It really is very important to understand that not all my images are of wildlife. I'm a firm believer in the honesty of my profession and in recent times there have been situations where the image captured by a photographer has been called into question, and the result has been to prove the photographer to be wrong.
I take photographs for the following reasons:
Beauty in nature
Whether the animal is feral, wild, or captive, we should be thankful for them. They are essential to our survival in this world, and we do too much to harm them. I would like to think that by seeing my images, people will feel a little more responsibility towards our world.
Captive rare breeds
There is so much discussion on the topic of rare breeds being held in captivity. In some cases, the ones I support, the establishment is working hard to regenerate blood lines to re-introduce them to the wild. The Amur Leopards are an example of this. Some of my pictures are of captive animals, in these cases a donation is made to the charities working to re-instate blood stock in the wild.
Responsibility
Take a walk in the park and see if you can get through the walk without seeing any litter or damage! I hope that my images may encourage some level of respect. Now, I'm not talking of a personal crusade in trying to make the world a better place. But we can all help in some way can't we?
Where's the skill in taking pictures of animals in zoos? I would love to go to far off places, and take pictures of the animals we see in our zoos. If through some of my pictures someone feels inspired to pick up a camera, and take a walk in a park, then that's good enough for me. I also believe that anyone can take a good picture that they feel proud of, and would hang on their wall. An instant reminder of nature whenever they see it.
Thanks for reading
Simon