Blog Posts

New Britain, Dolphins & Baining Fire Dancing

1/10/2017

I have had an incredible past 12 months, winning two major awards and visiting a myriad of amazing destinations. I could not be more thankful for the opportunities that have come my way, including my latest trip to Papua New Guinea.

I got the opportunity to travel through Wildlife Worldwide & the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority, on a 12-day trip to one of the world’s last frontiers. I will be leading a dedicated photography tour to Papua New Guinea in 2019, with Wildlife Worldwide, and this adventure was a great way to learn the ropes. After a monster journey, which included 4 airports, 3 countries and 3 flights, I made it to the town of Kokopo in East New Britain.

A little heads up, the cultures and landscapes of New Britain are more closely aligned with the Soloman Islands than PNG itself. I wish I was an underwater photographer, that way I could show you the real magic of the region’s wildlife, but instead I had to make do with shooting topside and photographing the region’s fascinating culture.

Man on outrigger canoe, Kokopo, New Britain

Islander on an outrigger canoe

Swimming with the local Spinner Dolphins was truly remarkable, a wildlife encounter I will never forget. Hearing the clicks and whistles as a pod of over 100 dolphins swim all around you is something that is utterly captivating. It wasn’t just the dolphins that are a draw offshore, the smaller islands, turquoise waters, beautiful reefs and local islanders are equally fascinating.

Tropical island, New Britain, Papua New Guinea

For me though, it was on the last night of our stay in Kokopo that really made the biggest impact … I was able to witness the mesmerising Baining Fire Dance. No it isn’t one of those tacky shows where dancers swing fire balls around their body, this was altogether more dangerous - maybe jaw-dropping is better way to describe it.

The Baining people perform their fire dance as a coming of age ceremony, a ceremony rarely witnessed by the outside world and so I was incredibly lucky to witness the evening’s events. Young men dress up in some of the largest tribal masks in the world and move to the rhythmic beats and chants of their elders. A large fire is gradually built up, the flames fuelled by more and more material before the action really kicks off. The masked individuals seem to reach a point beyond fear, pushing themselves onwards to brave the flames and embers.

Baining tribesmen prepare for the fire dance, East New Britain

One by one the dancers move towards the fire, running, walking and kicking their way through the inferno. The sight is like no other, a mass of swirling fireflies seem to go up with each spectacular movement, all the while the masks are softly lit and silhouetted against the orange glow. Time and time again the masked characters approach the flames, seemingly try to out do the show put on by the previous dancer.

A fire dancer kicks the fire into life

Some dancers run right through the middle of the fire

Kicking the burning material created swirling embers

Some individuals took longer to brave the flames

Photographing the magic of the dance is particularly challenging, but I really hope these images give you an idea of just what I was lucky enough to witness. I am a wildlife photographer, that is where I feel most comfortable, and I tried to use my skills in low light photography to capture the dancing in a slightly different way.

As the fire kept burning so the images changed

The embers kicked up looked a lot like lava

A ghostly figure appears out of the fading embers

The fury of the fire as a dancer kicks the debris

Debris explosion with Baining Fire Dancer

One huge final explosion of debris before the fire started to fade away

Baining fire dancer in the midst of the flames

The final walk back through the swirling embers

I can’t thank Robin Russel-Pavier enough for looking after us throughout and helping to organise such a remarkable introduction to Papua New Guinea. My thanks must also go to Wildlife Worldwide for their continued support and allowing me the opportunity to travel.

Be sure to read the second part of my blog for the next leg of my adventure.

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Winner in Bird Photographer of the Year 2017

23/8/2017

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Well what can I say other than the fact I am delighted to announce that my photograph ‘A Perfect Landing’ was picked as the winner in the Birds in Flight category in Bird Photographer of the Year 2017.

