I Can’t say I see myself as one of those photographers who sets themselves a tick list or wish list every year, a list of must-have  shots that needs to be acquired in order to make the photographer happy?

That said I have always wanted to photograph the Orange-tip butterfly and the Wild rabbit. Yes they are common enough however they have until now always semmed to eluded me (not anymore)! Over the past two or three weekends when there has been a gap the rain I have been able to get photos of both (below).

I seem these days to be drawn to the idea of setting myself a long term project, one that I focus my attention for the next few months. After reading articles by Danny Green, Mark Sisson and Andy Parkinson I can see this will be a much more productive approach, one that will help me to tell a story rather than just product a snapshot of my intended subject. Dippers here I come!!

During last summer I spent a lot of time locating and photographing the Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies which live in the Knowles Coppice Reserve owned by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust  and all that hard work and very early mornings paid off as I am the overall winner of their 2012 wildlife calendar competition! The two images below are to be included in their 2013 calendar with the Pearl Bordered Fritillary being the cover image and the image for July too. If you like the images in this post you can see more of my work at www.wildaboutwildlife.co.uk.

During the course of 2011 I have been working hard to improve my technical abilities and understanding of the subjects I have been photographing, as ever things haven’t always go to plan!
Successful projects this year have included: Pearl Bordered Frilitary butterflies, Kingfishers and Dippers. 2011 has also been a great year for meeting new people, old friends and making new ones and during the course of this year I have been fortunate to meet Chris Packham and Paul Hobson all very talented Wildlife Photographers and as always I have been fortunate to receive great advice and friendship from Mark Sisson, winner of the BWPA 2011 Video category!
Well what about 2012? Over 2012 I plan on building up my portfolio further with a particular focus on birds of prey, mammals (including Badger, Deer and fox) and uploading more images to stock libraries, which until now has always seemed a daunting thought.
Note to self I really need to try and make more of what I have and to try and turn my hobby into something more!!
I have already supplied the Forestry Commission with images in 2011 to use for publicity purposes and this has given me an insight into what I need to do to sell more images. To promote my work and services further I have set up a new website and blog and will be using social media, Twitter and the like more over the coming months.

I will be sharing my experiences and thoughts via Twitter and this blog each month and I promise to keep them short, but packed with images! You can follow me on Twitter @WyreJason too.

 Kingfisher at rest…