Elephant, Masai Mara, Kenya, November 2010.

Everyone has their own photographic morals, ethics and practices – everyone chooses their own and undoubtedly enjoys the respect given. This is not a judgement on those whose principles may differ from my own, it’s just that these are mine and these are what I try to adhere to.

Subjects

Every picture on this website is of a wild animal, which is not trained, baited or under any kind of controlled conditions. And all pictures are of free to roam wild animals not dependent on humans for survival, not captive or kept, except where indicated. Those indicated are of Scottish wildcats and red foxes which were taken from within large enclosures at the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey, England.

Post Processing, retouching and manipulation

I prefer to use Adobe Lightroom for post processing and with the exception of some black and white work everything has been processed using that program. I’ve resisted the temptation to clone, remove or add any element such as small as a leaf or twig or indeed anything larger. Actually no picture has passed through Adobe Photoshop except for some black and whites ones where I’ve used the burn and dodge tool there. I also avoid artificial blurring, or use any other kind of effects filter.

Contrast, exposure and colour adjustments are used as well as some white balance adjustment. Occasionally I may burn or dodge some areas slightly while remaining faithful to the original.

Black and white technique replicates traditional black and white darkroom practices where I may burn or dodge areas to obscure or partly obscure distracting elements.

I’ve certainly no objection to photographing animals in zoos or other captive establishments so long it is so declared. The same with photographing trained animals too, outside of their natural environment. Purporting these to be wild is… well you know, whatever floats your boat I guess… but it’s just not for me.