A Perfect Landing - Winner of the Birds in Flight category in Bird Photographer of the Year 2017

This is a relatively new competition, but don’t let that deceive you. The standard and the number of entries has been truly remarkable. In fact, in my category alone, names such as Bence Mate, Jamie Hall, Paul Hobson, Georgina Steytler (a seasoned Aussie pro) and Pål Hermansen all featured. These guys are all at the top of their game and to win this award, with such fierce competition, is a fantastic reward for all my hard work over the last few years.

Of course there will be a lot of differences in opinion when it comes to photography competitions, some people might not rate the winners and others will rave out about them. The key thing here, is that any photograph is subjective, and it must be made clear that the winners are picked by a select judging panel.

Congratulations must go to all of the winners and also all of those who made it into the stunning book! You can buy a copy of the book here.

I was delighted to receive my award at the ceremony, held at Birdfair in Rutland Water, and for the incredible support I have since received. I was extremely fortunate to be picked to appear on the One Show (on BBC1) and briefly talk about my image.

It really feels that this is another step towards the dream of becoming a professional wildlife photographer. I really couldn’t have made it this far without the support of my family, girlfriend and a lot of determination. For all of those who have helped me along the way, I can only say thank you for the opportunities and the advice.

If anyone would like to join me on a one-to-one workshop, or join me on a dedicated photographic tour (in partnership with Wildlife Worldwide) you can find out more here.

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Finland's Predators

29/6/2017

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A land of countless lakes and seemingly infinite forests, Finland is one of Europe’s wilder corners. In recent years the country has become well regarded as the finest bear watching location outside of the Americas.

However, I had heard of a particular location (right on the Russian border), where it was possible to see and even photograph European Brown Bear, Wolverine and even Wolf. This place sounded too good to be true! So after a lot of digging and hours of reading through reports, I had all of the information I needed.

In the end I decided it would be a great place to run a wildlife photography tour with Wildlife Worldwide. We have named the tour ‘Boreal Predators Photography’ and it certainly lived up to its name this year. Towards the end of June I set off with 6 eager clients, all keen to photograph the iconic species of this border region, or ‘no man’s land’, between Finland and Russia.

Now I must start by saying that Finland hasn’t really had a spring in 2017, and therefore all the wildlife’s behaviour has been particularly unpredictable. We spent a total of 4 nights in the hides, all of which were different. This year was particularly cold, which makes it much harder to get comfortable within the hides, but our perseverance paid off in the end.

The first night was a little disappointing with only a couple of bears seen at a bit of a distance, one of which was particularly nervous. Don’t get me wrong, it is still incredible to see the magnificent mammals, it was only disappointing from a photographic opportunity point of view.

The second and third nights made up for it though, with at least 4 different wolverine spotted across 3 locations (the group had to be split on the second evening), the very nervous bear made another appearance and the icing on the cake had to be two Grey Wolves seen on both nights. On the second evening, a client and I were treated to a pair of Wolverine – the light was at its worst when they appeared, but we got a few acceptable shots in the end. Just as we thought the evening was coming to a close, it was probably around 3 am, I noticed a light shape moving on the edge of the forest. It was obscured by a light mist, but there was no mistaking what we had in front of us. It was a Grey Wolf … in fact there were two wolves. It was a magical encounter, a real privilege and a challenge to photograph in such low light and the mist.

Wolverine

Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf in the mist

It was the last night of the trip when everything really came together. We were only going to be in the hides until around midnight as we had to leave first thing for our flight back to Helsinki. I decided we should try our luck at the pond, where I had previously seen the two Wolverine and wolves.

I can honestly say that the evening was one of the very best I have had in my career. The light wasn’t necessarily the best, but the sightings we had are some of the finest anyone could possibly ask for. In fact, the evening actually started relatively slowly. It all seemed like it might be disappointing end to the trip.

As the sun was losing its strength and retreating over the tree line, one of my group spotted a large bear moving through some marshy ground. It was heading right at us, slowly powering through the swamp. You could hear the strength of every movement, it was absolutely incredible. The bear posed perfectly for us and the whole group managed to get some wonderful shots. Having had its fill on the salmon scraps left out, the bear slowly made its way back towards the forest, slowly melding into its wooded surrounds.

