Wildlife and nature photography blogs for April 2010

The 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition organisers’ decision to strip the winner of his first prize sparked a massive debate on the ethical standards of wildlife photographers. The competition judges after consultation reviewed the winning photograph and came to the conclusion that the wolf was not a wild individual, but a captive subject posed for the photographer. This was against the rules of the competition and the winner was striped of his prize.

Letters and articles appearing in the press after this incident have highlighted that the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is not the only place were photographs of a less than high ethical standard have appeared. When we look at some photographs in magazines we wonder just how they were taken. Looking at the captions accompanying the images is no guide as to whether a captive or wild subject appears in the picture. We have very little control of the final caption as it appears. But we always make it clear if the subject was captive. However; sometimes this fact seems to have been overlooked when the picture appears. What we do have control over is how the photographs are taken in the first place.

As wildlife photographers we have a responsibility to protect fauna and flora we photograph. Ever since we started, we have worked to our own set of ethical standards. These we believe protect wildlife and the environment. We thought that our personal standards, professional reputation and integrity were enough to protect our subjects. It has, become apparent to us, that a few individual wildlife photographers have brought suspicion on everyone.

We have taken the decision to formalise the ethics and guidelines we set ourselves in a written document. This is a first for us, to have a published set of standards, until now we have always mutually agreed how we would work and what we would and would not do to get a picture of wildlife. Now with all wildlife photographers being looked upon with suspicion by the general public, we want to ensure that everyone knows how we work and what we find acceptable to get a picture. This statement lets you know how we conduct ourselves and take our pictures.

We are wildlife photographers, our aim is to photograph wild subjects that are able to follow a wild existence. If they choose to appear in front of our cameras it is their choice. This is our preferred method when taking photographs.

If we do take pictures of captive animals we satisfy ourselves these animals are properly cared for. They must have the freedom not to be photographed by moving away from us. The people looking after them must be knowledgeable and accountable for the animal’s welfare. We try to use captive animals as little as possible. When we do, we prefer animals being held for research or are unable to be released back into the wild. Recuperating animals that are awaiting release are an issue for us. We have to be assured that our contact doesn’t jeopardise or delay their release. If we have any doubts we contact relevant welfare organisations for their clarification and guidance.

It is difficult to draw a distinction between different species of animals held in captivity. Should some be captive while others should not?  It is a debate that continues and changes as our understanding changes. In the real world distinctions are made about what it is acceptable to keep in captivity and what is not. We have strong views on the whole issue and this is why we continue to choose not to photograph many species held in captive collections. Our view is; our photographs could contribute to those species continuing to be held in captivity, so we choose not to photograph them.

Country sports such as hunting, fishing and shooting have large tracts of land dedicated to their pursuit in the UK. The fine balance of conservation and protection these sports afford our countryside go hand in hand with abuses committed by individuals in pursuit of their sport. Birds and animals breed purely for sport are an ethical dilemma for us. We recognise the good done by people engaged in the sports, whilst condemning the few who step over acceptability. We have taken many pictures on sporting estates and have enjoyed the diversity that their stewardship of our countryside has brought about. We have satisfied ourselves that these estates work to the highest possible standards of animal husbandry and wildlife welfare.

We review each time we take pictures of captive species using the criteria above. Choosing a captive species as a last resort or when our photographs illustrate good practices in keeping captive animals.
All our pictures of captive pictures are labelled as such. The caption and keywords electronically embedded in the image have the word “captive” to designate that the animal was not wild at the time the picture was taken. We actively encourage all our clients when captioning or accrediting, to note that the subject was captive.

Researching a target species is an important step for us before we venture out into the field. It enables us to identify behaviours such as courtship, mating, flowering and dormant periods in the species we are trying to photograph. We also research non targeted species found in the same environment. Our aim is to understand as much as possible and to cause as little disruption as possible. Disturbing an animal at certain critical times of the year could lead to lessening that individual’s chance of survival.

