Whilst walking my dog on the moor the other day I noticed several people taking photos of the Dartmoor ponies. They were taking photos using the camera in their phones. I do not have a problem with this as some of the cameras in these phones are really good but what I don't understand is why do they take these photos standing up with the camera at arms length above their heads! I know most photos used to be taken between 4' 6" and 5' 6", that's roughly 137cm to 168cm, in other words at most humans eye level. Maybe this has changed now with camera phones, and people are so used to holding their phone above other people's heads that they do this as a matter of course. On one occasion I did see a lady at Port Isaac, the filming location for Doc Martin, she was rushing around sticking her phone up in the air clicking away and then rushing on to the next location. She was not even looking at the phone when she took the image. I would have loved to see what she actually took and what they turned out like. The reason I mention this is that being a photographer of wildlife I always try and have my camera level with the eye of the wildlife I am trying to photograph. I go higher if they are in a tree or on a hill and go lower if they are on the ground. I know of some wildlife photographers who actually dig a hide into the ground to get lower and put their hide on scaffolding to get higher. I say I try because at times it is impossible to achieve. When I am lying in the mud with my camera I suspect people think "What on earth is he doing" but the images produced, I believe, are worth it. Doing this makes the image more intimate for the viewer and less domineering on the wildlife. There are other reasons I try to achieve this, one being if you are level with the wildlife's eye then the background in the image is further away rather than the background being the grass or ground immediately behind the subject and therefore it will be more out of focus. This makes the subject, the focal point, stand out in the image. So the next time you take a photo think about whether going higher or lower would enhance your image and make it stand out from the norm.
 

I will soon be on holiday on the Isle of Mull. It has taken me many years to drum up the courage to go to Mull because of one big, or should I say little reason, the dreaded midge. Years ago I went to Scotland for a photography course at Inversnaid. It was a fantastic course and I learnt a lot but, I left Scotland half the man I was after being eaten alive by midges. I can still remember trying to take a photo of a waterfall that was just inside a wood. It took me over an hour just to set up my camera and then rush to take the photo which turned out with lots of spots on it! It was film so it went straight into the bin. One evening I went to photograph badgers wearing a mesh on my head and stayed inside the hide until 11pm. When I returned back to my room and took off the mesh my eyes and lips were swollen to double their normal size, "Never again" I vowed. So with this in mind I will be a little nervous about going to Mull but, I have heard that it is a wonderful place for wildlife. So, I will arm myself with every midge deterrent known to man and some not known, from a baseball bat to Avon Skin so Soft. I will let you know how I get on if, I am still alive after dealing with the little pests.