Brown Bear

Dribbling Brown Bear

Brown Bear

Having had such a remarkable encounter, everybody seemed to be settling back into their seats (figuratively speaking), when I noticed a familiar light shape on the edge of the treeline. I stopped myself from saying anything, took a breath, then raised my binoculars and my jaw slowly dropped. I knew what it was, but I didn’t really believe we could be so lucky. Surely I was suffering from sleep deprivation?

There some 70 yards away was a white wolf, the one I had seen at a distance on the previous two nights, and it was followed by a second wolf. The white wolf was the female, whilst the second was tan colour, and this was the male. The female slowly made her way towards the hides, seduced by the smell of the fresh meat of a carcass.

The next 15 minutes were spellbinding. She came to within only 20 metres of the hide … it was her size, her obvious power and that stare that left me breathless. I have never known a stare like it. I have been all over the world, photographing Polar Bears, Leopards and Tiger, but never has an animal looked at me with the same intensity or intelligence. This really was a once in a lifetime encounter and one that will stick with me for the rest of my days.

Grey Wolf

If you would like to join me in Finland, I will be leading another ‘Boreal Predators Photography’ tour with Wildlife Worldwide in June 2018. I can’t promise the tour will be the same as this year’s, but I can guarantee it will be a great adventure.

For the entirety of this trip I was using a Canon 500mm F4 IS II USM lens which was kindly provided by Fixation. I will be writing a separate post with a review and my thoughts on using the lens if the field.

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Skomer's Perfect Puffins

15/6/2017

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Towards the beginning of June I was fortunate enough to lead a small group of photographers to the island of Skomer. This rocky outcrop, which sits just off the Marloes Peninsula, is one of the UK’s seabird strongholds and supports around 6,000 pairs of breeding Atlantic Puffins.

Puffin with sand eels

These charming little birds are what most visitors come to see on Skomer Island and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. It has to be one of the UK’s finest wildlife experiences – quite simply it is hard not to smile when you see your first Puffin. Only about the size of a pint glass, these small birds are one of the world’s great ocean wanderers, their tenacity and dedication to their chicks is truly inspiring. They provide the perfect focus for this short photography break.

I spent 3 nights on Skomer, having only planned on staying for 2. It turns out that my clients (and me) were experiencing some of the worst low pressure systems for many a year, we were stranded on the high cliffs of the island for an extra 24 hours. Although it was a little inconvenient it provided further opportunities to enjoy the island’s varied birdlife including 300,000 pairs of Manx Shearwater (only possible to see in the dead of night), thousands of gulls (Greater and Lesser Black-backed as well as Herring), Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Short-eared owl and the list goes on.

I thought I should give you a little taster of what this exciting trip is all about, so here are some of my favourite images from the trip.

Atlantic Puffin emerging from its burrow - Bret Charman

Puffin with a beak full of sand eels - Bret Charman

After arriving on the island around 1pm on the first day and then having a hearty lunch, we set out to photograph the Puffins at 'The Wick'. The Wick is famed for its large colony of Puffins, all along the top of a dramatic coastal inlet on the southern side of Skomer. As the afternoon went on the skies cleared and provided us with some spectacular light for photography (see below).

Puffin at The Wick on Skomer Island - Bret Charman

The second day started quietly, as most of the Puffins had already left their cliff top burrows, they spend as much time as they can catching fish for the pufflings (yes that really is the name of the chicks). The light was already pretty bright, but the group managed to get a few images of a Raven and of course a few Puffins here and there.

I was lucky enough to capture one image as a bird flew in across the water in the blustery conditions, capturing it all in a muddle in mid air.

Raven on the cliffs of Skomer Island - Bret Charman

Puffin flying over the sea - Bret Charman

The afternoon proved to be another puffin bonanza, and many of the group tried their hand at bird in flight photography. This is known to be one of the hardest skills sets any wildlife photographer can learn, but photographing a bird this small in gusting winds is near impossible. However, a few of us got lucky and their persistence paid off.

