Post by: Mark Bloomfield

How To

Setting up a desktop studio

2 Apr , 2020  

Lichen Evernia prunastr looks like stags horns

Ever since we started, we’ve taken product pictures and macro shots using a studio. Perhaps studio is too grand a title, for the assortment of locations around the house, we’ve used over the years. The one thing they all had in common was they were temporary and got in the way when you wanted to […]

Opinion, Wildlife

Rewilding

19 Feb , 2019  

Carn Leitir Coire Challich with a covering of snow, in Strathdearn Findhorn Valley

There is quite a bit of momentum over rewilding in the UK at present. For the uninitiated rewilding is and I quote from Wikipedia “Rewilding is large-scale conservation aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes and core wilderness areas, providing connectivity between such areas, and protecting or reintroducing apex predators and keystone species.” Also, from […]

Locations, Wildlife

Winter in the countryside

14 Dec , 2018  

Large flock of Common Starlings flying together

Forget the thought that runs through your head; it’s winter. Its cold out there why should I go out when the heating is on, and it’s nice and cosy in here. Get out and look around you may just be surprised what you can see and photograph. Winter is a great time for photographing and […]

News, Update, Wildlife

Update on our local Badger clan

1 Oct , 2018  

For those that read our last blog (What is it that you do?), you may remember Badgey Badge (BB) a big male badger had suffered severe injuries. He is a regular visitor to our garden, and over the recent weeks, we have been monitoring his progress. We thought now was a good time to issue a […]

News, Wildlife

What is it that you do?

12 Sep , 2018  

Alert male Badger

To do what we do, photographing wild animals. It’s essential to have at least a working understanding of the animal you’re trying to photograph. You adapt your field craft skills, to hopefully, outwit your subject. That is why we spend so much time reading about and observing animals in the wild. One of the animals […]

Opinion

Children of the countryside

6 Aug , 2018  

We live in a world where cultural differences are from time to time, thrown into sharp focus by momentous events. Maybe if we look at children those differences are much more blurred. Think about it, today’s schoolchild is the conservationist, environmentalist, protector of our wild places. But many children don’t have basic access to the […]

Wildlife

Badgers in the spring

20 Jun , 2018  

Video about Badgers that visit our garden

Spring is a time of light nights in the Highlands of Scotland. Late June and the arrival of the Summer solstice means that the sun sets at 22:19 giving us 18 hours of daylight. It doesn’t get properly dark until after midnight and even then the sky has a tinge of light. All this daylight […]

Software

Photo Mechanic

15 May , 2018  

Camera Bits Photo Mechanic 5.0 About Screen

Before I start this look at Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits I need to get a few things out of the way. Yes, we’ve started using Photo Mechanic. We’re not sponsored to do so. We still use Adobe Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC {https://www.adobe.com/} and couldn’t work without them. All our images require keywording and detailed […]

Update, Wildlife

Red Squirrels in our wood in Aird

21 Apr , 2018  

Red Squirrel sitting in a Birch tree

We have just published another one of our video blogs on You Tube about the Red Squirrels that visit our woodland. We first caught sight of a Red Squirrel in our trees about 16 months ago. After a couple of glimpses, we decided the best way to attract the squirrels, to stay for longer, was […]

Wildlife

A time of hardship

2 Feb , 2018  

Female Blackbird Turdus merula

Winter has a firm hold. Short cold days, long winter nights, bring hardship for the residence of our countryside. Scarcity of reliable food supplies and the low temperatures of winter combine, to bring many of our birds and animals to the brink. Winter; and especially the last bit is one of the hardest times for […]