Lone Wolf

I haven't photographed much in the way of nature and wildlife for a few years, working more recently on Weddings and now Landscape images. I really enjoyed it though, photographing in and around the Nature Reserves of Lincolnshire. I concentrated on butterflies and dragonflies in the main, utilising the rather superb Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro lens mounted to my Nikon D200. Occasionaly I would venture further afield, sometimes to a zoo or wildlife park and this image of a Grey/Gray wolf was taken at one such park in Aviemore, Scotland, in the heart of the beautiful and rugged Cairngorms Mountain range. The enclosure is one of the biggest in Europe and it afforded some very impressive views of these majestic creatures. I always try and capture as natural an image as I possibly can, avoiding fences and wires wherever possible. I had watched the wolves for about 30 minutes and noticed that occasionally they would stop and stand on a small hillock, staring down towards the viewing enclosure where I was set up, Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300m F2.8 all ready and attached to a sturdy Manfrotto tripod. It was cold, snow had been falling throughout the morning and I was getting a bit fidgety, standing still in the rather exposed and blowy vantage point. Finally a wolf willingly obliged and stood in the perfect position, staring down towards me, a backdrop of tangled branches and snow. I just had time to fire off a couple of shots before he decided he had had enough and trotted off.

The image has been quite successful for me, selling amongst others to a National newspaper and art poster site. It's one of those iconic pictures you quite often see of a lone wolf, a rather haunting depiction of such a beautiful animal, and one we need to protect at all costs.

Beautiful Lone Wolf

Stock

For a number of years now, I have been submitting a wide variety of photographs to various stock agencies. For people who aren't familiar with these companies, they basically allow you to upload your images to their database, where clients can search for, and buy pictures which are needed for their book publications, magazines or websites, (subject to quality control). I have sold numerous images to these sites and most have been fairly run of the mill and not particularly inspiring. I have come to realise that the more ordinary the image, the more likely it is to sell. This goes against everything I have learned to look for as a photographer, and whenever I venture out to take stock photos, I have to bear this in mind. That doesn't mean to say that the image can be poorly exposed or out of focus, just that anything and everything sells. Alamy is my preferred stock agency and they are fantastic. Images sell for good money and they really know how to push your work. They also have an international presence and a news section, where you can upload any breaking news stories.

This rather simple crossword image has so far sold twenty times through various stock agencies, and was shot with my Nikon D200 and Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro lens on a manfrotto tripod.

I have to confess that this isn't my image, it's my girlfriend Emma's. (Although I did edit it). This has sold three times through Alamy so far, and has netted over $900. Nikon D90 with Nikkor 18-70mm lens. You can follow Emma over on her blog,   www.organdie.wordpress.com