Awards and interviews

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One of the nice things about blogging is the great people you come across who share a common interest - and the informal community which grows up among them. Recently I've been privileged in that two of these people have chosen to feature my blog on their own.

Chris, of Chris Photo Nature recently awarded me a friends award. - which is very kind of him! Thanks Chris. Part of the conditions of this award are that I pass on a similar award to six others. I've thought about this a lot - and decided that rather than do this in one post I will, instead try to resurrect my blog focus posts in the new year and feature another six blogs.

Then Wren (of Wrenaissance Reflections) offered to feature QuantumTiger in the Nature Blog Network blog!

So despite the lack of photography - November has actually been a very good month! Big thanks to both Chris and Wren both for these particular mentions and all that you do to make the wildlife photography blogging community a great place to be!

BlogFocus 7: Wildlife Photographic Journals

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For the last post in my scheduled BlogFocus series we come to Wildlife Photographic Journals, the blog of Richard Steel. As the name suggests, in Richard's blog the photographs take centre-stage. The images are much larger than most blogs feature and the quality is remarkable. Richard uses a Canon 500mm lens (handheld!) and really demonstrates what this lens is capable of. His images are sharp and vibrant, with interesting subjects beautifully separated from the background.

I love the energy in this photo of a cormorant (from his recent seabird-safari entry).

And I am massively jealous of his feeding juvenile swallows. This is a stunning sequence of images - well worth checking out.

So this is the last - but by no means least - planned entry in this little series. I've enjoyed writing them and hope to return to the idea periodically as I discover more blogs which catch my eye. In the meantime, happy blogging everyone and thanks to everyone who has allowed me to feature their blogs.

Images in this post by Richard Steel. Reproduced with permission

BlogFocus 5: Bogbumper

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The fifth edition of my BlogFocus feature brings me to Bogbumper, the blog of Cambridgeshire-based (self-described) 'nature-fiend' Katie Fuller. Bogbumper is another blog that is difficult to sum up in a few words. Katie is quite prolific - seven entries already in July and I'm only writing this on the 9th! The blog bounces (or should that be bumps?) around all manner of nature, birds, insects, flowers and mammals. There was even a fascinating post in April featuring pondlife!

And, as you would expect from this series, Katie is also a photographer. The blog is liberally peppered with interesting photographs. I particularly liked the colour and composition of this image of a mating pair of azure damsel-flies.

Another blog which is well worth the visit - and with so many entries in a month you're pretty much guaranteed to find something new each time you do!

Images in this post by Katie Fuller. Reproduced with permission

BlogFocus 4: Peter Beesley

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The fourth installment of my BlogFocus series features the work of Peterborough-based photographer, Peter Beesley. Peter is an enthusiastic birder and prolific blogger (check out his profile for an impressive list of all the blogs he runs). Peter's Portfolio is his birding blog and has been running since 2004. Over the years Peter has posted up lots of photographs from across a wide range of species - making this a very interesting blog to dip into and a hard blog to represent with just a few images! However, highlights for me include his recent image of a redshank.

One of the reasons I like Peter's Blog is it is nice to see someone getting great shots of smaller, common birds which many other photographers ignore. For example his shots of Dunnocks (in beautiful light) from back in March.

I'd also recommend checking out his flight shots of skylarks. Now that cannot have been an easy series of shots to get!

Images in this post by Peter Beesley. Reproduced with permission

BlogFocus 3: Chris Photo Nature

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The third of my BlogFocus posts features the blog Chris Photo Nature. For me this is a fascinating blog, coming as it does, from Iceland - a country which I have not yet had the opportunity to visit. As such it regularly features photographs of birds I've not yet seen.

I'm particularly jealous of Chris recent posts regarding Golden Plover's.

Chris is clearly an avid birder and his love of nature shows through in his commentary as well as his pictures. Chris is also a great blogger, posting regularly in English and French - and commenting copiously on other people's blogs too (Thanks Chris!). Definitely another blog which is well worth the visit (and the recent awards!).

Images in this post by Chris Nature Photo. Reproduced with permission

BlogFocus 2: Kevin Du Rose

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Welcome to the second in the series looking at the blogs of other wildlife photographers. This week is the turn of Du Rose's Digest, the blog of Kevin Du Rose. When I first stumbled across Kevin's blog I must admit my first thought was that I should just hang up my camera and stop trying. Kevin's photographs manage to capture everything I aspire to but rarely attain. A combination of great light, great subjects and interesting activity. Kevin really shows what a Canon 1Ds and 500mm lens are capable of achieving.

Perhaps my favoutite images from his blog are a series of short-eared owl photographs. This is a bird I have yet to see, let alone photograph. Kevin captures it perfectly.

Kevin's blog also showcases some magnificent flight photography.

With plenty more images like these, this is definitely a blog worth visiting!

Images in this post by Kevin Du Rose. Reproduced with permission

BlogFocus 1: Elliott Neep

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Part of the fun of blogging is being part of a wider community or people with shared interests. Over the last few months I've really enjoyed reading the blogs of other wildlife photographers, so I've decided to do a series of 'BlogFocus' posts where I feature one of my favourite blogs.

First up is professional wildlife photographer Elliott Neep. Elliott's Blog is always an interesting read, and features some stunning images from his travels. Unlike many bloggers though, Elliott doesn't just give you the images - more often than not he retells the story of how he got them. A particular favourite of mine (for obvious reasons) is his account of photographing tigers in Bandhavgarh over two week period

I also enjoyed his recent account of stalking otters on Mull. It's reassuring to know that even professionals don't always have an easy time of it.

As well as his blog, Elliot also has a fantastic wildlife photography website which is well worth a visit.

Images in this post by Elliot Neep. Reproduced with permission