I’ve photographed in a dozen different countries, with countless models in abandoned mansions, inside the the hull of a supertanker, with a hundred different dogs, from the pressbox of ATP tennis matches and on set at a TV series… but I have nothing to speak of when it comes to widlife. I have no idea if I even suck or not :) – growing up just outside London gave me little exposure to wildlife and the time I spent in Singapore yielded little more than close proximity to lizards.

That will soon be changing when I go on a trip to Yellowstone in Spring… Can’t wait for that. In the meantime, here’s some pictures that just about qualify as “life” (not all of it moving) from my recent Oregon trip.

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 on Fujifilm Neopan 400
Trees across a river in the Redword National Park. I actually really liked this shot. It came out overexposed with default settings (exposure meter thrown by all the dark shadows) so just adjusted some curves and was v pleased with the result – I reckon this will look cool and abstract in a print.

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 on Fujifilm Neopan 400
A real wildlife shot ! I’m sad to say that this is as close to a truly wild animal as I’ve come. This baby seal was laying on the beach – was pretty excited to see this

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 135mm f/2.8 on Kodak Ektar 100
The same pup up close and on Ektar

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 21mm f/2 on Kodak Ektar 100
Life washed up

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 21mm f/2 on Fuji Neopan 400
It felt impossible to photograph the amazing trees in the Redwood National Park and convey a sense of height and perspective. This tree was probably many hundreds of years old and about 80 metres high

Olympus OM-4 + Olympus OM Zuiko 21mm f/2 on Fuji Neopan 400
I include this only to remind to myself to mention an amazing photographer called Chris Jordan. Click here to see his incredible and moving Miday series.

And finally my favourite shot from the trip and an image I shared earlier this week.