Travelling to other areas and countries to take wildlife pictures brings about other considerations. Understanding our local patch gives us insight into the species present, how weather and local conditions are affecting them. When we travel to new areas we consult with published works and knowledgeable local experts to better understand the local conditions. Extreme or unusual weather, human interference, local population performance can all affect the species we are trying to photograph. If we understand these influences, it allows us to be sympathetic to the population and reduce our possible impact.

Drought may cause local species problems. Just the fact of being between them and a water source could tip the balance of survival. We always take local advice and were practical consult or hire local guides who understand the environment.

Taking pictures of plants can be a very difficult ethical area. What we don’t want to do is to take photographs of one species and destroy another. There always seems to be a wayward bit of foliage just in the wrong place whenever you photograph plants. This leads to what is termed gardening or the removal of the bits of unwanted greenery. We never cut or up root live material to get our picture. If we can’t carefully bend the offending foliage out of the way it is better to move to another subject or not get the picture.

Disturbing plants and foliage to get a picture is always kept to a minimum and when we have finished the vegetation is returned to its natural position. Ensuring the micro climate that existed before we arrived is returned after we leave. Be this gardening for plant photograph or moving branches out of the way to get a better angle with a long lens we always take the same care.

Legal protection for wildlife in this country is very good. We work to maintain a working knowledge of all the relevant acts pertaining to the work we carry out. When travelling to different parts of the world we try and understand and comply with local laws and customs. We always conduct ourselves to our understanding of these acts and laws at all times.

Digital photography has given photographers the opportunity to modify images subsequent to the shutter being pressed. The famous cases of the moving pyramids or the additional Zebras have made headline news in the press. We take wildlife pictures of wildlife. If it isn’t in the picture when we pressed the shutter it’s not in the picture when you see it.

Retouching is kept to a minimum. We do retouch images removing dust spots and the odd stray bit of debris. Sometimes we crop our images to remove unwanted distractions. We will also remove things like the odd wing tip or spare tail as long as it is at the edges of the frame. We do this as it is sometimes very difficult to make sure that all your subjects are completely in the frame when you press the shutter. Occasionally we will improve the catch lights in the eyes of our subjects, making them brighter. But we never add catch lights to the eyes of our subject.

Our rule is, if we have made substantial changes to the picture, such as changing colours or adding substantially to the mood of the photograph. We include in the caption and keywords the words “digitally altered” or “artistic interpretation” depending on how much of the image people see has been changed from the original photograph.

We do wildlife photography because it is our passion. We like to think that our passion is reflected in the pictures we take. We always hope that our pictures will inspire people to move closer to wildlife and the natural world. So when we meet people, out enjoying nature it is our belief that they should be allowed get as much pleasure as we do. Therefore we treat other people as we would wish to be treated. If we can help or enable people to better understand the world about them we believe that this is as important as taking photographs.

There is a saying that we find to be very apt. Live today as if it were you last; treat the environment as if you will live forever. All our efforts are directed into two areas. Taking beautiful wildlife photographs and ensuring that wildlife is preserved for other people to see and enjoy. Better to walk away without the picture than put at risk any part of the natural world. If we can not work without deceit then it is better that we find something else to do with our lives.

Mark and Jacky Bloomfield

The old saying goes, April showers bring forth May flowers. Let’s hope this rhyme rings true and we have some wonderful flower displays.

Many orchids start to flower during May; Military Orchid, Monkey Orchid, and Green Winged orchid. Later in the month Southern March Orchids and Early Marsh Orchids will hopefully be in flower; but as always, this is very much weather dependant.

Talking of weather conditions, the Bluebells may be late flowering this year. Last week we were photographing woodland plants, the Bluebells we saw were only just starting to flower; although we did see the odd one in full bloom.

Other flowers we can hope to see are, Common Comfrey, Yellow rattle, Greater Stichwort and Solomon’s seal.

