January 2025 Viewfinder
There is hype and hope in this month’s Opposite View Wildlife Photography newsletter.
Back in 1988, Public Enemy told us not to believe the hype. And boy, there is a lot of hype flying around as we begin 2025.
But this is a newsletter about wildlife photography and, I hope, provides a few moments of escapism from the current craziness - it certainly does for me when I’m writing it. That said, I do want to address some ‘hype’ that occurs around watching wildlife in this month’s edition.
When I first started photographing wildlife, I took as gospel much of what I read and heard about the subjects I most wanted to point my lens at. Foxes being most active at dawn and dusk completely put me off starting a project photographing them when I lived in south London, as I explain in this blog from my archive. I've since discovered that the foxes on my local patch can often be seen during the day and not just snoozing on shed roofs - something I examine in more detail in one of this month's blogs (see below).
So, did I give up too easily on my south London bushy-tailed neighbours? Possibly. Photographing foxes around residential streets still makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, certainly away from the roads near my home in Glasgow where people know me. I'm not sure I would have ever felt relaxed enough to do it when I lived in Herne Hill, even in the middle of the day. However, much of what put me off starting that project did relate to my perception of when I would be able to see foxes - I believed that it would be fairly pointless trying to photograph them during the day.
Fast forward to today and I regularly encounter and photograph foxes - and all during the day - but I still sometimes believe the hype about other species. Otters are a case in point. If you search online for when and where to see otters in the UK, you’ll frequently read statements like this: “The best time to see otters is at dawn but you will need to be still and patient, walk quietly, and keep upwind”. Don’t believe the hype! In recent weeks, I’ve managed to spot a family of otters in the same location in the middle of the day and I have the photos and videos to prove it.
The otter family are living on the River Clyde in Glasgow next to a well-used cycle path with industrial buildings and a noisy road nearby. At one point during our time by the river, someone even rode along the cycle path on a motorbike but the otters remained active. We visited the same stretch of the river on consecutive days and over a couple of weekends and we saw them every time.
Obviously, on the one hand, we were incredibly lucky. But I wanted to also use this as an example of not giving up hope on the wildlife you want to see and not obsessing about the ‘rules’ for each species. Otters don't always come out at dawn and dusk - these encounters all happened in the middle of the day (although in pretty appalling light for photography). Otters aren't always elusive and you don't always need to wait silently in a hide for hours or be in full-on stealth mode to see them - my partner and I were walking along the path in the open talking to each other. Wildlife is incredibly adaptable, particularly in urban situations, like this, where the ‘rules’ often go out the window. Use that to your advantage, if you can. Also, winter is a great time to do this. Generally, there are fewer people around and with less greenery to block your view, birds and mammals are much easier to spot.
My final bit of advice - in what probably seems a bit of a preachy newsletter this month - is to ignore your own hype. By that, I mean that you should always be kind to yourself. In my 2024 review blog (see below), I note some of the disappointments that last year brought. It’s easy to feel like you’ve failed - whether that’s through a missed image, a missed opportunity or missing out on an award. We are often our own harshest critics and it’s easy to believe the disappointed voice in your head. Don’t. Enjoy your encounters with wildlife and remind yourself that everything else related to wildlife photography is a bonus.
Sermon over. I’ll leave you with the image of one of the otters from that urban river. It was floating so close to the path we were walking on that my partner thought it was a log at first. Elusive, my backside!
Best wishes,
Rhiannon
Opposite View Wildlife Photography
Through my lens
A wild year - 2024 through my lens
2024 felt like the year my photography clicked, if you’ll pardon the pun. There were encounters with new and familiar species and, for some of these, the bonus of decent images.
In this blog, I take a look back at my wildlife encounters and wildlife photography in 2024, sharing some of my favourite images and videos.
Species spotlight
A seasonal skulk - photographing red foxes in winter
A group of foxes is sometimes known as a skulk of foxes. Although some of the connotations of “skulk” aren't helpful when trying to change negative attitudes towards foxes, it is certainly appropriate concerning moving quietly and stealthily. Foxes can seemingly appear out of nowhere but once you get to know their territories, you can begin to anticipate where they might pop up.
In this blog, I explain why this winter’s fox photography has given me an insight into behaviours I hadn’t witnessed before.
And finally…
As well as the otters mentioned above, we also saw other winter wildlife wonders on our short wander along that urban stretch of the River Clyde in Glasgow, as you can see in the video above.
There are more videos of wildlife encounters available to view on my YouTube channel including dolphins, waxwings, deer, seabirds, and all of my wildlife photography top tips videos.
Please subscribe to my channel to keep up to date.
Keep in touch
Thanks for reading this! If you have any comments or questions, opportunities for photography or if you would like to use any of my images, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
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