The changing face of wildlife photography

Photography of wildlife is, to the field naturalist, just as much part of the scene as a field notebook or identification book.

It can be used for a number of reasons from basic recording for one’s own satisfaction, as a record for regional reports or even as a means of identification. The latter includes some of the real rarities that may need photographs to confirm identification.

The history of such photography is fascinating in its own right and for the older readers, including myself, it has gone from the old fashioned box camera right through to the modern equipment that cost several thousands of pounds, sometimes much more.

What started as basic black and white photography has now developed into digital cameras and the use of computers to manipulate the resulting images on the screen.

My own photography of wildlife started with a basic 35mm camera and the use of black and white films that, in most cases, were the norm.

One of the problems was buying film, the storage, and then there was the excitement of getting the films developed, printed, and awaiting the results with almost bated breath.

In contrast, now I can take a photograph from my study, transfer it from camera to computer and then, if needed, print off the results, all in the space of a few minutes.

In the early days I had a dark room and when I worked for the Nature Conservancy Council in Inverness, two or three of us shared a dark room devoted to that, and mixing chemicals was the order of the day.

As for the equipment, I suppose the turning point was when I upgraded from 35mm camera to a large format – a Hasselblad outfit at 6cm x 6cm square. I had two telephoto lenses and different backs so I could change from black and white to colour.

By then my sole purpose in taking photographs was to use them to illustrate my writing. If I was to visit remote areas such as the several expeditions to Iceland I led or to visit remote islands such as St Kilda, then photography was major part of the whole planning.

The photograph of gannets was taken on St Kilda and was used to illustrate several articles on that fascinating archipelago. On that trip I was on a small cruise boat for 14 days and the end result was well over 600 photographs.

Part of the problem with the trips was the sheer weight of the equipment, especially the larger format. This was particularly the case with the expeditions to Iceland.

Nowadays my photography revolves around the digital scene using a Canon outfit. Apart from the basic camera I have a standard lens, a macro for photographing close-ups of wild flowers and insects, plus a telephoto lens. The latter is a Canon 100mm to 400mm lens with an extender to increase the magnification if I need it.

The outfit is entirely automatic both in exposure and focusing. No more rushing into dark rooms and getting the temperature right for chemicals.

If you want any equipment you can just go online or visit the huge shops where the selection is amazing and sometimes bewildering.

I can still recall the thrill of the image slowly coming out of a developing tray in the dark room. It just makes me appreciate the modern approach even more.

There have been many developments since then such as the automatic cameras you can use in the garden or elsewhere that will record wildlife when you are just not there. I have not gone down that road – yet!

However, I have used cameras inside nestboxes which is an on-going experiment with cameras in a swift box and a blue tit box, so watch this space.

Of course, there have been many spin-offs such as the plethora of books on photography, and you only have to look in bookshops to realise how popular this has become.

There are not only very detailed books about each model of camera you can have but also many more about technique. There are now so many books on photography it is very difficult to choose the best for your purpose.

* Record of the week must go down to my visit last week to what I consider one of the best “meccas” for butterflies in the Highlands.

Over the years it has become my favourite place to see butterflies with a wide range of species from small blue to dingy skipper.

It is the sand dunes east of Nairn and in the past I have seen around 18 species there, including migrants such as the painted lady. With so few butterflies this year, I thought the dunes would be the answer.

The weather was bright with no breeze although, to be fair, not sunny. It started well with lots of bumblebees on the banks of rosebay willowherb. I had not gone far when I realised things were not right as, for the first 100 yards, not one butterfly was seen.

Before the track opened into the flat area there was only one butterfly, a Scotch argus. In the open and up onto the dunes there was only a meadow brown with the large number of green-veined whites – not much consolation.