Thanks for visiting my web site – I am a naturalist and wildlife photographer and the author/photographer of 18 books.
Although I was brought up in the London suburbs, I have always has an overwhelming enthusiasm for wild creatures, wild plants and wild places.
My interest in nature is very broad based and I equally enjoy a dramatic landscape, to a beautiful bird or a delicate flower.
My photography developed out of my desire to own (or collect) the things I loved most and I first picked up a camera in the early 1970’s. My first book was published in 1982 and I have been full time for over 20 years. I love sharing my interest and enthusiasm, hence this web site.
Stock photography by David Boag at Alamy. Follow - @NaturalFocus on Twitter 
Everyone has got a ’studio’Only a few of us have a purpose built studio and the rest of us make do with a garden shed, a garage workbench or the dinning room table! I demonstrates how YOU could easily take this picture of a toad! Take a look at my video demonstration >>>>>> . . . . .
Investigate many other exciting ideas and challenges in Davids NaturalFocus video tutorial.. |
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January 26, 2010 - 12:54 pm - It seems this blog has upset partners of photographers that object to their dinning room used as a playground for toads! It has also worried someone that the general public will be out looking for hibernating toads and disturbing them. Can I therefore point out that the toads welfare should come before your own eagerness to capture a fun image. (In fact one day I will do a blog on wildlife photographers moral obligations and attitudes). Can I also point out that if you choose to take a toad into the house you do it at your own peril ;-)
January 21, 2010 - 11:55 am [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Boag, David McKendrick. David McKendrick said: Wicked 'natural' studios built on the fly by @boagworld's Dad: http://naturalfocus.co.uk/?p=725 [...]
Over the past few days I have been in touch with a new friend on flickr and as a result of her photography http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilaryannestephens/sets/72157619270609205/ I felt inspired to write this post about allowing water to flow.
| Water has a great list of unique properties; there is nothing that can begin to equal it in the whole of creation. One of these properties is that it is the only substance that can be found easily and naturally, in the three different forms. But it is the liquid form that is the most familiar and most often referred to as water.
One of the main properties of a liquid is that it finds its own level; it flows!
As photographers we can portray the natural world in our own creative way and there are occasions when we can choose to use the movement of water for creative effect. The scene in Switzerland to the right is almost two photographs, one could cut the image in half horizontally and have two acceptable images; and it is the bottom half that I am mainly referring to. I have allowed the water to move in the photograph which creates a flowing milky effect – ethereal and soft. This effect is created by using a long exposure or a slow shutter speed (however you prefer to think of it). Compare the two images below – the one on the left was using a long exposure, the right was using a fast shutter speed.
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Useful thoughts
I have illustrated this effect in boulder strew rivers but anywhere water moves has potential to be treated in this way – a running tap – the movement of the lapping tide – only your imagination is the limiting factor. Have YOU any illustrations of how YOU have used a slow shutter speed to allow water to move? |
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August 31, 2009 - 2:17 am - I am blown away by your kingfishers. Having lived at Durweston Mill for 15 years and watched them fly off just before I press the button I soooo admire your pictures. Also the water - I am off to the wier to have a go. Thank you so much.
September 23, 2009 - 7:32 am - Great shots, David and Hilary..and a chance for me to sneakily suggest a Beanpod for those log exposures necessary?! www.Beanpods.co.uk Right, I'm off to catch up on your podcasts, David....are you planning any more, please? Cheers, Mark Woods (Nottingham, UK).
September 23, 2009 - 8:31 am - I still occasionally use one of your BeanPods- it's in my bag all the time. I am a bit busy for Podcasts at the moment, but hope to do some more sometime.
I took this picture about 25 years ago and so it was shot on 35mm transparency film. To be honest I am surprised it survived and didn’t end up in the rubbish bin, because the bird has no highlight in its eye.
The eye looks dead – empty – blank – a black hole in its head!
I always used to say (and this is still as relevant) “if the birds eye is right, then the rest of the bird is right”!
In those days we could do nothing about it, except watch the bird and press the button on the camera at the right time.
Obviously digital changes the situation.
Just roll your cursor over the bird and watch the birds eye.
It is very easy to dramatically improve a disappointing image simply by putting a highlight in the subjects’ eye.
Some people may consider this to be ‘cheating’ but in Photoshop we use expressions like ‘burn’, ‘dodge’ and ‘crop’. Where did these terms originate? Answer – in the darkroom of expert monochrome printers! They would ‘burn’ an area to make it darker and ‘dodge’ an area to create a highlight.
Looking through Flickr I see many pictures that could do with a little bit of ‘tender loving care’ to bring the best out of them.
So how about trying the same in Photoshop if you happen to have a picture of an animal with a ‘dead’ eye?
That is only one way of creating a highlight and you may easily discover another way that suits you better – I have several different methods that I use depending on the subject and effect I want to create.
Monochrome workers always took a pride in their darkroom techniques, why shouldn’t we take equal pride in getting the best out of our images?
September 23, 2009 - 7:57 am - How refreshing to read a professional advocating such techniques, David! Why not? Cheers, Mark (UK).
I cant be the only person to notice the vast numbers of Painted Lady butterflies that have arrived into the UK over the past couple of days. The pyracantha in the front of our house is covered with them.
It is remarkable to think that they almost certainly originated from Africa and having hatched only a week or so ago, took flight and headed to our wet and windy shores. One cannot help questioning the sanity of the creatures!
I guess most of us would think of the American Monarch butterfly if we think of migrating butterflies: a truly remarkable story. However, in some ways the Painted Lady has a more arduous journey, as it has to navigate the sea, where it certainly can’t rest. But unlike the Monarch, it is not a regular or predictable flight. Some years we may see comparatively few but in other years huge numbers arrive to feed in my garden and rest on the warm paving slabs.
They will breed and multiply but probably none will survive our winter and so next year there is nothing we can do but wait and see if a favourable wind brings us another influx to brighten our gardens and countryside.
Has anyone else noticed large numbers and if so where do you live? 
June 5, 2009 - 2:44 pm - well, I have not seen any yet this year but last year there were lots in my garden, I used to live in Somerset, near Frome. I had no idea they originated from Africa, that's amazing!
October 23, 2009 - 7:32 pm - Terrific photographs, any tips on how to get such good results?,
| By way of introduction to this subject you may wish to roll your cursor over the cowslips image to the right.
If you cannot see the difference then there is no point in worrying about depth-of-field but if you have an opinion about which image you prefer then you have made a creative decision. It is not a question of which one is ‘best’ – there is no ‘best’ they are just different and illustrate things in a different way. I was privilaged to be involved with a guy that asked for some help regarding his photography. We were talking about equipment and I asked if he had a depth-of-field preview button on his camera. He smiled and said that he had only just discovered it the other day. He was new to photography but many people that have been enjoying photography for years never use it! Why not? Playing with depth-of-field is one of the most creative tools we have with a camera. I automatically check depth of field for nearly every image I shoot. That is because I like to make creative decisions rather than allowing the camera to do its own thing. |
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| In this situation I used a small aperture (f22). The great depth-of-field meant that the spider became confused with the background. | In this situation I used a large aperture (f4). The narrow depth-of-field meant that the background was thrown out of focus leaving the spider to stand out. |
Do you regularly use depth-of-field in a creative way? Do you find this sort of post stimulates your creativity? |
by David Boag
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