But there were also opportunities to photograph an obliging Oystercatcher and the Rabbits were about as tame as you can get!

Oystercatcher on a dry stone wall - Bret Charman

Puffin on Skomer with a twig - Bret Charman

Having stayed on the island of Skomer for an extra evening, strong winds and poor visibility meant that no boats would be crossing over from the mainland. So after a morning of horrific weather, not even good for capturing images of Puffin in the rain, we headed out for one final time to add to our portfolios. For the most part, I kept my camera off, going around the group and making sure they were all getting what they wanted.

So even with some of Britain's finest summer weather (by that I mean gale force winds and torrential rain), we managed to spend plenty of time with the 'clowns of the sea'. I hope to be hosting more Skomer photography trips in 2018, all in partnership with Wildlife Worldwide.

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Slovenia's Bears & Caves - The Dinaric Alps

2/6/2017

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The small country of Slovenia is home to some of Europe’s most stunning vistas, from the towering peaks of the Alps, the picture postcard city centre of Ljubljana, to the forest covered hills and mountains of the Dinaric Karst.

It is when you dig a little deeper, exploring the country’s sprawling forests that the true magic of Slovenia is properly revealed. These wonderful forests, a mixture of pine and beech, hide some of Europe’s finest wildlife – a population of brown bears. With the help of Slovenian Bears, it is possible to spend your evenings enjoying fantastic bear encounters from the comfort of purpose-built hides.

I spent the vast majority of my time in the Notranjska region, home to the country’s core population of bears, but the area is also filled with incredible caves and other features typical of a limestone karst landscape. I managed to explore the incredible cave network of Križna Jama, travelling up to 4km along the water filled passages, and the delights of Lake Cerknica, the largest intermittent lake in the world.

The beautiful meadows are filled with wild flowers, including an array of delicate orchids, the copses are alive with the sound of birdsong while in the forests the call of the Cuckoo resonates through the trees. For the lucky few, an encounter with the striking Ural Owl is certainly one of the region’s avian highlights, with up to one pair every square kilometre this surely one of the best places to see them in Europe.

Lake Cerknica

Rokov Skocjan Valley

Lesser Horseshoe Bat, Krizna Jama Cave

Krizna Jama Cave

Ural Owl

In reality though, I went to Slovenia for the bears. With between 400-700 bears in this small country, there is a very good chance that you can have superb encounters over the space of a few days. I have to admit I was unsure of what Slovenia would be like for bear watching and particularly in regards to the photographic opportunities, but I needn’t have worried … my 5 nights flew by with countless bear sightings.

Sitting in the comfort of the hides, waiting and willing for a bear to appear through the sea of trees is a thrill in itself. Every noise has you on the edge of your seat, a crack of a twig – it must be a bear? No, it is just a family of Jays bounding across the forest floor. The alarm call of a Blackbird rings loudly in your ears, but still no bear appears. But then, in complete silence the first bear comes into view, a young bear tentative in its approach, aware of those watching and waiting in the hide. After a few minutes though the youngster relaxes and goes about its business, only pausing to check that there is no immediate danger. After a few minutes the bear’s ears go up, the nose starts to twitch and the eyes focus on something I cannot see. Then over a rocky outcrop, two more bears appear, both with a golden hue to their coats and walking purposefully towards the hides. Now three bears are within only 20 metres of the hide, the two new arrivals keeping their distance from the first individual and all of them ignoring the deep thud of camera shutters firing as they go about their business.

This was just my first evening in one of the many hides on offer, and what a great introduction it was. I hope to be heading back to Slovenia later this year to try my luck again, so you can expect another flurry of images over by the autumn.

Here is an array of other images captured during the following nights.

If you are thinking of a long weekend away filled with wildlife (particularly bears), I can highly recommend this beautiful and welcoming country.

I am already planning a return visit to the area and hope to operate a photography tour in 2018 with Wildlife Worldwide.

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2016 – A year to remember!