More and more species of butterflies will be seen as the warmer weather brings them out of their hibernation. Adult demoiselles start to emerge and Dragonflies too will be seen darting about in the warming days of May.

One flower not to miss is the Snake’s head fritillary. It looks rather like a lantern swaying in the breeze. A good place to see these flowers is North Meadow NNR in Wiltshire.


Snake's Head Fritillary

One of the great treats spring has to offer is the chance to see all the young animals and birds, born at this time of year. Young Rabbits sitting at the edge of fields. Broken egg shells on the ground, telling us that the Starlings, nesting in the eves of a nearby house have chicks.

If you want to photograph these new arrivals our best advice is don’t. But if you really must be very careful, it is very easy to scare away the adult birds; the damage you may cause is not worth the pictures. Bear in mind that for some species of birds photographing them at or near the nest requires a special licence.

One reasonably safe subject which has that cute factor is ducklings. Now is the time of year to see ducks like Mallards with 8 or more bundles of fluff scooting around your local pond or stream.


Mallard Duckling

Find yourself a good spot get as low to the water as possible and sit and wait. One word of caution, ducklings are not waterproof. Every now and then they need to leave the water to dry our and warm up. Very often the female will brood the ducklings beneath her. This makes a great photograph but please be careful not to disturb the female she will return to the water for safety. If she is disturbed too many times the ducklings get weaker due to being in cold water too long.

Until next time

The following is a slight deviation to our normal blog articles.

On Sunday we took part in the Windsor Charity Carriage Drive in aid of Help for Heroes and the Chiltern air Ambulance; two worthy charities. Jacky decided that our chosen charity should be Help for Heroes, with all the sponsorship going to this one charity.

We had a great day out and would like to say a big thank you to everyone who sponsored Jacky and helped to raise £111. Every penny will go directly to the charity, as all the administration fees we covered with a separate entry fee.

Finally, we would like to thank our carriage driving friends, Margaret and Cathy for making our participation in the event possible.

Below are some pictures from the event.

A quick update on what’s been happening on the Drobo front. We left the story, with another Drobo failure and corrupted files. We worked most of that evening to get the files we needed from our backup system. Thank goodness we changed our backup system to make it more robust after the last set of failures. If we hadn’t we would have not been able to recover the situation so quickly.

We contacted the Data Robotics support team the very next day. Sure enough it was power supply problems, again. This time it seems to have been the power splitter. The original design was for one power supply to feed the Drobo and Droboshare using a splitter cable. The plugs on this cable seems to be incompatible with the replaced Drobo unit we had been sent.

A new power supply was dispatched to us. We were able to use the power supply from our other Drobo unit to replace the dodgy splitter cable; which at least allowed us to keep going. By running ChkDisk on the Drobo volume we were able to recover some of the damaged files.

The second power supply arrived a few days latter. We now have two power supplies. One powers the Droboshare and the other the Drobo disk unit. Hopefully both these power supplies will continue working, and we can get on with taking some pictures.

Previous blogs
What else is going to go wrong
Drobo problems continue
Drobo problems

Until next time

Launched on 12 April by Adobe, Photoshop CS5 will soon be hitting photographer’s computes in the near future. I will admit to a feeling of excitement as I spent the day looking at the new features of Photoshop CS5.

The upgrade price is as always from Adobe on the high side nearly £200 for the standard version and £330 plus for the extended version. This is if you are eligible for an upgrade. If you don’t qualify then the full version is £643.90 for the standard and £932.95 for the extended version. Even If you don’t think you qualify for an upgrade it is worth going to the Adobe website. With the release of CS5, I believe for the first time, Adobe are offering upgrades from other products such as Photoshop Elements so it is worth checking to see if you can save some money.

Now the big question; is it worth upgrading to CS5?  After all we have been happily working with CS4 up to now. For us it is a question of can we justify the upgrade price for CS5. Justifying the money is reasonable simple. Can we save time and or increase the quality of our pictures?  

