New Exhibition

I've just come back from the Portico Gallery in south-west London who have kindly agreed to exhibit a collection of my photographs this May! I will be showing 16 of my most recent wildlife photographs as part of the Dulwich Festival and their Artists' Open House scheme,  http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/content/artists-open-house-3, from 11th-20th May. I will post a link for my exhibition in the next week or so, where you will be able to find useful information and also view all of the photographs on show.

Keep an eye here for more information coming very soon! 

Hong Kong photos

Well I'm back from Hong Kong and it was a fabulous trip. Although the photography opportunities were few in the forests of Tai Po Kau, it was great to see so many exotic species and to get a sense of what the area is like. All good research for future trips!

Here are my two favourite pictures. As you can see, one is of a peacock, which is not a wild bird but is part of the small collection at Kowloon Park. I took the photograph in colour and then converted to black and white in post processing, cropping it as well to create my window framing effect. 

This next image is on the other hand of a very common native bird, the oriental magpie robin. I saw these everywhere I went, whether it was in Kowloon Park where this individual was photographed or in the depths of the Tai Po Kau forest reserve. They were very approachable but often hopping along tarmac, so rarely offered photogenic opportunities. This is hardly a brilliant picture, but it's a classic portrait shot of an attractive bird on a perch with out-of-focus background. 

Most of the time however I spent watching the wildlife rather than photographing it, which, to be honest, is really what I prefer doing. I think any wildlife photographer would say the same thing, that they would rather sit back and watch a beautiful animal than constantly click away at it through their SLR. I have written up a birdwatching report here, with some additional photos (albeit all ID shots), for those who might be interested in what wildlife watching in HK is like: 

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227285

Stay tuned for photos from Italy and Normandy within the month. 

Thanks for reading, 

Paul 

Hong Kong tomorrow!

I'm off on holiday tomorrow to Hong Kong and the outlaying islands of Lantau and Cheung Chau, where I hope to indulge in the first serious wildlife photography I've done in months. I expect to find a great variety of birdlife such as red whiskered bulbuls and fork tailed sunbirds around the city parks and also in the forest reserve of Tai Po Kau, which is reportedly the best place in HK to see forest birds and the feral rhesus macaques. I'll also be spending a whole day at Mai Po, which at this time of year is the absolute greatest birdwatching, and fingers crossed photographic, experience.