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Amongst many other activities, our household is heavily involved in the local allotment association, and in particular run a specific project (project 63) which grows fruit and vegetables and donates to the local charity ‘Sanctus’. This charity provides warm or hot meals for the homeless, shelter and also guidance in relation to many other elements of life. Back to project 63 – we also experiment with growing vegetables your every day plot holder may not normally consider. However, as a photographer there are of course other benefits of cultivating your own plot.

The biggest benefit is the ability to photograph the variety of wildlife which visits the plot. From the friendly pollinators, – bees, hover flies and butterflies, to the grower’s enemies – slugs, snails and butterflies!. It also provide a source of potential material to use at the local camera club competitions. The allotment is therefore a 3 in 1 activity, providing food, photographic opportunity and material for competition.

The world of macro photography can be frustrating – the depth of field is minimal, the various targets of my attention tend to be skittish (am never up early enough to get them in more dormant mode), and insisting on just hand holding to take the image, a whole load of patience required. When you nail it though – great satisfaction.

The image above which accompanies this article is quite satisfying on a personal level. The caterpillar only tends to feed on plants or shrubs which the plot holder would consider weeds (veggies safe), and was captured last summer just to the rear of the plot following a long patient spell flat out on the ground trying to get the right angle. It was also recognised at the club competition a few weeks ago and received the judges nod of approval as the image of the evening, which is a hugely pleasing outcome.

Following up on my drive to make use of our Wildlife Trust Membership, spent quite a bit of time planning for a visit to Fingerinhoe Wick. This reserve is on the Colne Estuary and over the winter months Avocets, Redshanks, Sanderlings, Geese and other congregate in numbers. The Wick was the Trust’s first reserve created over 40 years ago when it inherited the area following the cessation of gravel extraction.

The Saltmarsh and Estuary is home to over 200 species of birds across the year, and following the initial excursion to Abberton set about planning for the visit. Tide times all checked, according to the wardens the best time for the waders is 2 hours before and after high tide; weather also checked to ensure no gale force conditions; camera and lenses collected and set off with the ambition to photograph some of the waders from the hides on the shore line as the tide nudged them in my direction.

The tide gradually came in, and the tide gradually went out, the shutter pressed on just a couple of occasions for a fleeting fly by of Brent Geese, but alas very little decided to present themselves close enough to the hides. Moving hides yielded no improvement on the day. Even the best made plans……

Despite this, there were some smaller birds (non waders) taking advantage of the feeding station close to the visitor centre, and therefore didn’t leave completely bereft, and I was quietly pleased with the image which accompanies this little piece. Look out for an update when I return.

I regularly look at wildlife images on stock sites, other photographers sites, instagram feeds and a variety of other sources, and am always amazed at the quality of the images presented, from the colours, subtle depth of field, and in many cases the tranquil surroundings, especially of water based images. Am often wondering how did they do that? I wonder how long or how much time was invested to deliver such a perfect outcome?

The local camera club has a variety of guest speakers, covering a vast range of topics, together with a fair degree of natural history. Equally there are also some topics which you don’t come across too often which really make you pause and think and one such speaker recently (see future posts for more detail) set me off on a little experiment.

The speaker concerned was definitely in the ‘artistic’ element of photography, (was fascinating) and led me to experiment courtesy of some local birdlife (In this example a Mallard on the local river). The river is home to Ducks, swans, coots and other, and built all around is the town centre with pedestrian walkways, lights and the general hubbub of life. Undeterred the birds blissfully continue as the rest of the world buzzes around them.

A closer look, beyond the birds, shows a host of colour and pattern in the water, reflections of the thrash of everyday life which the Mallard unassumingly glides through. The not so perfect, it may be suggested jarring nature of the image presented, maybe sits at the other end of the spectrum we so readily associate with. The experiment is ongoing. http://www.raylawphoto.co.uk

With a bit of time on my hands, and despite the rather cold (for cold read bitterly cold) weather, headed off to Abberton Reservoir, camera in tow. As a member of the Essex Wildlife Trust viewed it may be time to actually use the membership, and went for a little reconnoitre.

