2017: A Year In Review

Well 2017 came and went incredibly quickly!

It was a busy year for me after moving back to the UK permanently, and I didn't manage to get out with the camera anywhere near as often as I would've liked. Despite this, I did manage to have some fantastic wildlife encounters which produced some of my best work to date. Most of my photography however, was confined to a two month period during the spring/summer seasons.

I made it back to Canada for six weeks in the spring, bought a minivan, and converted it into a temporary home for the duration of my visit. The sense of freedom I felt from being able to go anywhere, and sleep wherever I wanted to, was so refreshing.

I spent a couple of weeks in and around Jasper, and though I had some great encounters during that time, they were few and far between for the most part. I then decided to head west into BC to explore parts of the country that I'd only briefly visited in the past. The decision to head west resulted in my first ever coastal wolf, my second spirit bear, and my first cross foxes. When the trip finally came to an end back in the Rockies, I had clocked up a cool 18,000km in a little under five weeks on the road!

After arriving back in the UK, I flew to Scotland to visit Shetland and Orkney for the first time ever. The main aim of the trip was to photograph puffins and river otters, an animal that had been a priority of mine for quite some time. Despite having seen otters in Canada and America over the years, I'd never been able to photograph them. The Eurasian otter population on Shetland is thriving, so I hired a local guide for a couple of days and finally had some amazing encounters with these extremely shy animals.

Here's a selection of my favourite images from last year.

(click on an image to enlarge)

Cross Fox kit - Northern BC, Canada

Cross Fox kit - Northern BC, Canada

Cow Moose in a blizzard - Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada

Atlantic Puffin at sunset - Shetland, Scotland

Coastal Wolf in sedge meadow - Northern BC, Canada

Great Horned Owlet - Canmore, Alberta, Canada

Grizzly Bear swimming across river - Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

Black Bear cubs in a tree - Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

Cross Fox kit in the rain - Northern BC, Canada

Black Bear resting - Monashee Mountains, British Columbia, Canada

Cow Moose with calf - Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada

Eurasian Otter - Shetland, Scotland

Cross Fox kit - Northern BC, Canada

Cross Fox Kit - Northern BC, Canada

Black Bear cubs in a tree - Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

I've been back in work full time since getting back from Scotland, so unfortunately I didn't have much in the way of wildlife encounters for the rest of the year. Occasionally, I made it down to the coast on the weekend for a walk or to photograph a sunset, but other than that I hardly picked up my camera at all in the latter part of 2017.

I did however, spend a lot more time working on the business side of my photography than I have in previous years. I ran several Christmas market stalls in Cardiff almost every weekend throughout November and December, which were very successful. I also produced my very first calendar of wildlife images, which is something I'll be doing every year from now on.

Right at the end of the year, I landed my first magazine cover shot too which was a nice feeling. It's not a popular photography or wildlife magazine, but rather a visitors guide to the Canadian Rockies which is stocked in almost every shop, gas station, and bank from Calgary to Vancouver.

WHERE Canadian Rockies Visitor Guide 2017/18

I'm not too sure what 2018 will hold, but I have recently booked some flights back to Canada once again of course. I'll be there for two months this coming spring to do a similar trip to the one I did last year. I'm also thinking of checking out somewhere new later in the year. It's been a while since I've visited a completely new location so I'm leaning towards a trip to Brazil possibly, or maybe even Russia!

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the rest of winter, and once again thanks for reading.

Cai