Jonathan Smithies, Author at Jonathan Smithies Wildlife Photography

Warblers for Easter

14 April 2023 In Birds Trips

On Easter Sunday this year, I established a new 2 year running tradition by heading to Surrey to visit Thursley Nature Reserve with a view to finding and photographing the iconic...

Shooting technique and gear

14 April 2023 In Education Gear

I thought I would make a post to talk about a shooting technique that I’ve been using for over a year now that I would highly recommend. It makes a world of difference...

Treecreeper at RSPB Nagshead

13 April 2023 In Birds Daily Photos

This bird has been on my hit list for a long time! I’ve only photographed it once before but I managed to accidentally switch my camera from RAW to JPEG meaning I couldn’t...

Kingfisher at Slimbridge WWT

15 February 2023 In Birds Daily Photos

Towards the end of a day spent at Slimbridge WWT with friends, I spotted the kingfisher at the edge of one of the ponds in the centre of the reserve. This image was an exercise...

Goldcrest glowing in sunlight

5 February 2023 In Birds Daily Photos

I really enjoy shooting through habitat, especially in backlit situations. You can afford to be really creative when working with good light and cooperative subjects. On this...

Goldcrest in pine

28 January 2023 In Birds Daily Photos

On a recent trip to my local nature reserve I came across 2 or 3 Goldcrests flitting and feeding between 3 pine trees. I see these birds regularly as they are a common species...

Aerobatic Spotted Flycatcher

26 January 2023 In Daily Photos

I am pleased to share a newly edited, previously unseen image of a spotted flycatcher, taken last autumn at RSPB Nagshead in the Forest of Dean. While only a simple bird on a branch,...

Starling murmuration

15 January 2023 In Birds Trips

On Friday afternoon I went down to RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset with the intention of photographing a starling murmuration. When I went last year, I had built it up in my head...

A charming burst of colour

11 January 2023 In Birds Daily Photos

It is a particularly special thing to be surrounded by a charm of goldfinches. I forget how many there were exactly, but I would guess 5 or 6. Flying between two patches of bushy...

Penduline tit on a bulrush

10 January 2023 In Daily Photos

It’s been a very wet winter here in the UK and I haven’t had that many opportunities to visit good locations with my camera. So in hopeful anticipation of these little...

Roadtrip with rockstar reptile

3 June 2022 In Lizards Trips

While I was driving towards a quiet village in Southwest Turkey called Osmaniye, a very big lizard ran across the road and scuttled into the bushes. I pulled over the car to discover...

Swallows in bloom

30 May 2022 In Birds Trips

Travelling internationally as a wildlife photographer comes with its own very unique set of challenges, not least of which is lugging around large, expensive and heavy camera...

Blog Archives