I think the answer to this question is yes. The main features for us that make upgrading worthwhile are.

Improved 64 bit performance
We use Windows 7 x64 and running on some of the latest and fastest Intel chips. If Photoshop CS5 can take better advantage 64 bit processors and work quicker that’s less time we have to spend staring at the screen waiting for something to happen.

Content Aware Fill
When you are using the Spot Heal brush in CS4 if you have a sensor dust spot etc, near to two contrasting colours you get a nasty smear. With CS5 turn on Content Aware fill and a very clever equation now looks at the image surrounding the Spot Healing brush and uses that content to paint with. If the demonstrations are to be believed spotting should be easier and quicker. You can also use Content Aware Fill when deleting selections from a layer.

ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) 6
This is Adobe’s technology that processes your RAW files into all manor of other file formats. ACR version 6 promises that the de-mosaicing or noise reduction will actually do something useful. Up until now they have just been a feature that hardly anyone uses preferring instead external programs to get rid of artefacts. CS5 however changes all that and you now have a method of colour and luminance noise removal in Photoshop.

Layer Styles dialog box
CS5 has a make default button added to the bottom of every layer style dialogue box. So you won’t in future have to go and change the Adobe default settings every time you open the dialogue.

I could go on about all the other new features you are going to find in Photoshop CS5 but the above ones will do for us. If these are half as good as they appear to be they are going to save us a lot of time and improve our pictures. So our minds are made up and we are ordering an upgrade today.

Until next time.

If like us you are new to using OpenGL in Photoshop CS4 you may not have found all the shortcuts, in which case this will help. But first, for the confused I should explain what OpenGL is. Graphic display cards that contain a Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) can be exploited by software like Photoshop. The software uses the GPU to draw the image on your monitor rather than the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer. OpenGL stands for Open Graphics Language this is the instruction set that allows software to interact with the GPU.

By using a dedicated GPU screen drawing times are considerable faster than just using the CPU alone. You get extra benefits in Photoshop, for instance no more jagged edges when you zoom to a non standard percentage. The image on screen can be used to access sharpness when printing.

Unless you have an OpenGL compliant card like those manufactured by NVIDIA and ATI you will have seen a message telling you haven’t got an OpenGL. Until recently this was our situation and we didn’t really worry about it too much as Photoshop seemed to function perfectly well without the OpenGL capability so we carried on in blissful ignorance.

It was when we replaced a computer that we decided we should really try an OpenGL card and what a difference this has made to our working day. It has been a complete revelation and I would urge anyone who uses Photoshop to get a GPU that supports OpenGL. The only problem we have is trying to remember the keyboard shortcuts that make using Photoshop so much easier. When we thought about it we realised that other people maybe having the same difficulties. Please note, these shortcuts only work if you have an OpenGL compliant card installed on your computer and you have selected in the Preferences for Photoshop to use the card. OK here are the shortcuts.

If you want to change the size of the brush, for Windows alt + right mouse button + drag, for Macintosh, option + ctrl + drag. On screen you will see a red circle that represents the size of the brush you are currently suing. Drag your mouse left to change the size. Letting go of the mouse button fixes the size of the brush.

If you want to change the softness of the brush it is a similar deal. For Windows, shift + alt + right mouse button + drag, for Macintosh, shift + option + ctrl + drag. The red circle this time will show you how hard the edges of the brush are going to be.

To zoom in or out press and hold down the Z key, you can now zoom in by clicking the mouse. When you have zoomed in enough release the mouse button and then the Z key. To zoom out in Windows, hold down the Z + alt keys, in Macintosh, the Z + option key and use your mouse.

While you are zoomed in if you want to navigate to another area hold down the H key. Your image will zoom out to fill the screen and you will see a box attached to your cursor. Move the box over the new area you wish to look at and release the H key. You are now viewing the selected area.

These shortcuts make using Photoshop so much quicker and easier, they are worth learning and when you have you will wonder how you coped before.

