About

IMG_1556Welcome to my website.

I am an enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer, constantly on the lookout for new photographic opportunities.  I have enjoyed photographing a huge range of animals from the massive blue whale to the smallest of creatures such as butterflies and dragonflies.

Except for the category ‘in captivity’, all of my photographs are taken in their natural environment and there is an emphasis, where possible, on capturing animal behaviour.

I have received commendations from the Bird Photographer of the Year competition (2017), and my images have been published in

  • RSPB Love Nature calendar, 2014
  • BBC Wildlife magazine
  • BBC Wildlife Calendar, 2019
  • RSPB magazine
  • Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ (young reader’s edition) adapted by Rebecca Stefoff, published 2018

My images have also been used by the artists listed to the right of this page.

On my site, you will find wildlife from my own garden and from some amazing places, including the Arctic regions and Antarctica, the USA and Canada, Central and South America, Australia, Europe, Africa, South-east Asia and the Indian sub-continent.

Click on the thumbnail to see the larger image, some comment about it and a slideshow.  Click again to enlarge the picture.

If you would like to buy any image, see a greater selection of any one species or if you are interested in something which is not exhibited, please feel free to contact me at raybrownuk@yahoo.co.uk.  I may have what you are looking for.  The images on the site have been reduced in size but I have the originals.

The copyright to all of these images is mine.  Until this year, I donated all income from my photography to Christians Against Poverty (CAP) and WaterAid.  In 2019, I intend to help out a new charity based in Leeds called Zarach – http://zarach.org, whose strapline is ‘ We deliver beds to children that live in poverty.’  You can have a look at this charity, set up by a deputy head teacher who recognised a crucial need in her school and then others in the locality, by checking out Zarach via the link to the right of this page.

I live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and conduct photographic presentations to a wide variety of groups, both private and public, in return for a charitable donation.  My current subjects are:

  • The South Florida birding trail – one of the best places in the world to get up close and personal to wildlife, from America’s giant alligators to the magnificent osprey and the beautiful painted bunting.
  • Desert and Delta (Namibia and Botswana) – wild dogs, leopards, huge birds of prey, butterflies and the beetles of Namibia’s desert with an amazing technique for collecting drinking water.
  • Pole Dancing – a hop and a skip from Svalbard to Greenland  – icebergs, polar bears, arctic foxes, whales and walruses, as well as a host of other wildlife from the top of the world.
  • Canada and Alaska -grizzly and black bears, seals and sea-lions, bald eagles – and the calving Hubbard glacier!
  • Cortez to California – from the biggest animal that ever lived, the massive blue whale, grey (friendly) whales, flying mobula rays and breaching humpbacks of the Sea of Cortez and Baja’s peninsula, to the tiny hummingbirds of California.  An amazing mix of intriguing wildlife.
  • A Sri Lanka sojourn – a trip through some of Sri Lanka’s best national parks and countryside in search of the incredible birds and animals of this part of the Indian sub-continent.
  • Yorkshire Mixture – a selection of images from the sea-birds of Bempton Cliffs to the squirrels of Snaizeholme, and, of course, the birds and animals from my own back garden.  A lesson in why you don’t, necessarily, have to travel overseas to get some great wildlife.
  • Taking Nature – a selection of some of my favourite images of animals, birds, reptiles and insects – hummingbirds, kingfishers, owls and ospreys, whales and dolphins, portraits and action – and there’s a story with each one.
  • Inspiration – a  special presentation for the Embroiderers’ Guild, designed to inspire the promotion of wildlife and nature in this amazing art work.

New for 2019 are:

  • Penguins and Pinnipeds, an expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands with its penguins, albatrosses and a little of Shackleton’s amazing story, ‘SOUTH’.
  • Land of the Tiger, an introduction to the wildlife of four of Central India’s best reserves including, of course, the Royal Bengal tigers.

My future speaking engagements, include:

7 December 2019, Beaumont Park Photographic Club – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

4 March 2020, Kirkheaton Senior Citizens – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

5  March 2020, Aspire, Gomersal – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

5 March 2020, Pontefract Camera Club – ‘Taking Nature’

10 March 2020, Collingham Supper Club – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

26 March 2020, Aspire, St John’s church, Birkby – ‘Cortez to California’

26 March 2020, Aspire, St John’s church, Newsome – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

4 April 2020, Trefoil Guild AGM, Huddersfield Town Hall – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

6 April 2020, Huddersfield Embroiderers’ Guild – ‘Inspiration’

14 May 2020, Crossland Hill Ladies’ Circle – ‘Yorkshire Mixture’

15 October 2020, Kirkburton Probus Club – ‘Pole Dancing’

4 November 2020, Shepley Bird and Wildlife Group – tbd

16 December 2020, Huddersfield and Halifax RSPB local group – ‘Taking Nature’

Feel free to email me if you would like further information about the talks, venues, availability or organisations listed above.

 

I hope you enjoy your visit,

Ray Brown

905 713