close.

I went in the evening, hoping for some nice lighting and shadows, with the intent of getting some successful landscape photos.

As the sun got lower in the sky, some brilliant shadows started to drape over the landscape. I particularly like the dramatic contrast on this last shot with half the woodland shrouded in darkness and the top half starkly lit by the orange glow of the setting sun.

Black and White Horse Photography

I’ve been continuing to learn and enjoy my new camera system over the last few weeks. Most recently I’ve been had fun viewing the horses during my evening walks locally.
I feel like I’ve caught a few interesting stances and expressions in the shots below. I processed the first one in black and white eventually as I felt it suited the mood of the portrait; the horse looking powerful and aggressive (for that split second in time at least). The edit ended up suiting the rest, too, so I made a series.

Bird in Flight Photography

One of my photography goals over the last 6 months has been to do more bird in flight stuff. I’ve been a bit limited in terms of my longest range until recently (that being the Fuji 50-140mm f2.8 plus 1.4x teleconverter), as well as the continuous auto focus ability of that particular combination (- let’s just say the 1.4x converter definitely doesn’t help matters…), but I’ve managed a few shots I’m really happy with regardless -

I’ve also developed a new-found fondness of the 16:9 ratio it would appear.

Over the last few weeks I’ve sold all my Fuji gear (it was a good innings, from 2016, with lots of fun along the way, we’re still friends, but I wanted to see what the competition had to offer) and have found myself with a Nikon Z 400mm f4.5. I’ve only taken it out on two walks so far and been getting used to the new system, setting the camera up to my liking, but I think it’s going to do juuuust fiiiine -

Snooping on Foxes and Fox Cubs in Warwickshire

A few years ago I had an amazing experience where I stumbled upon an area of wasteland full of fox holes carved into a stretch of sloped woodland. By sheer luck and good fortune I encountered a group of fox cubs playing in the afternoon sun. They allowed me to get really close and either didn't notice my presence or didn't seem to mind it. I only had my phone with me but made sure I took loads of video footage of them darting in and out of their hole and chasing each other around. It left me feeling privileged to have seen it and was easily the best wildlife encounter I've ever had.

Then, disaster struck (and a lesson learnt) - when upgrading phones and after backing everything up to my PC, I formatted the phone memory card, convinced everything had been transferred to the computer. But... it hadn't. 😭 The videos were missing and the phone was now wiped. Gutted was an understatement.

Each April/May since I've returned to the same spot in hopes of seeing more fox cubs, but so far I've had no luck. A few weeks ago, however, I visited the area again with a sense of optimism and anticipation.

Suddenly I heard a series of terrifying screeches and squeals in the distance, so I headed slowly - covered head to toe in camouflage - in that direction. The sounds got louder and after my eyes adjusted to the scene I could see glimpses of movement up ahead, but I still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew that foxes sometimes sound like babies crying when they fight, but these were closer to the kinds of noises a pig would make when scared.

But sure enough, after a little while I noticed three fox cubs darting in and out of their den, chasing each other and rolling around in the dirt.

The light was terrible and shrubbery was very much in the way, so I didn’t get any of those actions shots. I was sitting a fair distance away on this occasion, too, so the photos are cropped to all heck, but I was very pleased to get them anyway.

The first two photos of the adult fox were taken about two weeks prior to those of the fox cubs, in a slightly different area, but I suspect they are they same family.

Big Horse, You Come to Me

This may be the biggest horse I’ve ever encountered, in terms of height at least. It towered over me when it came over to see who I was and why I had the nerve to let myself into his field.
The lighting that evening was brilliant, the sun covering everything it touched with a lovely glow. In the background is The Wrekin.

British Bluebells, Again

I think, given they’re not around for long, it’s perfectly OK to keep making bluebells the focus of my photography in late April/early May. And if you don’t agree, well, shame on you.

I’d forgotten about this trio of trees in my local woods, but was pleased to rediscover them as an interesting backdrop to the purple carpet in front.

At one point I noticed a couple of muntjac deer in the distance behind me snaffling their way past the coppice next to them.

Bluebells in Britain's Woodlands

Hi there, Blog. How are you? I’m sorry for not writing.

And with apologies to my Blog for not updating it out the way, here’s an update. This week, I have been mostly photographing bluebells. That’s because they tend to only be at their most blue for a couple of weeks before they wither away and disappear for another year. These were all taken in a woodland local to me in Warwickshire. Each year I tend to gravitate to the same areas in the woods, as this is where the light falls as the sun sets, and coincidentally/fortunately the most photogenic spot anyway. I thought I might have got tired of going to the same areas several years in a row, but no, I still love it.

I’ve also decided, in an attempt to update this space more often, I’m probably just going to post photos I like from now on, with less in the way of tags and words and thinking and all the things that put me off posting.

Pet Photography - Why Cats Are Such Great Subjects

Why are cats such good subjects for a photographer? This is something I’ve pondered over the years. I’ve concluded it’s hard not to want to take their photo - after all, if they’re part of the household they’re usually available during the day for a shoot and they don’t charge much, just some tummy rubs and treats. It’s a reasonable fee.
They know how to pose, too, without any instructions at all (though the chances of them doing what you ask are pretty minimal…). Professional models could learn a lot from the natural poise and elegance of the average cat. They know exactly how to hold their body; the lines, the arches, the pointed limbs, the mysterious look on their faces… All the things that once mastered make for a pleasing portrait. They do it all completely naturally.

I took the opportunity for an impromptu pet portrait photo shoot with my family’s cats during a recent visit. They enjoy lounging around in the afternoon sun, soaking in the warmth the way that cats do and providing some nice light and shadow dynamics.

If you would like to arrange a ‘model shoot’ for your pet cat, dog, hamster, crocodile, shark (anything, I love them all!), please say hello.