About

Mike is an award winning Landscape and Wildlife Photographer, with his work being recognised in competitions, such as LPOTY, OPOTY for multiple categories,SLPOTY and Siena International Awards . His work is regularly published in leading photography magazines- Outdoor Photography, Photography Week etc and he carries out commissioned work for various publications including Countryfile.

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY ?

From an early age I was always interested in wildlife, birds etc. I used to be an active wildlife photographer in my 20’s, then, I had a break from it for nearly 20 years, rediscovering my passion for it in the past 12 years.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE ?

For landscape work, I use a Canon 5DSR, Cannon 16-35mm mk3, Canon 24-70mm II F2.8 and Canon 70-200mm F 2.8 zoom lenses.
Lee filters ND grad,ND pro glass,Big Stopper,Little Stopper and a Lee Polariser.
For wildlife, I use a Canon 1DX Mark3 and a Canon EF 600 USM Mark 11 F4 lens and Canon 1.4 and 2x Mark 3 teleconverters.

WHAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE MORE THAN YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD ?

The Hoodman Hoodloupe, an essential piece of kit, if like me, you use Live View, for your landscape work.

WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE TO EDIT YOU PHOTOGRAPHS ?

I mostly use Adobe Lightroom and try to get it right in the camera, occasionally I will use Photoshop.

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN ?

Always carry your camera with you. The number of times I have driven somewhere and seen a great sunrise/sunset or piece of wildlife action and regretted not having my camera.Also, to have a plan or a specific shot or two that you plan to take at a location, before you go out and to get ready to change your plans if the conditions dictate.

HAS ANY OF YOUR WORK BEEN PUBLISHED OR USED BY LARGE ORGANISATIONS ?

When I returned to photography a few years ago, I was lucky enough to have the BBC use an early photograph of a Barn Owl at dusk, as their banner for the BBC Nature Facebook page and BBC Nature twitter page for about a month.

The BBC also used a photograph of a Red Kite on Springwatch and landscape photograph on Winterwatch.
I have recently had a sunrise photograph used in Photography Week along with other local publications.

In July 2015,I have had a double page spread photograph published in The BBC Countryfile Magazine,after they commissioned me for a shot.
In November 2015, one of my images of a Red Deer Stag, was Shortlisted for Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2015-Wildlife insight Category.
In 2016 I had 3 images shortlisted for Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2016, one for Wildlife Insight category and 2 for Light on the Land Category.
Also in 2016 my only submission to Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year, for the Urban category,was shortlisted.

I had a break from competitions in 2017 and had a shot published in Outdoor Photographer Magazine in early 2018, another shot published in Outdoor Photographer Magazine in 2019.

In 2020 I had 2 images Shortlisted for Landscape Photographer of the Year and had a two photographs  published in Outdoor Photography Magazine.

In 2021 I had 2 photographs published in Outdoor Photography Magazine and another in January 2022.

LANDSCAPE OR WILDLIFE ?

I love them both equally.
I like nothing better than being on the top of a cliff, with a flask of coffee, waiting for the sun to come up and praying for good light.
I also love being at close quarters with nature, capturing and sharing things that most other people would never see.

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE AGENDA FOR YOU WITH PHOTOGRAPHY ?

I plan to build up my portfolio more and work on creating some nice abstract work, in addition to the wildlife and landscape work.

In the last few years I have visited Iceland and the Lofoten Islands in Norway,to photograph the Northern Lights, wild Sea Eagles and Reindeer which was one off my bucket list.

For more than 6 years I have successfully run Wildlife and Landscape Photography Workshops and I carry out Red Deer Workshops in October at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire,where I am licensed photographer,Osprey Workshops in June/July near Rutland Water and Kingfisher Workshops in March,July and September at my hides in Shropshire.
In addition to these workshops I also run Landscape Workshops in The Peak District,The Lake District,Snowdonia and Perthshire.
I also carry out one on one training for Landscape Photography,Wildlife Photography and Lightroom tuition.
Workshops tend to fill up quite quickly, if they are full you can e-mail to be put on a cancellation list.

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