Under the Spotlight - digitalkiwi

Venom · Under the Spotlight - digitalkiwi

Full Name - Andy Lee

1) What gear do you use?

Canon 5D
Canon 20D
Hand grips for above
Pentax 645 NII – Medium Format Film
3 x Flashguns
Various Lenses
Heaps of memory cards
Job JuVu portable hard drive
Manfrotto Tripod with Nature Grip
Lightroom
RAW Shooter Pro
Photoshop CS2

2) What got you interested in photography?

My grandfather gave me a SLR camera which I never really appreciated till later, I was quite interested but had no idea how it worked it was an old Pentax and had the manual focus the one with the two half circles which you had to get in focus or something like that. But later whilst doing my masters degree I needed to research certain animals and photography was the easiest way to record it, did a few courses and it took off from there which is around 12 years ago now.

3) Do you have a favourite category of photography and if so, what is it?

Yes, Wildlife first mainly mammals, nature second and people as far down the list as they will go, lol.

4) What is your most memorable photographic experience to date?

I have so many, but my favourite has to be when I was taking photos of a Siberian Tiger which had been hand reared as it was pacing up and down I heard it chuff at me which is a sound tigers make to communicate with each other especially its cubs, I made the sound back and for the next 45 minutes we chatted in tiger talk, had no idea what it was saying or what I was saying back but it was a very special moment I was definitely at one with nature and I didn't’t get many photos to busy chuffing away, but I did once the tiger fell asleep. If it wasn't’t for my other half being there I don’t think anyone would have believed me, she was pretty much blown away as was I.

5) Do you like to manipulate pictures? Or do you prefer them as a true record of the event? What is your view on Photo manipulation?

Depends on what you mean by manipulation, if its correcting colours and levels and such like it’s all part of digital photography, if it’s things which have been changed such as clear blue skies being added to a photo which had overcast skies I’m not sure, it has its place I guess but not something I’m keen on, but then photography is subjective, the best thing about it I guess.

6) What, if any, are your photographic ambitions for the future?

Do well in the Wildlife Photographer of the year competition (yeah win it really if the truth be known, lol.) when I get round to entering a picture I think is worthy enough too critical for my own good, and having some images published in National Geographic, I can live in hope. At the end of the day if get someone to say ahh and isn't that sweet after seeing one of my photos, I will be happy.

Now for Andy's favourite Five -

Sunset Flamingo: This was taken in Whipsnade Zoo, it was amusing not being unkind but two wannabes both with very expensive cameras on tripods with 600mm lenses and wearing camo, yes camo gear remember were in a zoo, while they were snapping away I stood 90 degrees to them with the sun behind I took one shot and this was it, I walked away with a rather large smile.

Mr Fox: One of my favs, very lucky to get this fox, out in surrey god knows where, was looking for badgers and yes I was wearing camo and came across this handsome animal let me take heaps of photos before disappearing into the trees one of those YES moments.

The Boobook Owl: This was taken with my Dynax 7 on 100F Provia, in oxford in a woods thought I had found a new species until I found it had came from a neighbouring falconry centre, still I love it and graces my wall.

Stag in the grass: This was taken in Richmond park, end of the day, I wanted something different took it didn't’t like it and it nearly hit the delete button, luckily I normally delete my images at home unless it is really bad, I was entering a competition for a wildlife magazine overseas and sent a load of photos to my mates to choose the best one, I’m very critical and am never happy anyway, the Mrs really liked this one so sent it with the others to my mates, everyone chose this one typical I thought, I entered it and won, just goes to show, since then it has grown on me, lol.

Siberian Tiger: Taken in Devon of all places in a little wildlife park on the moors, Well this is the guy I talked to in tiger language, it’s not a great photo, but it sits on my desk, a special moment with one of the rarest animals on the planet. If nothing else this sums up to me what photography is all about capturing that special moment that will stay with you for time.

Many thanks Andy for sharing that with us.
If you would like to see more of Andy's work then check out his website See Here
OK the floors now open, do you have any questions you'd like to ask Andy?
If so post them below.

hil26

A very nice set of favourite images there.

On the wildlife side to photography - do you go out to take the pictures and spend a few hours in a hide waiting or are you a spur of the moment if in the area person?

creators

I love your extraordinary tale of chuffing tiger talk for 45 minutes, you say you were one with nature and I imagined talking to tiger and how extremely focussed I would be, no matter how 'tame', no room there for worrying about the mortgage. Great story! Great profile!

This is bugging me a lot at the moment, like with your deer shot, I can see its a great shot, but had I taken it I would have pretty much gone through the same process as you. Do you think assessing ones own pictures in a realistic and 'fair' manner is something we can learn? You've been in the game a lot longer than me, do you think you are getting better at assessing your work?

