Martin Parrs Nature Pictures

Hi, I'm Martin Parr. I'm 53, married to Gill for 31 years this year, and been together for 36. We have 3 children, Jacqui, Emily and Melanie - the first 2 have left home and are now settled in houses with their partners (Jon and Ed). Emily and Ed made me feel very old in March 2006 by having a baby (Alana) and making us Grandparents. They have now just made this worse by having another, a boy, on Sept 2007, (Jayden)! If you really want to see us all, check out the family gallery.

We live in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, England, and I currently work in London full time, so weekends are very precious to me as the only time I can really get out into the countryside. I've been interested in wildlife all my life, and enjoy nothing more than getting out in the countryside and just strolling about, or sitting quietly in a wood, by a lake, or tucked away in a quiet corner of a marsh and just waiting to see what turns up. Although after a dawn to dusk stroll, a pint and bite in the local is a close second! I had tried conventional photography to capture some of the sights I've seen, but I generally found the results disappointing and the delay in actually seeing what I'd taken made it impossible to rectify the errors. You never really get a 2nd chance with wildlife. So it wasn't until recently when digital photography started to take off that I discovered the delights of seeing an image immediately and being able to have another go - or 20.

As birdwatching was the main driver for my trips out, and the cost of separate lenses and professional cameras that could capture these was beyond me, I started small, with a second hand telescope (Kowa TSN 823) and Nikon Coolpix 990. These had been cunningly connected by a home made adapter by the previous owner - and I was all set to start "digiscoping". My first efforts were inconsistant - to say the least - and I quickly realised that this kit works together under sufference. Birds automatically know just the wrong moment to move or turn away. The light loss from using the scope and having to focus prior to attaching the camera ( and starting again every time the subject moves), means working at low speeds - which are not suited to moving subjects.

This meant using a timer in poor light to avoid blur and camera shake -again leaving the subject plenty of time to move. But even if I threw most shots away, the satisfaction of getting that great shot made it all worthwhile for me - though I have to admit that Gill may have had reservations about the length of time I might spend on one subject, and my long suffering friend and co- enthusiast Jim, frequently had to abandon video shots with sound, as a result of my frustrated expletives! So thanks to them for their patience and understanding! On 31st October 2006 I finally took the plunge and bought the next stage of kit - not the best but the best I can get at the moment. I've gone for a Canon EOS 400D, a Canon18-55mm F3.5-5.6 II lens, a Sigma 50 - 500mm (Bigma) F4-6.3 EX DG zoom, and a 2X converter, a 60mm F2.8 Canon macro lens, and a Tamron 70 - 300 F4-5.6 macro zoom. Now all I need to do is learn what it all does! ;0)

This is well short of top of the range - no image stabilising, and not really got the length I need for birds . Its a budget set up and I will need to upgrade, but for the moment I'm sticking with it while I improve my knowledge and technique..

I hope you like my site, please leave your (positive) thoughts and suggestions in my guestbook, thanks for visiting and please come again - I'll be updating and building this site all the time.

Cheers, Martin

updated 13/09/2007