Until next time.

Some times I feel very nostalgic for the good old days. You know the days of film. Those were the days. You took your photographs and gave your film to a nice person who would process your pictures for you. They would even give you a call when they were done, so you could go and collect them. The nice people at the processing lab would do all the worrying about getting your pictures the right colour and exposure. Ah! Those were the days when a computer was just for sending emails.

Now we rely on computers for image processing and filing our pictures, sending them and selling them to clients. If you haven’t got a working computer you can’t do anything. Putting a disc drive on a light box just doesn’t work. When everything is running well, computers are a wonderful tool. But when they go wrong, your whole business is put on hold until you can fix the problem. So, maybe we have just been unlucky, but the last three months have been a nightmare as all we seem to be doing is lurching from one failure to another.
First it was our Drobo NAS (Network Attached Server). It started corrupting files as they were saved to it. For a full description of the problems you can read our previous blogs (Drobo problems and Drobo problems continue). After Data Robotic had swapped out the faulty unit we have had a whole 6 weeks of use out of the new Drobo unit. Then yesterday the new unit stopped working altogether. We tried all the previous things suggested by the Data Robotics support team but we still have broken Drobo unit again. And as always these things go wrong at the end of the day when the support lines have closed for the day. We will keep you posted as to what happens next.

Working backwards, the other day, in fact the day after we went to daylight saving here in the UK; the software we use to file to our pictures Extensis Portfolio, developed a fault. When we opened the database on Monday morning most of the files in the system were reported as having being changed. A bit of explanation is perhaps necessary, as to the way Extensis Portfolio works. Portfolio is a database based filing system. The original files sit on our Drobo NAS and the Portfolio references these files over our network. Portfolio records the time and date the file was modified, in the database. If the modification date changes on the storage medium, Portfolio reports that the file has been changed. Portfolio then synchronises the database record and the modified file. It does this by re-reading the changed file, generating new thumbnails and updating any keyword and other changes.

Now we are pretty sure that the files had not been changed as we were out of the office on the Sunday after the clocks changed. Suddenly we had thousands of files that according to Portfolio needed to be imported again. Importing a hundred images into Portfolio is something we do quite regularly. We start the process running and come back in a few hours and it should be finished. Can you imagine synchronising thousands of files, it was unthinkable.

We contacted the Extensis support team, via email as they are based in the USA. So far is that many emails have passed backwards and forwards and we are still waiting for Extensis to come back with a solution to our problem. We do need to continue working so we have had to resort to resetting the clocks on the computers we use the Portfolio software on. This temporary fix at least allows us to use the software, to recover our pictures, even if we can’t file any new work. Reading the forums it would appear that we are not the only users who have reported this problem. Maybe if enough of us phone the support team, Extensis may be encouraged to come up with a permanent solution to the problems with their software.

Another problem we have encountered is with Microsoft Windows 7 x64, mapping network drives. Again reading the forums it appears that others out there are having the same problem. We have a NAS drive mapped to a drive letter on Windows 7. All was working well with the drive reconnecting at each login. Then a couple of weeks ago Windows started reporting that it could not reconnect to the NAS drive. Now if you look at the network the NAS is there. You can map to it using UNC (Universal Naming Convention) and you can access the files. But the mapped drive still does not work. If anyone has any ideas how to cure this problem we would be very glad to here from them, as Microsoft don’t seem to have any ideas.

The list goes on. An upgrade to our McAfee anti virus software caused problems. These upgrades happened automatically and rendered two of our computers with no anti virus software or firewall protection. We contacted McAfee technical support and they were able to solve the problem by uninstalling the software. Mind you this was not a simple uninstall, it required a special peace of software. This had to be downloaded from the support team. This rid the computers of the left over bits from the old version of the software. Once the two computers were cleaned, we then needed to download and reload the McAfee software. Now the problem is resolved but it did take a whole day to sort the problem out. A day we could have used to earn some money. Instead of getting two computers working again after a software upgrade.

