I don’t normally enter photographic competitions that get advertised on the web and in the papers. However, last week, a friend of mine suggested that I enter some competitions as he felt that my pictures stood a chance of being accepted. I entered this image of Galloping Horses taken in the Camargues region of France earlier this year. To my surprise it won this weeks Big Picture competition. The picture featured on the Daily Telegraph homepage initially and then it was printed on the back page of the Travel section  in the Saturday Telegraph on 20th June 2009. My claim to fame for a day.

The first of this years Greater Spotted Woodpeckers have arrived in the garden. There are two juveniles this year and it seems that they are never too far apart. They are however, not so happy to share the same branch on a tree, one arriving often chases the other one away. This one seems to be “cutting its teeth” on the dead wood of the branch.  

It is not very often that you get the chance to see the Queen, let alone photograph her. Last month I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity whilst the Queen was making a tour of my local area.  

I went to Bempton Cliffs for the first time recently and met up with some photographic friends. The last time I had attempted sea birds in flight proved to be difficult due to the light available and the wind direction on the day. This time the light was very different, mainly overcast but it was just as windy. Here are a couple of the smaller species that I saw flying around. A Razorbill and a Puffin.            

I was attracted by the clouds and blue sky this morning so I decided to set about capturing images of the garden Robin. Many attempts later here is one of the better images of the day.    

I have just got my Canon MK3 camera back from the Auto Focus recall adjustment. This weekend I decided to try it out on some larger birds. This Heron was one of  a number nest building in the trees. 

High Speed Flash Photography with digital equipment makes this kind of image possible, without too much waste. I cannot begin to imagine how many rolls of film and chemicals I would have used had I attempted to capture this kind of image pre digital. Not to mention the time it would have taken!The arrival of some snow in the UK prompted me to dust off the flash guns and have another try at high speed flash photography of birds.

Winter is here and also in Europe, so the camera travelled to Austria for some photographic opportunities in the snow.

These Huskys were running across a snow covered field. The light was poor and I had to use a high ISO setting. I hope to return later in the year for another attempt.

Here is another from my Kenya trip back in October 2008. These two had been half playing, half hunting for some time in a fairly open and rocky landscape. Most of the time they were sepaarated and I was fortunate that they crossed to form this shape after lots of waiting time. 

Here is another image taken during last months visit to Kenya. This one was taken very early morning just as the sun was rising. The shadow cast on mum by the left hand cub shows that the light was almost horizontal . The right hand side cub was looking for a cheeky meal as its mum walked past.