While many office workers browse through the web at their desk or catch up on their favorite TV show during lunch hours, one amateur photographer from England has instead used this time, and any other spare time he gets, to go outside and capture stunning wildlife shots and share them on social media—winning the hearts of netizens.
Dave Newman, 42, a full-time office manager in the construction industry, is a self-taught photographer who picked up the lens about six years ago, shooting from his backyard.
“It all started with a fascination of the moon,” Newman told The Epoch Times. “My parents traveled to the USA to visit my brother, who is now an American resident (having been there for over 15 years), and they brought me back my first camera.”
However, after using the Nikon P900 camera, he realized that it was not the best suited for wildlife photography, therefore he upgraded to a DSLR.
Newman’s equipment currently comprises a Sony A9 and Sony a7R III, with Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 and Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lenses, as well as the Sony 1.4x Teleconverter.
Over the years, he has experimented using the trial-and-error method, relied on the internet for research, and tried to get out as much as possible.
“The more you shoot, the more you learn, and the better you become,“ he said. ”Even professionals are still learning. Every day is different with the changing weather and light, so it’s all a new challenge.”
Living and working in Lincolnshire, England, Newman takes the 30–40 minute lunch break that he gets to head down to the local river, River Slea, which happens to be a 2-minute drive from his workplace.
As a wildlife photographer, he said he usually snaps stunning pictures of birds, animals, and insects. However, if he sees a certain landscape that he finds interesting, he takes the opportunity to capture that too.
“I do like pet photography, this is something more I’m getting into (dogs mainly),” he said, adding that he’s also done some sports photography for his local cricket club.
Among all the birds he shoots, Newman enjoys clicking images of the Kingfisher and raptors (birds of prey). He shared that the diving shots are not so easy to capture since these birds are so fast, and the weather also plays a huge role.
According to him, good lighting is key for shooting fast shutter speeds, as this will help reduce the camera noise levels on the images.
Apart from this, Newman shares that patience is key for wildlife photography. “And of course, at times, you need to get a little lucky; right place, right time,” he said.
With an eye for the unusual and exciting, Newman likes capturing action shots and anything that strikes him as out of the ordinary, whether that’s the head movements, posses, or looks.
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