Wildlife & travel images by Darren Hector

You don’t need expensive kit …

Darren — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:37:10 +0000

Just to prove you don’t need expensive kit to make wildlife images, here’s one I took several years back at Pulborough Brooks RSPB reserve in Sussex using a Canon 350D and a Sigma 170-500mm. I used that lens for quite a while for birds in my back garden and on trips, and while it was a bit noisy for my liking, it certainly got me started. I bought it on ebay for a fraction of the £500 or so cost in those days.

Of course, the important thing is field craft which is necessary even when you have one of the larger telephoto lenses. Robins are a good place to start, they’re quite plucky and if you treat them well and don’t make any loud noises or sharp movements, you should be able to gently crawl or even walk towards them and they’ll stick around.

I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve stood in a location watching a robin and it’s got slowly closer checking me out, until the longer telephotos are out of range anyway because the bird has come so close. If you have a regular visitor to your garden, then you can try and tempt it with mealworms from the pet shop. Hold some in your outstretched palm, and once it’s got used to you and knows that you’re not a threat, it will perch on your hand and feed.

Always one of my favourite encounters.

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Triplefin blenny

Darren — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:37:22 +0000

Thought I should find an underwater pic for today, given I’ve spent all day in a lake in the midlands working with freshwater crayfish. This is a triplefin blenny, from my trip earlier this year to the Philippines. It’s one of those small reef fish that move quite quickly if you get too close, so as much as I would on land I need to approach slowly and without any sudden movements. The crayfish are somewhat slower moving!

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Totally engrossed

Rosamundi — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:05:10 +0000

Every Friday, Darren invites someone to become ‘Guest Editor’ for the day to choose and discuss three or four images that have not been previously published on the website. Today’s Guest Editor is Rosamundi, a keen amateur photographer with a swan obsession, you can find out more about her than you ever wanted to know by going to her website.

Darren’s going to tell me off for anthropomorphising, but I was struck by the sense of wonder and delight I got from this picture – the way he appears to be totally engrossed by what has captured his attention to the extent that he is oblivious to everything else nearby.

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Are you pregnant?

Rosamundi — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:02:16 +0000

I thought the elephant was pregnant at first, but Darren doesn’t think so. And then I started wondering what it would be like to be pregnant for 22 months and thought “I’m glad I’m not a female elephant.”

I love the way she’s strolling towards the camera, curious but not at all alarmed, with the blue of the mountains in the background, and the contrast between her size and the delicate, almost balletic way her foot is resting on the ground.

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Tentacles up if you’re not a fish!

Rosamundi — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:53:15 +0000

Hands up who thought this was a fish? I am assured by Darren that it’s a Common Octopus, and I guess I’ll have to take his word for it, since he was the one who took the photo. Proof that Nature is infinitely ingenious when it comes to finding ways of avoiding being eaten, or not being noticed whilst lying in wait for things to eat.