Notes on the content of the site:
I've called this website 'Pulchritudo in natura', or 'beauty in nature'. So, perhaps that's what I'd like to try and show, well as far as my limited talents allow. These days I mostly photograph birds, although other occasional animal, plant etc. might get a look-in. Oh, and fungi, I do love them, so transient yet so beautiful, much like my own looks!

Of course, landscapes can be stunning too, so I'll put a few in, although they only work well, I feel, as large wide printed images, not on constrained computer screens, phones and the like.

In keeping with this 'Pulchritudo in natura' ethos all images are taken 'in the wild' by hand, by me. No zoos, no wildlife 'parks', bird sanctuaries etc, where tame animals and birds 'give themselves up'. Equally I do not use contrived 'artificial' backgrounds or faked situations. I do wrap up in camo sometimes and lay in a ditch or similar (who doesn't), but that's it. I especially strive not to do anything to harm, disturb or alarm any bird, if I can't get a picture by fair means, then so be it. I'll try another day. Neither do I use remote, timed or automatically triggered cameras, my finger is on the button so to speak. Of course, that might be what's going wrong!

This site is not a personal pictorial 'tick-list' of everything I've seen (oh, there was so much, you don't know, you weren't even there, man! *), those are for others. Neither is it a record of rarities, this is why I have selected the humble Chaffinch to kick things off. * with due respect to Ron Kovic. 

So, of the images are here because in some way I think the pose, milieu, lighting etc. somehow makes each a 'picture'. Those with birds, for example, are not intended as ' a picture of a bird' or a 'bird picture', rather I want, hope, for them to stand perhaps as 'pictures with a bird in'. That goes for the others too, whatever the subject. I hold onto this difference, even if I am clearly unable to articulate what I mean! I just want to show:

       the 'beauty in nature'

Although given that I treat the common equally with the rarity perhaps I should have called it 'prettiness in the prosaic'.

Whatever, as I believe the young say. There are some pictures here, have a look if you want. If you don't, then don't!

A note on the images:
Most images have been adapted in some way from their original form to make them suitable for display on a website. I always try to compose a picture to suit the subject, not to fit a particular aspect ratio. This obviously works fine where a print can be made to any format you want (think guillotine!) long and thin, fat and wide etc. Electronic screens come in a few fixed apsect ratios and this compromises the original desires. As said above this is most destructive with landscapes, but all suffer to some extent.

Secondly, all the final images shown here are reduced from the original size to 2500px wide, as well as jpeg compressed. This degrades them obviously but is necessary to reduce server-side space to minimise my costs, 'tis as simple as that. I wish there was another way.

A note on the notes !
Most UK bird species shown here are presaged by little historical 'bon mots'. True you didn't ask for these, but you got them anyway. Live with it! For these I have drawn deeply from a number of old texts.

      Rev. Charles Swainson's 'The folk lore and provincial names of British Birds' of 1885. This is excellent scholarship, and a view into different times and attitudes too, well worth perusing.

      Rennie's 1833 'The domestic Economy of Birds' is also worth a look, especially if you have indegestion.

      William Thompson's 'The Natural History of Ireland' 1849. A wealth of lovely old tales and anecdote from the 'emerald isle'.

      The last (at the moment) is, of course, the much more well-known Thomas Bewick's 1826 'A history of British Birds'.

I confess I do find such insights into earlier accepted ideas, beliefs, and folklore truly interesting, but hey, perhaps I'm weird. All can be found on Internet Archive. For those that prefer 'hardcopy' I imagine, they are available from most 'reprint on demand' services such as those offered via Amazon.

A note on the website itself:
I don't have any money to spend on professional web-designers, coders, ready-made, or pre-formed web designs (all mine goes on taxes, taxes, camera kit, more taxes, bottles of red 'sanity restorer', other sorts of taxes, involuntary donations to His Majesty's Government, payments to Adobe and, probably, taxes on the taxes). At this ponit I cede to the late greeat Terry Pratchett who wrote "Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces."

SO, this website has been bent and hammered, drilled and filled, kicked and beaten into existence (amongst considerable profanity) by myself to my own design using code ideas, advice, clues and bits from the interwebs (legally). And hey yes, I'm not a coder (you can tell, can't you? ) and so it's crude and clunky, just like me. It is hosted privately, and I do have to pay for that, but no advertising or that sort of carp. But I think it all works. I've learned so much my head aches, or mebbe that's just last night's bourbon. This website therefore either stands in support of the adage "you're never too old to learn new tricks" or, far more likely, the quip "don't give up the day job".

Yeah, but why is this site actually here?:
I have no idea on that one, sorry! Is it vanity, mebbe, who knows. I enjoy creating picture of things I find uplifting, or beautiful I suppose, that's a start. Perhaps others might find something similar in some of them. What are the odds?

So, I take pictures of things I am lucky enough to see (while carrying a lot of camera gear ) and wonder if they're worth sharing. Only you can tell that.

Of course, it is also true that I do spend a considerable amount of time taking and editing pictures (we will come on to this in a methods section much later). I look at some of my images and go 'aaaaarh' (99.999% of course evoke urrgh). And that's it, I see them, now you can too, and may your cup runneth over with joy!

Have we found out why yet? No. I clearly still have no idea, but I suppose it does provide some sort of an excuse to carry on doing what I do. Look it's this or knitting, and I aint got the patience for that. Besides I'd put an eye out.

A note on the author:
I mean there's not much to say is there really, and more to the point, who really gives a ..........? Look here's a picture: owing to legal advice it has been deliberately blurred to limit public complaint.



That's all, more than, anybody really needs to be exposed to. The background. of course. is part of the beautiful archipelago of Shetland. Do go there sometime.

If you still want to know more you probably should seek some sort of professional help. If the drugs they give you don't work, then I guess you could use the contact page link at the bottom of the page. Happy to answer any real questions.