WILDLIFE LADY
I was born in London and spent more than the first half of my life living in a large town in Essex. As a child I loved animals, reading about them, having pets and watching birds in the garden. I was an avid reader and enjoyed reading stories about horses and then people's studies of wildlife in places like Kenya. One of my favourite books was Born Free by Joy Adamson. I used to imagine what it would be like to have a wild animal as a friend. When I went on holidays both as a child and an adult I used to look at the birds and enjoy seeing them, but did not know the names of any but the most common, and certainly knew nothing of identifying them. The biggest change in my life came when I finally learnt to drive when I was in my thirties.
For many years I had wanted to go to the New Forest for a holiday but it seemed a car was essential, so I had never been. Once I learnt to drive that changed and I booked a holiday cottage, so I could see the wild New Forest ponies. For some reason I had also always longed to badgers so I booked to go into a hide and see my first badgers. That moment changed my life.
Once I returned home I started to look for a badger sett so I could watch these fascinating animals. It took some time but eventually I found a sett and started to watch the badgers. I spent more than five wonderful years watching this one sett. The badgers and I got to know each other very well. I had my Born Free moment when the cubs started to climb in my lap and the the adults showed incredible trust in me. While I was watching and studying the badgers I became more aware of birds and other mammals and generally started to see the world in a different light. My interest in wildlife has grown from those days.
I have not had any formal
photographic training but started to use a camera when I
was a teenager, with mixed results, but I was at least
getting photos to use as wonderful memories of the things
I saw. During my working life I worked in a shop which
sold photographic equipment, so learnt about SLR cameras.
Eventually I bought a Fujica and telephoto lens. I used
this and enjoyed the results. I did not take regular
photographs and when I started watching the badgers the
camera came out of moth balls. I was not too disappointed
with the results until I saw the photos taken by a friend
on a Canon SLR. I just had to have one. I bought a Canon
350 and a telephoto lens. In the early days of digital I
tried one camera and was disappointed with the results.
After I moved from Essex to Bedfordshire I looked at
digital photography again and bought a Canon EOS350D, I
liked the photographs I was getting with this. I was now
taking more pictures of birds and going on trips to
Scotland for otters and eagles. I subsequently invested
in a 100m - 400mm Canon Zoom Lens.
In 2009 my husband and I moved to Scotland, a dream come
true for both of us. I now spend much of my free time
walking with our dog Isla and watching and photographing
the wildlife which lives in Scotland.
I retain the copyright of
all photographs on this site and no photo can be used for
any purpose without my permission.
All photos on my web site can be purchased, please go to
the purchase page for details.
My badger "friend" Fern and two of her cubs. |
