A Belated Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!!! Yes, I know its late, but this is my first blogpost of 2012 & if I didn't say it, I wouldn't be a Scotsman. This will be a good year. I've decided. So there.
However, I don't think this is quite the winter that we were expecting. Given the weather in the past couple of years, I think we were all expecting snow, ice etc and it just hasn't materialised. I must admit to being disappointed. I like the cold. Its thrown nature out of sync too. The other day, I went to Leighton Moss RSPB and was amazed to see snowdrops already in bloom. Also, driving down a country road in the dark the other night, a couple of mice shot across in front of the car. And this morning I could see bugs dancing over the garden. All well and good, but the thing is it should be cold. And if we get a sudden cold snap, these prey species could be killed off causing serious problems for predator species later in the year.
But thats enough doom & gloom for one day. Lets try & get the years blogging off to a good start.
I actually went to Leighton Moss to try and get some decent shots of the bitterns that winter there. Last year  the lakes froze completely and the warden was putting supplementary food out for them. so they were really easy to see, in fact one birder suggested getting one of them a top hat and cane! This year however, they're a lot more elusive and other than a movement in the reeds which COULD have been a bittern (or a water rail, a pride of lions or even the marching band of the Coldstream Guards...) well, lets just say I missed the opportunity. So I took a look at last years attempts again. And thats when it struck me. The problem with a lot of shots taken on bird reserves is the distance to the subject. Even with the best optics in the world, if its too far away, its too far away. So a long time ago I learned to compose AROUND the subject, with a view to cropping in slightly to make a saleable print. Needless to say this doesn't always go according to plan. However, over the past couple of years, some of my bird images have ended up as panoramics. When I stop and think about it, this was what struck me about the scenes originally, albeit subconsciously. However, because of difficulties in printing & framing, the rarely see the light of day. Until  now. I'd love to hear what people think of them.


Panoramic Bird images - Images by Ken & Kitty Clark

Limited Edition Prints

With Christmas on its way, I've decided to release a series of limited edition prints. These will only be available to order directly from me, (contact details are on the website, as are prices!) and are printed to a really high quality on Hahnemulhe Sugar Cane paper, an environmentally friendly paper made from by products of the sugar industry. Only five copies will be printed of each, so hurry if you don't want to miss out!

Limited Edition Prints - Images by Ken & Kitty Clark

Wet wet wet!

Red Stag - Images by Ken & Kitty Clark

The weather has been abysmal here recently, and in between trying to improve on my nuthatch shots, I've been following up a lead sent to me by a friend about the bearded tits at Leighton Moss RSPB. Apparently they've been putting in regular appearances at the grit trays recently, but needless to say as soon as I appear with a camera, they vanish. Maybe one day......

Early one Tuesday morning however, my friend Isabel Benchetrit and myself had been waiting since before dawn and getting wetter by the minute. In the end, we decided to make a run for the Grisedale hide and try to dry out for a bit. However, while we were there, one of the resident red stags took a walk through the marsh. They turned out to be the best shots we got all day & as you can see, the rain didn't let up for a minute!

The nut thief

Before I moved to England, I'd never seen a Nuthatch. In fact if you ask any Scots Birder, they'll probably tell you that its quite a rare bird really. I don't think my Dad has ever seen one.
Come south of the border however & its a whole new ball game. They're as common as muck. So much so, that everyone ignores them, or just doesn't see them.So I've decided to try my luck with an ongoing project revolving around a long established pair at a local country park. This pair actually have the car park within their territory, so are well habituated to humans, & hopefully will get quite used to the 'big eye' looking at them as time goes on. I've no idea what to expect from this, but the first results are quite promising so only time will tell!


Nuthatches - Images by Ken & Kitty Clark

Temporary suspension of sanity........

Strange title for a blog entry I know, but if you knew me you'd probably agree! I started the summer with great intentions of getting out there & finally getting the roe deer shots I'd always dreamed of. It never happened. Not only have I seen remarkably few roe deer this summer  ( in fact only two and they were at the side of the motorway,) I've taken remarkably few photographs either. this is mainly due to events entirely within my control (i.e I was too @£$%$%$ lazy to get out there & do it) and the fact that I've been busy trying to make a living. Obviously for someone who is supposed to be a pro wildlife photographer this really isn't good enough so rest assured I will be taking steps to remedy this.
In the meantime, I've been working at loads of craft fairs, and the culmination of the summer period was for us to have a 3 page article about the business published in Lancashire Life. Its in the September issue and is currently on their website, so please take a look!

A Quick snapshot of our stall at a local fair

The Art of Invisibility

I have a confession to make. I've been having a love affair. With a deer.
For as long as I can remember, Roe Deer have fascinated me. I couldn't tell you why. After all they're not big & impressive like their red cousins, they don't bellow their heads off every autumn, and they don't travel in huge herds. In fact, they don't actually do much that makes them stand out at all. But what they do amazingly well, is disappear.
Roe are THE masters of the now you see it now you don't trick. They stand there, look straight at you and then just vanish. It actually seems to be downright uncanny. In the shot at the top of this blog, The little buck watched me for a couple of minutes, then turned into the hedge & disappeared. I've no idea where he went.
As July starts, so does the rutting season, so I'll be out there trying my hardest to get THAT shot. you know which one I mean, the magical one that stops everyone in their tracks. Maybe this year is my lucky year! In the next few posts, I'll keep you updated as to my progress and also give a few facts hint & tips about this species. In the meantime, if anyone out there knows of any good tips on shooting roe, I'll be glad to hear them!

Craft fairs & more craft fairs!

Its been a busy summer so far! those who follow my facebook fan page will know that I've started attending craft fairs in the north of England, with great success. The initial plan was to do two per month, and see how it went. However, they've proved so successful that they're eating into the time I spend doing everything else. The problem lies with the fact that I print everything I sell. and that takes a lot of time. I could farm it out, of course, but then I'd lose control over the finished product. This may seem a little control freakish but to me the quality of my products is everything. So, I guess for the next few months I'll just have to get up earlier & make the best of the light!