Evolution104

Andy,
You have shared some wonderful photos. Not just in this post, but many others through out the forum. I love 'Stag in the grass' - I'm glad you didn't delete it. I like both the monochromatic look and the view through the grass - as if through hidden eyes.

Venom

carlj

Inspiring - need I say more?

digitalkiwi

Thanks for the kind words its great to get feedback from you guys it makes the whole thing worth while and not so painfull when i think about how much i have invested in this past time thanks again.

Hil26 - When i used to live in the UK i made a calendar of what i would like to shoot week by week, Robins in the snow in december, Badgers at the end of august getting ready for the Winter, Hares in march boxing with each other the list goes on so i chose one or two animals a month and concentrated on them, sometimes it requires setting up a hide a couple of weeks earlier and spending the most boring time stuck in one and sometimes when i have nothing planned just go off to Richmond Park, a WWT center or Zoo, never short of opportunites at any of those places. so pretty much all sorts keeps me on my toes, since i moved to new zealand dont have the same opportunites as we dont have too many land mammals, and the ones we do people spend they efforts killing them as they are pretty bad for the native fauna and birds.

Creators - Yes i do think in time you get a feel for the pictures you take on the odd occasion you get one just like the fox i took and you know thats a great shot not just because it looked good but the manner you got it in, i was very lucky but didnt have a lot of time to get it so once the foxed had dissappeared punching the air saying yes became the theme for the rest of the day, but i also think that i am too critical too, lots of shots i take i see flaws and sometimes get dissappointed and think about what errors i made and how i can do it better next time, sometimes it really can get me down, but then you post an image on here or show it to someone else and they love it and say how great it is, thats one of the main reasons i use this forum, its great to post an image and get honest feedback from people in the same position as yourself its a fantastic tool. Then when im really down and think im losing it i pull out some pictures from a couple of years ago and compare them, this is a great way to see how your photography improves, and it always perks me up, also looking back over images you took at the time thought yeah that was crap, in a few months time you say far out thats a great shot i forgot i had that one, that happens to me all the time.

The bottom line though is i love wildlife and nature and doesnt matter how much i try to get an image and miss it, seeing animals behave in their natural way like hares boxing sometimes i get too carried away in the moment and just watch and dont take any images because it is so entertaining the times i have sat trying to muffle my laughter when you see a male get a box around the ear from a female that is not intrested in the slightest and he keeps trying gives me my kicks and photographing it is a means of recording it, i did for a while go through a stage where i was so desperate to get a world class shot that i didnt appreciate what i was taking an image of and i thought my photography suffered as a result, enjoy what your taking images of and you get a feel for the moment and can get some great shots, its really that easy.

creators

Andy, thanks for your response, you've given me a great deal to think about.

Firstly: I've realised how much I enjoy hearing about peoples experiences and getting an insight into their thoughts. Just reading about your 'yes' theme for the rest of the day, passed on something of your pleasure. I sat here going, 'yes mate, and damn right too!'

Secondly: I don't think I got into a world class shot thing, but I certainly had an idea that I should be improving all the time and suffered from unwarranted disappointment.

Thinking about it, I guess we all start attaching 'stuff' to taking pictures, all sorts of ideas and expectations begin to crowd in. I still get an incredible buzz the moment a camera is in my hand, I never want to be without my camera. Do you get something like that, a certain anticipation that harks back to something much more basic and fundamental, than all the technical thoughts of excellence and desire that can cloud the moment?

digitalkiwi

I agree I have my camera where ever I go; I am always looking for a picture to take and get disappointed if there is nothing. I think the great advantage of digital is that before when I used film I was picky about taking images because every shutter release was a cost and you always has the price of how much a roll of film cost in the back of your mind, with digital all that goes and although the cost is elsewhere i.e. in time spent later you tend to take images of things that you probably wouldn’t have with film.

I now spend a lot of time taking pictures of certain behaviour with animals rather than a image of it as a portrait, for instance I have been recently been trying to get images of Ring Tailed Lemurs sitting with the chest facing the sun, with their hands on their knees which makes it look like they are meditating, and is where their name originates, in Madagascar Lemur translates to spirits of the forest which the locals called them due to the posture first thing in the morning as they thought they were praying to the forest. So I have been trying to get images to show this to others to educate people about things which are not commonly known. I work as a educator at the local zoo in my spare time as a volunteer so I have been taking heaps of images to show people why they do these things and so forth, so the technical side is not so important now I set the camera up and blaze away and unless the lighting changes the setting stay the same.

It hit me once a while ago you can get hung up on what your camera should be set to and all the rest of it, twiddle this setting and twiddle that and for no reason, 80% if not more of the functions on your camera you probably wont use or need to use. In my experience I have found with wildlife photography if someone loves or and interested by animals they will love any picture you take of one, it just works better if the composition is good.

GREENWIZARD

#2 & #4 ...stunning