Mark Hamblin Photography

Image of the month - 2010/3/01

2010/3/01

It's early March and whilst I hear reports of frogs spawning in the south of England, snow still carpets the ground here in the Highlands. Its been a tough winter for wildlife and grazing species such as deer and hares have had it harder than most. With their food buried beneath up to 1m of snow since before Christmas many animals have died or been severely weakened. Traditionally a forest dwelling animal, most of Scotland's red deer live out on the hill year round where grazing is often of poor quality and wintry conditions are at their worst. On Alvie Estate in Strathspey many of resident stags congregate in the old Caledonian pine forest where they receive a daily hand out of high protein pellets and silage. This month as the weather improves they will begin to disperse and stags like this one which have been very approachable all winter long, allowing photographers like myself to come within 20m, will suddenly become flighty and wary of humans.

News: Squirrel nutkin on the up

Fri, 26 February 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Some good news for red squirrels. According to a report from the Scottish Wildlife Trust's 'Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels' project, one of our favourite British mammals is beginning to return to areas of Scotland where they have not been seen for years. This is largely at the expense of the non-native grey squirrel whose numbers are being controlled to encourage reds to increase and expand their range as well as taking measures to prevent the spread of squirrelpox virus. Killing one species to safeguard another may not necessarily be palatable to everyone and is a contentious aspect of nature conservation. And it's not the greys fault of course having been introduced by us but I must admit that I'd rather have reds in my local wood given the choice. They're just so much more attractive than their American cousins!

To donate or get involved visit the project web site.

Baited with peanuts. Taken in local wood 23/02/2010

News: Hard times

Thu, 25 February 2010 00:00:01 GMT

I know us photographers would live in the Highlands are always banging on about the weather but this year's snow has been unprecedented and we have just had another 40-50cm in the past 36 hours and it's still falling. Whilst this looks great, local wildlife is struggling. I found a dead roe deer a few weeks back that had succumbed to the harsh conditions as well as two brown hares. Along with putting out peanuts for the garden birds I also put out carrion for buzzards and a male kestrel that hangs around near the house. Today for the first time he was feeding on a road-killed blackbird just metres from the kitchen window, so hoping to get my lens trained on him over next few days. This is one of the same bird taken last year.

News: The winter rolls on

Tue, 16 February 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Its now been over 2 months with snow on the ground save for a few days last week with another 6 inches arriving today. Not that I'm complaining - it has been great for photography. Last week I hosted Edwin Kats a friend and fellow photographer from Holland and we enjoyed a pretty intensive 5 days out in the field. To be honest, on all bar one of these days I would have normally stayed in behind the monitor but as is often the case when you make the effort to get out there it yields results. A windy day on the tops was perhaps the highlight of the week with good numbers of ptarmigan and interesting conditions to help capture something different. These are a couple of minimalist images I liked.

News: The Apprentice

Thu, 4 February 2010 00:00:01 GMT

On Monday and Tuesday this week I was out with Photo Plus magazine helping to shoot their Apprentice feature, which involved imparting my vast photographic knowledge onto two local photographers keen to improve their skills. Suffice it to say that it didn't take long but hopefully they went away with more than cold feet! So, thank you to Paul and Dave from Photo Plus and to Adrian and Heidi my willing apprentices - if nothing else we enjoyed several very welcome hot chocolates!

News: Pearls of wisdom

Sat, 27 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

For those of you seeking some pearls of wisdom (I'm not sure why you're here in the first place) then you may be interested in a feature in the latest Practical Photography magazine (March 2010) in which I give supposedly expert tips and advice on winter wildlife photography. You'll be helping drag the UK out of recession if nothing else!

News: Trumpet blowing!

Fri, 26 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

I have to admit that I still get a real buzz from seeing one of my images on a front cover so I'm unashamedly sharing this with you! On a personal level, BBC Wildlife has always been one of the most prestigious magazines to have work published in and so this month's (Feb) cover shot is especially pleasing. We all need our ego stroked now and again!

News: A yomp in the hills bears fruit

Thu, 25 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

With the forecast for the rest of the week looking grim, I ventured out this afternoon for a yomp in the hills in search of mountain hares. I soon flushed several, which high-tailed it up the hill and over the horizon. Feeling a little cheesed off at their lack of approachability I munched my way through a half frozen snickers, when for no apparent reason a hare decided I was interesting after all and ran straight towards me, quickly followed by a second and then a third. Sometimes you just get lucky!

News: SOS!

Thu, 25 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

On Saturday, I was down in West Sussex presenting the Tooth & Claw talk, which I was pleased was very well received with lots of interesting feedback and discussion generated as a result. Many thanks to the Sussex Ornithological Society for staging a very enjoyable conference. And special thanks to Rob and Sue who very kindly hosted me for the week-end - I'm still full from a fabulous meal at The Bay Tree in Arundel - well worth a visit!

Golden eagle (wild) feeding on roe deer, Norway, November 2008

News: Generation gap

, 21 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Searching for images today, I headed down Glenfeshie home to a few fragments of Caledonian pine forest set in spectacular scenery. The wind was blowing hard and I was feeling lazy so I resorted to the 500mm lens from the car window to capture a section of regenerating forest. It was encouraging to see good numbers of young pines beginning to re-cloak the steep hillsides largely as a result of a significant reduction in red deer numbers in recent years.

News: Seeing is believing

Fri, 19 January 2010 00:00:01 GMT

The old adage of the camera never lies was never really true and certainly isn't in today's digital age, so how sure can we be that what we are looking at in a picture is the 'truth' and does it matter? The controversy surrounding this year's winning image in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year would suggest it does matter. Very much. And I would certainly wish to know the authenticity of any given image. But what about the odd tweak here and there in Photoshop? Film stocks like Velvia have long been altering the look of an image so what's the difference? The problem as I see it is that now no-one can be sure that they are looking at a 'straight' image for all sorts of reasons and this, I believe takes away from genuine photographic, and more importantly fieldcraft, skills. Many would argue that it's the final image that matters. I'm not so sure.

Dawn light over Cromdale Hills, Cairngorms National Park, 19/01/2010

Stories: Living alongside foxes (& badgers)

Sitting here in a hotel room near Gatwick with the roar of jet engines passing overhead every few minutes is not exactly out there 'in the field' but I've just spent two days with a man who has discovered a great deal about foxes no more than 50m from his back door in a leafy Kent village. Mike Towler is a man on a mission. He is fascinated by fox behaviour and spends an enormous amount of his time in their company. He also cares for injured foxes and rehabilitates orphaned cubs, releasing them back into the wild from his 9 acre garden.

Stories: On a Mission to Lithuania

My first mission for the greatest ever pan-European photographic project - The Wild Wonders of Europe is to the Baltic state of Lithuania, a country under Russian rule until 1990 and one of the richest for birdlife in eastern Europe. My main subject for this mission is the white stork, the national bird of Lithuania which can be found throughout the country with around 16,000 breeding pairs, most of them it seems on telegraph poles! Not ideal for photography so I'm on the look out for one on an attractive building. Four days of searching and only pole-nesters but at least I find a couple of feeding storks in damp flower meadows so a few shots in the can.