Wildlife photography...

Read an article in the Guardian today about photographers who fake wildlife pix. One photographer, Marcio Cabral, has been stripped of his prize, in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, because the anteater in his photographer was revealed to be stuffed. The quality of wildlife images is now very high, and not everyone is willing or able to sit in a hide for day after day, waiting for the perfect shot. Time is money for any professional wildlife photographer, so there’s a big temptation to cut corners and cross an ethical line in the treatment of animals.

There’s a lot of jiggery-pokery going on: using trained animals is common, and the photographer may visit a zoo or safari park rather than the Serengheti. Insects of erratic habits can be glued in place. There are dozens of tricks that can be performed, in post-production, with sophisticated software like Photoshop. I interviewed Chris Packham, many years ago, when he was trying to make his way in wildlife photography. He admitted putting butterflies in the freezer, to slow them down and make them easier to photographer. I wasn’t impressed.

My last sale of the month was also the best price, for this unremarkable shot of the broken lock-gates at the seaward end of England's shortest - and straightest - canal, in Ulverston...