Updates and equipment overview

I'm very conscious of neglecting this blog over the last two years.  I could use pressures of work as an excuse - but I'm retired so that doesn't really work.  The truth is I haven't had much to say - but that's beginning to change so, time for some updates.

My Alamy experience

Alamy continues to be a reasonable part time income generator.  I'm now up to 3255 licences since January 14th 2014, producing $60,104 dollars is revenue.  Add in infringement and collection service payments, subtract commission, convert to UK £s and thus far I've ended up with £21,447 and 20p in my business bank account.  Respectable, but not spectacular, it does allow me to upgrade equipment as needed.  More on this further down.

There's been a fair few $$$ licences along the way although, in common with most Alamy contributors, the average price per licence seems to be dropping year on year.  That, coupled with - in my case - declining sales has reduced my annual revenue over the last three years.  Though there has been some good results such as this front cover of Gardener's World magazine in August 2025.

From an EM-5 Mk II image

Equipment updates

This time last year the price of a good used /Olympus / OM systems OM-1 had dropped below my threshold £1000 limit and I bought one.  I'm glad I did.  The improvement over my EM-1 MkII is substantial, particularly in higher ISO capability, much improved stabilisation, and far faster shooting speeds and focus stacking performance.  Add in subject detection and I could far more easily take action shots of mine and my daughters dogs.  Shots like this:

35+ mph, head on, animal eye detect on, eyes perfectly in focus, one of a sequence of shots also in focus'  Pleased with that - especially when coupled with my next purchase.

By autumn 2025 I'd earned enough to buy an additional lens.  With the introduction of the OM 100-400mm MkII second hand MKI versions flooded the used market and I seriously considered buying one.  Then Black Friday hit, the MKII version became available under £1000, and I bought one.  Why?  Because I do like to do the odd bit of bird photography.  I'd been using my 40-150mm f2.8 PRO + 1,4x teleconverter but it doesn't have the reach needed.  So this, with both syncIS and double the reach has enabled me to do some more serios bird photography.

Well that was the plan but the weather hasn't really co-operated.  Dull and gloomy mostly but, occasionally, it's brightened up enough for some shooting.  Early days yet - its still bird onna stick time at the moment - but the quality is there:  Now for some flight shots.

Techniques and ways of working update

The advent of the OM-1 has made one big difference to my way of working in gardens.  I now routinely carry the OM-1 with the 40-150mm F2,8 attached and my EM-1 MkII with the 8-25mm f4 attached.  Rather than swapping lenses all the time, I simply swap between the two combos.  I tend to use manual focus with peaking on for the EM- 1 MkII to give me the greatest depth of field for the wider angle shots.  With the OM-1 combo I'm increasingly using handheld focus stacking, the combination of camera IBIS and lens autofocus speed allowing 4-6 shot in camera stacks with better background separation than generated from simply stopping down the aperture. For example:

Of course, it's no good in windy conditions and I have to delete the unwanted JPEGs also generated with the RAW files but it's a technique I'm increasingly reliant on.

Website updates

I talked about my website update to begin to develop my print etc venture.  As a bonus I'm also offering a free download of a PDF version of a presentation I produced for The Garden House's 80th Birthday celebrations last year.  This has hundreds of my images and accompanying text to provide a comprehensive overview of the features and development of the garden as the seasons progress. From our snowdrop festival days of January into early March, to the glories of the spring garden. From the bright flowering of summer days to superb autumn colour, and including the garden wildlife, the sequence provides a visual and narrative history of the 10 acre garden over a single year.

Download Here

Is it Art?

I trained as a scientist, not an artist. That legacy is always with me. Which means my approach to photography always tends to the rational, documenting rather than interpreting a scene.  And yet I keep producing images like this:

or this

or even this:

and I have to wonder is at least some of what I do actually art?

Well, there's only one way to find out and that's to test the market.  And my first venture is to offer selected singletons and collections of a few of my images from my Tibouchina Publishing website.  I'll be offering the usual range of photo prints, fine art giclee prints, canvas, greeting cards and other formats.  I'll even try a few exhibitions to showcase my work.

You'll find the images on offer at my website.  Click the image to visit.

Moth Trapping

Maria was kind enough to buy me a Moth trap recently.  It's a simple UV light over a white canvas box that I can run overnight in the garden.  The moths are attracted to the light and hide in the box, tucked away in egg boxes till morning.  Come the dawn I close the trap down, have some breakfast and then investigate the contents (if any).

Obviously my main objective is to photograph any moths that are lured to the light.  Many settle on the white canvas of the trap or on a white backdrop behind the light box and can be photographed in situ.  Fine for record keeping but hardly creative, the weave of the canvas or backdrop failing to add anything to the image, no matter how beautiful the moth.  For example, this shot of a Jersey Tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria, doesn't do the moth justice.

Better to display the moths in a more attractive, natural looking setting.  

Fortunately many moths are torpid in the morning after the trap is opened.  Although some do immediately fly away many others can be coaxed onto a finger or a suitable twig and then moved onto a more photogenic environment.  This Buff Ermine, Spilosoma luteum, happily sat on my finger and could then be transferred onto some dead tree fern fronds for photography.

Sometimes the transfer is to a leaf or leaves, as with this Poplar Hawk Moth, Laothoe populi...

...or onto a twig, as with this male Four-spotted Footman, Lithosia quadra.

The objective is always to produce an uncluttered shot with a natural looking background ro set off the moth. One complication is that I'm shooting with my STF-8 twin macro flash and the Olympus 60mm macro so the light fall off behind the subject is fairly swift.  Hence I use a pale green background, which darkens a little with the light fall off to produce a pleasing neutral background for many shots.

I've even set up a little studio scene for outdoor use which gives me a number of scenic options.  It's only a couple of branches and some interesting stones housed in a small planter with the backdrop behind but the results are looking good.

Here's a Knot Grass moth, Acronicta rumicis on one of the branches...

...while a Square-spot Rustic, Xestia xanthographa, sits happily on another...

...and a Black Arches, Lymantria monacha, perches happily on the stone.

I've only managed a few trapping sessions so far and am limited to shooting only in my Plymouth garden, restricting the range of species that are likely to be attracted to the trap, but already it's proving very satisfying in photographic terms and it gives me an idea of what's around.  Different moths have different flight times so it will be fascinating to see the range as the seasons roll around.

A final word.  All shooting was outdoors and all moths were released unharmed into thick vegetation after shooting.  None were additionally cooled or stunned.  They could - many did - fly away before I got the chance to shoot them but that's all part of the requirements for ensuring their ethical treatment.