Anyone one of these problems would be damaging in its own right, but collectively it has been a disaster. For the last few months, we seem to have been spending nearly as much time trying to get computers working, as we have making pictures. When you make a decision to buy new software and hardware, we spend a fair amount of time trying to make sure that the software will work in the environment we are trying to use it in. Having said that you always expect problems will occur with new software or when you install new hardware. Why?  Well it is impossible for the publishers and manufactures to test against all the possible combinations their software and hardware will encounter. So you expect some problems at the start. What we think is reasonable is, that if we don’t change anything, it keeps working, not develops more and more problems.

So the task is to contact Data Robotics support yet again. See if they can get the Drobo unit working again or supply a new one. Hopefully this will be in days and not the weeks of the last problem. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that nothing else breaks before we can get some work done.

Until next time.

As a wildlife photographer your choice of outdoor clothing is very important. Clothes have to be a muted colour, not make too much noise, able to stand up to all kinds of weather and comfortable all day long.

This is not a problem in the case of tops and jackets, but when it comes to trousers it is a different story. Not too difficult, well in my case I face two challenges. The first is being female, the second, short legs. Personally I have found it hard to meet all these criteria. Having tried a number of different makes, styles, etc; I was beginning to think they didn’t make outdoor trousers in a muted colours for short ladies. That was until now!

Enter Paramo.On our recent Scottish shoot we stopped in Aviemore to have a quick look for trousers, thinking outdoor environment, they should have a good selection of trousers. Eventually it was suggested that I try a pair of Paramo Cascada trousers in shorter short leg length; success.

What a revelation, a pair of trousers that did exactly what it said on the tin and fitted perfectly. The Cascada trousers are an all-in one trouser, warm, waterproof, breathable with an adjustable elastic waistband and leg vents; a superb trouser. I have been wearing my Cascada trousers for about a month and am very pleased with their performance. No more wind rustling up your trouser leg and if you have to kneel down in the wet grass to photograph, no problem.


Picture Copyright Paramo Ltd


Also, I have been wearing my trousers for my other passion, carriage driving. Working with horses and standing on the back of a carriage can be wet, windy and a bit muddy. I am happy to report that with my Cascada trousers on I stayed warm, dry and comfortable, if not clean.

For me the Cascada trouser is the ideal trouser. A major issue for me is leg length; the Cascada comes in a variety of leg lengths in most sizes. Not being very tall the shorter short leg length is ideal, no more turning up trousers!  It is available in muted colours and has an elastic waistband that is adjustable with a draw cord, very useful when you wear a variety of base and mid layers. The adjustable leg vents mean that if the sun comes out and you get a bit warm, you have your own personalised ventilation system, unzip to the required comfort level. Also, as the trousers have a waterproof outer shell you don’t have to put on a pair of waterproof trousers/leggings over the top; a bit or rain, no problem, just carry on, warm and dry. I have yet to try the trousers in very cold weather, but feel that they will be suitable with the addition of a pair of base layer leggings.

Oh, one final point. The Cascada trouser is available in both Ladies and Gents specific cuts. Gentlemen, I hope your trousers are as successful as my Ladies ones.


Disclaimer: Please note that the views express in this article are entirely our own opinions and in no way should be attributed to Paramo Ltd or any associated companies.

Here in the south we have at last seen signs of spring on the way. Daytime temperatures have been pleasantly warm with the sun shining, if still a little cold at night. The buds on the trees are all starting to sprout and forsythia is in bloom.

Despite the weather beginning to turn here in the south, I know for some people in the northern half of the country the wet and snowy weather continues. It must seem to you folks that spring is never going to start.

I hope towards the end of the Easter weekend the weather starts to turn a little warmer again and that we have some warm sunny days as this brings a lift to all creatures great and small. Hope is the operative word.

The weekly mean average temperatures for March were,

maximum temperature          14.8°c
minimum temperature         -1.3°c.