Recent Posts

Welcome!

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Mark Hamblin

Whilst I’m sure that many of you are already following the progress of 2020VISION on Facebook and through our News page, may I now welcome you to ‘Photographers’ Diaries’, a grand name for a blog! This is where our Pro Team of photographers and videographers as well as the 2020VISION Young Champions will be revealing their tales from the field, funny anecdotes, and stories behind the 20 iWitness Assignments that we’ll be covering over the next 20 months. We’ll be bringing you their latest stories, images and video clips as they come in, keeping you right up to date with what’s happening. Enjoy and please get involved with your comments and feedback.

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Glenfeshie – restoring Caledonia

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Peter Cairns

How cool is it that one of the most ambitious restoration projects in the UK is happening in the back garden of my next-door neighbour? OK, I’m stretching the truth of it just a wee bit. Glenfeshie Estate’s back garden is nearly 50,000 acres. It’s a chunk of some of Scotland’s wildest country and although technically, they are a neighbour, it takes me nearly an hour to drive through the estate and follow the winding tracks up into the hills to my chosen viewpoint.

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Posted in iWitness, More than just some hills, Scottish uplands | 2 Comments

Carbon capture

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Niall Benvie

The origins of this latest image in the series of conceptual pictures for 2020VISION came about almost two years ago when the team was knocking about ideas for illustrating carbon sequestration and the importance of bogs in this respect. The idea of digging holes to bury bags of C’s was a close as we came to anything at the time and the idea went on the back boiler until recently when, with deadlines looming, I got myself into gear.

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Posted in iWitness, More than just a peat bog | Tags , , , , | Leave a comment

Reflections of a Young Champion

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Katrina Martin

With the photograph-taking period of 2020VISION coming to an end, it gives me an ideal opportunity to reflect on the past sixteen months during my role as Young Champion. Being fortunate to grow up out in a remote countryside village, I really jumped at the opportunity to communicate to others how amazing the natural world is when we get up close and personal with it. And using photography – a medium I love – made the whole experience that much more exciting.

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Posted in More than just urban green space, Young Champions | Tags , , , , , | 5 Comments

Finding some Headspace

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Peter Cairns

Almost 2 years ago to the day I pressed the shutter with my camera pointing at a pure white ptarmigan high in the Cairngorms and in doing so bagged my first shot for the 2020VISION project. Recently, I undertook my final assignment and what a difference in habitats. The Cairngorm Mountains are high, rugged and remote. Morecambe Bay is low, flat and surrounded by industry. As such, it’s not the easiest place to work. The forecast was mixed and with a short window of opportunity, I have to say I felt a wee bit pressured. The likes of Chris Gomersall, David Tipling, Danny Green and Mark Hamblin had already fed fantastic images into the story I was following – that of the UK’s estuaries and saltmarshes being ‘More than just mud’. So my task was simple: evocative scenics in dramatic light. Sounds straightforward on paper – trouble is I don’t know the area very well so I had to hit the ground running.


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Posted in iWitness, More than just a salt marsh, Morecambe Bay | Tags , , | 1 Comment

Family fun in the Fens

Posted on April 19, 2012 by David Tipling

Last month I had a wry smile to myself as it was 20 years ago that I jacked in my day job and became a professional wildlife photographer. There have been many highs and lows along the way but I’ve survived. Not necessarily by good judgement either. It was a recent trip deep into the Fens on a mission for 2020VISION that got me thinking about one particularly ill conceived purchase I made 20 years ago. Leaving my job with a fat redundancy cheque, I had always dreamed of an MG Midget. Having had to give back my company car I needed wheels, so a Midget seemed the answer. If there is a more impractical car for a wildlife photographer it has to be an MG.  Not great along farm tracks or pulling up on to verges, no security – a 3 year old could open the boot – and high maintenance. I could go on, but it was the maintenance to get the thing through the MOT that was the killer. On the plus side, girls seemed to take to riding in it with the hood down, except those that had been to the hairdressers that day.

