My Story
"I have always liked the thought of photography and how people perceive life through a camera lens"
Hi, My name is Colin and I live and work in the Cambridgeshire Fens. I have always liked the thought of photography and how people perceive life through a camera lens. I used to have a hand-me-down pocket camera that I carried around with me to take the odd snap if I saw something that caught my eye but I never seemed to be that good at it really. I was my own worst critic and always used to compare my photos to others I’d seen and get a bit disheartened at my own efforts and after a while lost interest and gave up! ..... So why did I take up photography again?
Since I was a teenager, I have lived with depression, which wasn't really recognised back then as an illness or a mental health issue. Growing up, I had also gone through a couple of personal traumatic experiences, which just added to my illness and anxieties. In 1995 my Father passed away with cancer, which I found very difficult to cope with and then in 2016 when my Mother passed away with cancer too, as you can imagine, I sank very low and so I decided to take up walking to help clear my head. I was never really one for exercise but I soon realised how beautiful the countryside was around me and what other parts of the UK had to offer, that it gave me a new lease of life!
"I grew a real passion for the local wildlife"
Throughout my walks, it wasn’t long before I saw different types of birds and animals around me that I’d never noticed before. With all their different sounds, colours and mannerisms, I grew a real passion for the local wildlife. I’d go home and look up what I’d seen and I got really interested. It was then that I decided to take up photography again and incorporate the two and try to capture on camera what I saw.
My hand-me-down pocket camera had seen better days, so I bought myself a new camera. A Canon 80d DSLR that came as a deal with a couple of lenses. An 18 to 55 mm lens for general everyday photography and a 70 to 300 mm zoom lens for objects further away, which at the time cost me about £350. It seemed a pretty good camera for the price and certainly a massive leap up from my old one! I went out for walks with my camera in my hand, hoping to be wildlife photographer of the year! ….. Initially I found it quite a sophisticated camera, a lot more confusing than I imagined and the photographs I took weren’t brilliant! ………. But I loved it and I stuck to it!
"The books, magazines and online tutorials taught me so much"
I purchased a few books and magazines on photography and watched loads of tutorials online on how to gain some knowledge and soon got the hang of the basic skills. The books, magazines and online tutorials taught me so much. Whenever I had some spare time on my hands I was out with my camera. The more photographs I took, the more I learned, the more confidence I got and I am now totally hooked on it!
When I’m out looking for animals to photograph, early on, I realised that my normal jeans and t-shirts tend to scare the wildlife off, so I got myself some camouflage gear to help me out. I sometimes get some strange looks dressed in it but I'm not bothered, It helps me get quite close to all sorts of different wildlife without them realising I am there! I can literally sit for hours to photograph a certain animal and if I do get a picture, I get quite a buzz out of it!
"I can now get even closer to these beautiful creatures"
As I got more confident at my photography, I decided to upgrade my equipment to a more professional level. I bought a new camera, a Canon EOS 5d MKIV and overtime a range of lenses, including a few Canon L-Series lenses and a dedicated wildlife lens, a Sigma 150-600mm so I can now get even closer to these beautiful creatures. I am also very lucky to have a wonderful nature reserve right on my doorstep, which I take full advantage of!
"when I am out about in the countryside - I am in a totally different frame of mind"
It’s so nice to have found a hobby that I love doing and I’ve learned so much over the last few years about photography and wildlife. I’ve also discovered that, when I am out about in the countryside amongst nature with my camera, I am in a totally different frame of mind. I seem to lose myself for a few hours in what seems like a whole new world and it certainly does me, my depression and my mental health, a world of good! which is why I have decided to share some of my experiences in life and my work with you.
It is a collection of my favourite photographs that I have taken recently and from over the last few years.
I will also keep regularly posting new photographs, so please keep popping back!
I hope you enjoy my work!
Please feel free to leave any "Positive" comments or questions through my contact page
Thank you!
"Support Mental Health"
"Reaching out for help doesn't mean you are weak, It just means you won't go through it alone now"