10/1/2017

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Last year was one of great change for me … after spending a year photographing in Australia, it was time to get crack on with my career and put photography on the back burner. Don’t worry - the photography will be back in force in 2017!

I had built up an incredible portfolio of images in 2015, thanks to my time ‘down under’, and I decided to try my luck in a few competitions. It turns out I had some success – who would have thought that would happen?

Well I was delighted to have images shortlisted in Outdoor Photographer of the Year, Bird Photographer of the Year and Australian Nature Photographer of the Year. The two images shortlisted in Bird Photographer of the Year both featured in the accompanying book and my image Murray Magic featured in the Kew Gardens exhibition.

When I got the news that three of my images had made it through to the final of Australian Nature Photographer of the Year, I was excited but didn’t really think too much of it. It wasn’t until a friend (the incredibly talented Trevor Scouten) alerted me to the fact that these three images were actually going to feature in the exhibition, and accompanying media, that it really hit home. In June I was contacted again by the competition, informing me I was either a winner or runner up in one of the categories I had entered. I learnt no more until the results were announced in the press – I found out through the Australian news that I was a winner of the ‘Threatened Species’ category with my image titled Palm Grove Dingo. The image has since been used in the accompanying book, wall calendar, desktop calendar and diary. The image was then used at the main entrance of the exhibition – printed in large format … this for me was the greatest honour.

Palm Grove Dingo - Winner of 'Threatened Species' category in Australian Nature Photographer of the Year

It wasn’t all about the competitions though. I had a great year of travel once more with trips to India, Tobago and Colombia. None of which were necessarily exceptional from a photographic point of view but I did strike lucky on a few occasions (you can see a selection of images below).

Bengal tiger, India

Blue-crowned Motmot, Tobago

Weevil sp. Colombia

Pink River Dolphin, Colombia

2017 promises to be another great year for me with trips to Africa and Ecuador planned for my own photography. I will be leading two dedicated photography trips in June, one to Skomer Island in Wales for Puffins and the other to Finland to photograph Bears, Wolverines and Wolves. I will also be running one-to-one workshops a little closer to home focusing on Roe and Fallow Deer. If you have any interest in joining me on these trips I would love to hear from you – feel free to email me at any time.

I wish you all a very happy new year and I hope to see as many of you in 2017 as possible.

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ANZANG 2016 - Award Winner

6/9/2016

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As many of you will know by now, this year has been a breakthrough year for me. I haven't learnt anything new, or really changed anything about the way I photograph ... instead I have been recognised by my peers and that really means the world.

Back in January I found that I had three images shortlisted in the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. It wasn't until the day the exhibition opened, towards the end of August, that I found out I was a winner of the 'Threatened Species' category with my image 'Palm Grove Dingo'.

Sadly I wasn't the overall winner but to be only one of nine category winners was a real achievement. If you want to see my images in exhibition, you can actually see them right now in the South Australia Museum in Adelaide or the Australian Museum in Sydney.

'Palm Grove Dingo' - Threatened Species category winner

The two other images that were shortlisted and featured in the exhibition are those below, the Red-eyed Tree Frog was taken in Lamington NP in Queensland and the the Green Ants were taken in Airlie Beach in Queensland - you can see them both below.

Leaf Reflection

Ring of Death

To have got so far in such a prestigious competition is a massive achievement and I feel incredibly proud to be a category winner. Fingers crossed that my success continues and I have further luck in next year's competition.

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Ropley Roe Buck

9/6/2016

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Since the start of spring I have been out trying to photograph my local population of Roe Deer. I have heaps of practice with this lovely species but they can still be a tricky subject to photograph. They have truly incredible hearing and a superb sense of smell ... you only have to make the slightest mistake and the opportunity will have passed.

Recently I haven't had much luck as my valley has been having a swirling wind pattern. This means I have been unable to keep down wind of the deer and they smell me coming from a long way off.

Finally the long, warm evenings have given me the perfect opportunity to get out and about to search for the local buck. I know the field that he likes to rest during the day but the challenge is to get close enough and stay down wind.