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Posted in Cambridgeshire and East Anglian Fens, iWitness, More than just a wetland | Tags , , | Leave a comment

Crane Chorus Lines and the Next Generation

Posted on April 11, 2012 by NickUpton

Rambling through Somerset’s Levels and Moors was once a tranquil experience, accompanied by a gentle rural soundtrack of churring grasshoppers, lowing cattle and singing skylarks.  Today, the raucous chorusing of excitable Cranes adds a noisier note.  These huge birds are back, on the increase and they’re making a right song and dance about it. Their primeval calls send tingles down my spine and fuel an obsessive urge to document the historic return of the Crane to one of its ancient haunts.


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Posted in More than just a wetland, Somerset Levels | Tags , , , | 1 Comment

Eagerly waiting

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Mark Hamblin

Raptors don’t come any more impressive than the white-tailed eagle and so when I was presented with a unique opportunity to photograph the UK’s largest bird of prey at it’s nest in Wester Ross I didn’t need much persuading. These days nest photography is out of vogue and some may argue unnecessary given the fact that there are alternatives ways to photograph most species relatively easily. But there are occasions when images of vulnerable species taken at the nest site can help promote the need for their ongoing conservation as well as raise awareness about their success as a breeding species. White-tailed eagles, for a long time extinct in the UK are slowly making a comeback thanks to a concerted re-introduction programme that stretches back to the mid-70′s. There have been plenty of low moments along the way, both for the eagles and those at the forefront of their re-introduction but finally after more than 35 years their future is looking more secure.

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Posted in Caledonian pinewoods, iWitness, More than just a forest | Tags , , , , | 4 Comments

A late Christmas present

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Damian Waters

A biting gale, pea sized hail pinging off my face and fingers so cold that I could barely press the shutter button.  Not what I had in mind when Mark Hamblin got in touch and asked if I fancied photographing some Christmas trees. As it turned out, though, these were almost perfect conditions to view a unique Christmas tree recycling project at the National Trust’s Formby Point on Merseyside.  The trees, many of which have stood sentinel in the corner of family living rooms over the holiday period, are being used in a project to try and protect the extensive sand dunes.

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Unsung heroes of the creepy crawlie kind.

Posted on March 19, 2012 by NickUpton

If you ever need a wildlife fix, you really don’t have to go far, at least not between April and October when hordes of creeping, slithering and fluttering creatures are out and about in your garden, your neighbourhood and your local cities..   OK, so not everyone loves “bugs” and some over-zealous gardeners might consider a few as pests but maybe we should cut them some slack?

It may be hard to make a totally convincing case for slugs (though their sex lives are really “out there”….), vine weevils (but they do have nice faces..) or Lily beetles (very colourful….) but when 2020VISION gave in to my pestering and said they’d check out my macro shots I knew I had a chance to fly the flag for the most overlooked, but actually most useful creatures around us.  Well bees and wasps at least are useful (yes wasps and hornets too are good guys, they hunt “pests” for most of the summer!) whilst badgers and hedgehogs love nothing better than munching on Maybugs, slugs and snails.

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Posted in iWitness, More than just urban green space | Tags , , , | Leave a comment

Dormouse dedication

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Terry Whittaker

I depend on the kindness of strangers.* When starting a new photography project the first step is always to research it as thoroughly as possible and this invariably involves finding biologists, field workers and habitat managers who are experts on the subject. I’m always a little surprised at how generous with their time and knowledge these, often very busy, people are once I explain what I want to do and why.

Earlier in the summer when Mark H asked me if I could add hazel dormouse to my assignment list I knew I was going to need a lot of help. To photograph this small, rare, arboreal and nocturnal mammal in the wild was going to be a challenge. Luckily in the Kent Mammal Group (KMG) there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise within a fairly close-knit group of people.


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Posted in iWitness, More than just a forest | Tags , , | 2 Comments