St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery

St Barbe asked Ian Francis ARPS from the Highcliffe & Infinity Photography Club and IFY Images to review our current exhibition. There are over 90 photographs taken around the British Isles showing an abundance of wildlife, many of which the average person is totally unaware of, such as bright orange fish that look like they belong in a tropical paradise! Here’s what Ian had to say:

Firstly, if you haven’t been to see this exhibition, and you are interested in wildlife or photography, it is a must. I spent a very enjoyable hour or so looking at the images. I highly recommend that you visit to choose your own favourite photograph.

The exhibition is divided into twelve categories with prizes for each section, this includes the Young Peoples Awards, Hidden Britain, British Seasons and the Animal Portraits, which is an amazing selection of images - you could almost believe the animals are posing!

Each image is accompanied by a description of how they were taken, the planning involved to take that perfect image, the endless patience and the joy when the photographer takes the winning shot. The overall winning image ‘Contrails at Dawn (Daubenton’s Bats), Coate Water Country Park, Wiltshire by Paul Colley is a great example of this. Paul developed a special infrared camera and lighting system, that took him 14 months to perfect, in order to capture the bat’s speed of movement and hunting flight path.

It has been a great privilege for me to review the exhibition. A superb variety of photographs. To take great wildlife images you need to have skill, patience, and an understanding of the subject. This exhibition shows the hard work the authors have put in to capturing these images.

IAN FRANCIS. ARPS DPAGB

www.ifyimages.com

There is a stunning quality coffee table book accompanying the exhibition which is available in our shop. It has all the photographs from the exhibition and many more high quality images captured by today's best amateur and professional photographers.