After a few attempts I finally succeeded and had one of the best, and particularly close, encounters with this magnificent Roe Deer Buck.

It was a truly wonderful encounter and what made it all the better, was that the buck wasn't at all startled and when I was done, I was able to slip off and leave him in peace.

I will be turning a couple of these images into high-quality prints which will be available in my online store. Please let me know if you have a favourite.

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Hunting Stripes on the Indian Sub-Continent

31/5/2016

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There is one animal that elicits an emotional response like no other in the natural world. Which creature could it be? For me, and many others I know of, the Tiger has an aura, a spirit that seems to soar above those creatures around it. Don't be fooled though, this isn't the only draw to India ... it is just a case of trying to find a wild corner of this vast country to explore its natural delights.

I have recently returned from a trip to India searching for Tigers and some of the stars of the Jungle Book. I had some issues along the way with cameras and park legislation but I won't go into that here.

I didn't have the best trip from a photographic point of view but there were a few stand out moments which I thought I would share with you.

The week started off pretty slowly and I didn't really have any sightings of any of Tadoba's standout species. However I did seem to have some better luck on the bird of prey front ... as you can see above. The my luck changed and I had an incredible encounter with a very handsome young male Tiger.

Only moments after driving through the park gates we heard a sound that is comparable with that of a Lion in Africa. We heard the territorial call of the Tiger and we knew that it was heading back into the park, having spent the night patrolling the park boundary.

We drove up into the park proper and stopped at the top of the hill and listened. The deep call sounded again from the forest, it was coming closer. We moved further down the road and waited for a moment that will live long in my memory, an intimate moment with one of the most striking individual cats I have ever seen.

I was also really lucky with a particularly close encounter with a pack of Dhole (Indian Wild Dog), but the photography opportunities were tricky as the dogs being rather unsettled. Only moments before these images they had failed to hunt a Barking Deer, they weren't particularly keen to oblige and pose for photographs.

I will be writing another post about the last few days I spent in Tadoba and going on to describe a few of my concerns too. Although I saw plenty of wildlife, I was rather shocked at some of the tourism practices within the park and the way this could directly affect the wildlife.

For now though I will leave you with a shot of this cute little fellow ...

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Red Deer Rut - The New Forest

20/11/2015

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I am always astounded at the lack of knowledge regarding local wildlife, this really hit me during the annual deer rut when I said I was going to the New Forest to photograph Red Deer. People didn't believe me, saying that there aren't any wild Red Deer in the south of the UK except for on Exmoor.

Well I was determined to show them that there are in fact Red Deer only a stones throw from Southampton and Bournemouth. I spent a couple of weekends searching for this native deer species and was in luck.

As I reached my usual patch for the Fallow Deer, I heard a deer barking, but this was no Fallow Deer buck. This was an altogether deeper sound that resonated through the trees. I headed to the edge of the woodland, where the sound came from, and to my delight there were two large stags strutting their stuff.

This was the scene I was presented with (above) and then spent the next two hours stalking the larger of the two stags and his group of females. I had to work hard and a constantly changing wind direction made life particularly difficult.

The Red Deer of the New Forest are quite transient but are only found in the South Western side of the forest, sadly their population is controlled to stop interbreeding with the introduced Sika Deer found near Beaulieu. I was extremely lucky to get this close to such large wild mammals in the UK but I would like to stress this series of images took over 3 hours to capture, with long periods of stalking required.

If you see any deer in the New Forest, please don't walk straight towards them, instead make sure the wind is in your favour and keep yourself hidden. It is usually best to let the wildlife come to you, be patient and above all just enjoy what you see.

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New Britain, Dolphins & Baining Fire Dancing

Winner in Bird Photographer of the Year 2017

Finland's Predators

Skomer's Perfect Puffins

Slovenia's Bears & Caves - The Dinaric Alps

2016 – A year to remember!

ANZANG 2016 - Award Winner

Ropley Roe Buck

Hunting Stripes on the Indian Sub-Continent

Red Deer Rut - The New Forest

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