Hello ! and welcome to my website. Thank you for visiting.
My name is Anney and I'm a self-taught, Yorkshire based wildlife and nature photographer.
I love the remote, rural places and spend most of my time on the high grouse moors in Swaledale, Nidderdale and the North York Moors where I sit in my car, quietly and unobtrusively observing my favourite bird - the Curlew. Sadly, this iconic bird with its haunting call is in sharp decline and a "red listed" species.
I always look forward to Springtime when these beautiful and iconic birds return to our heather moorlands to breed and rear their young. Not disturbing these birds is extremely important to me and for that reason I never leave my vehicle, keep perfectly still and hidden behind my lens and scrimming.
It's never too late to take up photography !
It doesn't matter whether you're young or old, lacking in confidence, nervous about picking up a camera or feel the technical jargon is just too much to take in.
When I first started out in photography, I made so many mistakes, was even frightened to pick up my camera. So if I can learn from scratch how to use a camera, take wildlife images and post process them using Lightroom and Photoshop, then anyone can. Even to this day, I can't get my head around Photoshop. I can do a few simple tasks but that's it.
I remember being on a one-to one wildlife photography session a few years back and asking what now seems like the silliest of questions. Looking back, I realize that I asked those basic questions because I was learning and that was the stage I was at.
Everyone learns at a different pace, but all that really matters is that we get out and about with our camera and enjoy our photography.
I started out slowly, unsure no confidence, but today my images regularly feature in newspapers, magazine and calendars. I feel so proud of myself for persevering, for continuing to learn and improve and all the while enjoying every single minute I'm outdoors in nature being with the wildlife I love so much.
So if you're interested in learning more about your camera, and how to take amazing wildlife photographs, watch the many excellent camera specific YouTube videos, go on photographic workshops, join a local camera club, then pick up your camera, head outdoors and don't be afraid to make mistakes. We all started somewhere !
Take photographs for you ! and most importantly - have fun and enjoy yourself
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY IS SO MUCH MORE THAN GETTING THAT PERFECT IMAGE
As wildlife photographers, it's so rewarding to capture that perfect image of which we are so proud. All those long hours of waiting patiently, of sitting in some mosquito infested forest, of lugging heavy gear about until our backs ache, and yet wildlife photography is so much more than getting that perfect image. For me personally, it's silently leaving the house whilst everyone else is still asleep, it's driving up the A1 as the sun starts to rise over the white chalk hills of Thirsk with the promise of a fantastic day but still convinced that I've forgotten something.
It's watching a Red Grouse hen gently lift herself from the heather revealing a huge clutch of fluffy chicks, the cockbird and father, looking on protectively. Red Grouse are such comical birds but make the most wonderful parents. Some days I will return home with not one single image, but that doesn't matter. I've been out in the countryside and I've seen some beautiful scenery. Tomorrow's another day and perhaps the light will be kinder. Nature is just wonderful, it restores the soul, it brings peace and tranquility and.... getting that perfect image, well that's just an added bonus.
ROADS LESS TRAVELLED
I don't like busy and popular places.
I suppose I'm a bit of a lone wolf in that respect, so in Yorkshire, I usually follow a familiar route, starting at Penhill in Wensleydale, then over to Askrigg, across the high moorland and down into Swaledale, Gunnerside, Muker, then up to Keld, through West Stonesdale, passing Tan Hill across the lonely grouse moor down into Reeth, then over Grinton Moor, down past Castle Bolton and back to where I started probably at 6am that morning.
I have a couple of other routes on the North Yorkshire Moors, where I head down the scary Chimney Bank and over the vast moorlands to Egton Bridge. I love that area too. Helwith Moor just above Reeth is another vast moor and an early morning start is always rewarding with hares and owls.
I like early mornings. Wildlife is just waking up and moving about plus there's not many people and vehicles about. Once it gets to about 10 am, I like to head home and load my images into Lightroom for post processing.