The water level of the reservoir seemed quite low, the weather chill, grey and overcast, but despite this there were a host of different species of birds within reasonable lens distance, including a super cool Tufted duck, who despite the breeze blowing up the waves, was totally chilled on his back preening himself (or maybe herself). Various Geese, ducks, gulls, a Goosander were also spotted, the latter very kindly spent quite a bit of time diving into the water directly in my line of fire.

The image accompanying this article though is of a Greylag Goose, (I believe, happy to be corrected) who along with a host of others decided to have a bit of a shake up close to the causeway, which allowed a few frames to be taken with water thrashing about as he / she tidied themselves up.

A Grey Heron stealthily moved through the reed beds across the causeway, before flying to the other side to a further bed, maybe in the hope of better fishing results.

The Essex Wildlife Trust has numerous sites of interest locally, and plan to visit as many as possible to see what opportunities may present themselves. I have in mind some images I would like to try and get, which will require some planning, reading up on the habits of the wildlife in question, and probably the ability to get up and about a little earlier than I may be used to. Maybe at some point some warmer weather too, and undoubtedly a host of patience, and many return visits.

As a freelance editorial sports photographer and life long sports fanatic, have covered football, rugby, and cricket at all levels, plus various motorsport events (including elements of the World Rally Cross Championship, see later posts). However, growing up, I was first and foremost a cricket fan, played for local clubs, and last year topped everything off in collaboration with TGS Photo when we had the privilege of being accredited for the ICC Cricket World Cup.


After a host of initial planning, determining which fixtures to select, and those to omit, eventually covered 4 warm up fixtures, 30 plus group games, both semi finals and ’THAT Final’.


Whilst the imperative is to remain impartial and capture the event, or as far as possible the moment, the crescendo of tension as the final day’s events unravelled at Lords was unbelievable. I eventually calmed down several months after, but as an experience it will remain one I’ll never forget.


As with all good tournaments, statistics form an invaluable component of the event, so here area few of our own. 10 venues visited, 35 fixtures covered, 5961 miles travelled, 2475 coffee points accumulated, 18 Katsu curries consumed – (other types of curry were available).


Ray Lawrence Photography, and TGS Photo are available for commission. All the galleries from the tournament can be viewed at www.tgsphoto.co.uk

Welcome to the news / blog page of Ray Lawrence Photography. Having found this page, I hope you will find the content interesting, follow and return, maybe even recommend to others across your network. The page has been established to compliment http://www.raylawphoto.co.uk and demonstrate my wider photographic interests beyond freelance editorial sports photography activity which is undertaken in collaboration with TGS Photo Ltd.

To be completely honest, have been looking to create this page for some considerable time. However, writing an introductory post is quite fear inducing, especially having read all the do’s and don’ts on line about what makes or breaks a post. Eventually I decided, whilst all these posts have merit, I could spend forever mulling over the right approach or refining the advice on what works and what does not and never commit anything to the site. I just needed to set out something I believed in, which hopefully hits a note with others.

The website itself is undergoing change. The opening rounds of the World Rallycross Championship (2017) and all the fixtures covered from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 remain in the archive as these events hold very special memories.

The focus of the site now points to other areas of interest which may be the subject of future posts, and I hope to convey sufficient in the imagery to capture the imagination of those who view. As with all forms of artistic expression, photography is very subjective – one individual’s like may be polarised from the next person. Importantly, you the viewer will have an opinion. It is this which counts.

The image which accompanies the first post proved to be a bit of a fluke. Fascinated by some images seen at a local camera club, using a reasonably slow shutter speed and panning to provide other worldly effects, was keen to try out.

Without too much of a plan, I tried a myriad of shutter speeds, panning from a moving boat on Derwent Water, in quite overcast conditions, the focal point beyond the immediate wake. Whilst most were completely unusable, I found myself drawn to this shot and it is now used as a screen saver, header for my blog page, and will appear on the web site shortly along with some other images from my most recent quest which fall into the bracket of abstract or similar. I hope you enjoy.