Wildlife Photography across the Water: Guest Photographer

Thursday, 18 March 2010

Guest Photographer - Ashley Hugo

Today we are pleased to host our fifth guest photographer on the blog. I bumped into Ashley via the blogosphere and a link from Bob Sharples great blog and it was while looking at some of the fine work that is being done down there in Cornwall by a number of photographers that I realised what a remarkable young man Ashley is. So having seen his work, and left some comments, I badgered him into doing a guest blog for us. I will let his own words do the talking, because I think once you have read his words and particularly looked at his images you will come to a similar conclusion.

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First of all, thank you to Martin for inviting me to be a guest on the blog, I am honoured!

I am a 15year old wildlife photographer based in Cornwall, UK. I have been photographing wildlife (mainly irds) for about two years now and I think I'm just starting to get to a standard where I can put my images on the internet. I started off with an old Minolta film SLR a family member gave me; it had a 35-80mm lens which I used to take garden birds while I was saving for a better camera. You can imagine trying to take wildlife with an 80mm lens, it was very hard. I borrowed a few SLR's and bridge cameras until I had saved enough to get the Canon EOS 450D when it was first released.

After I got my 450D and Tamron 70-300mm lens I started photography properly. I would visit local nature reserves taking pic's of any bird that appeared. This set up worked quite well for a beginner and I got used to all the different camera settings, modes etc. After about 18 months of using the 450D/70-300 set up I was looking to upgrade. After looking, researching and considering the different models I bought a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM. I thegot used to the 450/400 combination and for my birthday that year I got a Canon 1Dmk11!!

The 1D2 and 400mm f5.6 is my current set up for wildlife and I think it is great. I mainly shoot birds because I have never got close to other stuff. I spend most of my time out photographing birds and even sometimes get a decent shot! Next I'm hoping to invest in a hide and try to get close to some of the local breeding species this year. Why not check out some more of my images on my blog here http://ashleyh-photography.blogspot.com and www.flickr.com/photos/ashely-hugo

Below are some of my favourite images taken in 2009 and 2010

Red Kite, February this year at Gigrin Farm, Wales

Baird's Sandpiper, September 2009 at Davidstow Airfield, Cornwall - a very obliging bird

Little Egret, January 2010, Marazion Marsh, RSPB, Cornwall. Not the best of images but I like the warmth of the image (taken with a borrowed 500mm f/4 and 1.4 TC)

Tawny owl, February 2010, Screech owl Sanctuary, Cornwall. Part of a Cornwall Wildlife Trust photographic group field trip (captive)

Little Owl, Screech owl Sanctuary, Cornwall. (captive)

Ashley

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I am sure you will agree Ashley is both a very competent photographer and also amazingly modest as to his abilities from his words. I know I certainly enjoy visiting his blog and seeing his latest work and contributions. Really like the Black Kite images by the way Ash.

I would like to thank Ashley on two counts. Firstly for contributing to this blog (and being the youngest contributor to date) and also for his regular and frequent comments to our posts. We do appreciate them.

Martin

4 comments:

Bobbster18 March 2010 at 18:36
Great images here by Ash, the first Red Kite is a superb shot. Ash keep up the good work and I look forward to viewing more of your images in the future.
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Barney Couch18 March 2010 at 19:03
Excellent post as always. Good to see another young photographer like me on such a good blog. Keep up the good work Ashley.
Barney
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Mark Whittaker19 March 2010 at 17:24
Great stuff Ash .. credit well deserved
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Julian21 March 2010 at 20:21
Nice collection of images here Ashley!
Especially like the Red Kite image - very tricky to maintain focus on such a rapid diving bird - well done!
Like your blog too.
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.