News & Events

New images of Heavy Horses posted in the Equestrian Gallery

I have now added a number of Heavy Horses and ploughing images into the Equestrian gallery. The image shown here are of two magnificent Percherons belonging to a member of the Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association. Other images, plus those of ploughing activities show these beautiful horses at their best. I will be adding more images on a regular basis, so watch this page for more images of Heavy Horses.

Photography Exhibition

I am please to announce I shall be having a exhibition of my pictures from 12.00 to 18.00 hours on the 23 October 2009. The event will be at The Blue Bell Inn, Dockenfield near Farnham in Surrey. The 2010 African Wildlife Calendar will be on sale along with a range of Framed and Mounted Prints, Canvas prints, Note Cards, Christmas cards and other items. Pictures and note cards will range from Wildlife, Landscapes, People and Places, Birds and a few non nature subjects.

Amanda Thorp will also be showing pictures and note cards from local scenes around Dockenfield.

I look forward to seeing as many of you that can come along.

Bronze Medal Award

Michael has been awarded a Bronze medal in the prestigious Nature Wildlife 2009 photographic competition organised by the Photographic Society of America (PSA). The competition is open to all photographers world wide and is run every year.

Michael submitted images in other categories including, Travel, Photojournalism, Monochrome and Colour Projected Image. Michael had seven acceptances plus the bronze medal.

Florida - Avian and Alligators

I recently traveled to Florida with the objective of photographing a selection of wildlife. To be precise, I attended a workshop with Jim Neiger who specializes in photographing Ospreys. However, this sounds simple but, the photography is from his pontoon boat using a 500 f4 lens handheld and with manual exposure. Start time each day was 5.30 am with a break for lunch and finish at dusk. Challenging: that’s an understatement.

From the workshop base at Lake Blue Cypress I then traveled onto Naples on the South West coast and back to ‘Gatorland’, Kissimmee near Orlando.

See the Gallery for a selection of pictures from the trip.

New range of A6 Note Cards

I have introduced six new Note Cards for those personal messages we love to write. Prices are £5.00 for a pack of five plus £1 p&p. Mixed packs are available on request. Please go the 'Sales' area and under the drop down menus select'A6 Note Cards' and make a selection.

Ben Rushgrove goes the extra foot for Treloar School

I was very pleased to be the photographer for the occasion when Ben Rushgrove gave his award to Treloar School.

Beijing Paralympic 100 metre silver medallist Ben Rushgrove presented a special cast of his own foot to the institution he feels first inspired him towards a career in athletics, Treloar School in Alton.

This cast was especially unique as it was of Ben’s right foot, which he broke a bone in before leaving for Beijing but still went on to win a silver medal.

In association with Scholl, the official footcare sponsor of UK Athletics, Ben took part in a unique casting session. The cast was then formed into a special trophy which he could present to the place he feels has had the biggest influence on his career to date.

Ben decided to give his award to Treloar School where he went as a boy as he recognises the impact the school had on him as a youngster providing him and other disabled students with excellent sporting opportunities.

Ben comments: "When I first went to Treloar School I was no good at sport! However, I was introduced to some remarkable individuals who assisted me in realising I had found something I could work for. I owe a lot of my confidence and success to Treloar's."

Scholl, the footcare specialist, decided to commission the casting session in recognition of what Ben has achieved on the world stage following his silver medal in the 100 metre final at the Paralympics in Beijing.

Heather Wallis, Brand Team Leader for Scholl, comments: “As the official footcare sponsor of UK Athletics we understand that athletes’ feet are their most valuable asset. We wanted to recognise this through making the cast and hopefully it can inspire plenty of youngsters to put their best foot forward on the road to becoming the track and field stars of tomorrow.”

Scholl is the official footcare sponsor of UK Athletics, a role in which it continually builds strong, healthy feet for UK athletes, as well as for you and your family.

New Book: African Wildlife Photography - How to take that special picture

If you are a budding photographer and would like to try your hand at African Wildlife – this book is for you. What is the best lens and camera body? What is the best aperture, shutter speed? Storage devices, bean bags and much more. Condensed into 40 pages this soft back book measures 17 x 17cm and can be carried in your camera bag and referred to any time on your travels. All the pictures have the location and camera settings, speed, aperture and camera/lens combination. Lots of information that will assist you in getting that special picture. The price for the book is £10.00 plus £1.00 p& p and is available for purchase in the sales section on this site. Go to the 'Sales' section and using the 'drop down' menue locate the heading 'How to - African Wildlife Photography.

The first fifteen pages of the book can be previewed at www.blurb.com/books/349364

2nd Exhibition at The Blue Bell Inn

The recent exhibition at the Blue Bell Inn at Dockenfield, near Farnham in Surrey was a great success. For those of you who came to the the exhibition either to have a chat, or to purchase pictures, a big thank you. I expect to hold another exhibition in the summer of 2009 and look forward to seeing you all again.

The Blue Bell Inn is a family run country pub that produces the best home made food in the area and provide excellent service with a warm friendly atmosphere for all to enjoy. Pay a visit, you will enjoy the experience. www.bluebellpub.com

Photographic Society of America

I submitted a number of images for the 2008 PSA International Exhibition of Photography and had six acceptances plus a PSA Honarable Mention Ribbon for 'The Camarguaise'. Images were entered in the Nature and Photo Travel divisions of the PSA. This is the first time I have entered any images in this competition.

Camargue Nature Pictures

During late September 2008 I spent a week in the South of France in and around Provance. One of the best locations for wildlife is the Camargue. The Camargue is a huge wetlands area known for its horses and bird life, particularly, Flamingos. See the gallery section for a few images from my visit.