About Me
I grew up in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, beside the banks of the River Don, in an area known as the Garioch, a scenic district between the Grampian Mountains and the coastline. From an early age, I’ve always had a fascination with wildlife and the great outdoors. We’d visit my Auntie Peg and Uncle John who used to live in Rhodesia, South-Central Africa, before returning back to Scotland. They showed and gave me photographs of the amazing wildlife of Africa; I think this was what ignited my passion for wildlife and nature.
But it wasn’t until my uncle Mike Herd, an award winning wildlife cameraman, invited me to assist him whilst filming Derek Robertson Artist painting mountain hares and ptarmigan up in the hills around Glenshee, that my passion for the great outdoors really begun; despite the basic clothing I was wearing, and the harsh winter conditions at the time.
School was never my thing, and I left not really knowing what direction I would pursue or what life had planned out for me. I eventually started an apprenticeship as a Carpenter & Joiner, and worked as this for a number of years. Most weekends and evenings were spent in the great outdoors; I hope none of my previous employers read this, but there might have been a few extra days off for mountaineering and skiing over the years… These are stories to be told another day.
In 1993 I joined Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Team, and spent 18 amazing years with the team, regularly training in Summer & Winter conditions on the Cairngorm plateau, Glenshee and Royal Lochnagar. It was during this time that I started to show a keen interest in photography and purchased my first decent camera and lens, a Pentax. Unfortunately it wasn’t built for the harsh mountain weather we used to experience and many of my new cameras have followed suit! During this time, I also went down the route of obtaining some outdoor qualifications, and after lots of training and many days out on the hills, I obtained my Summer Mountain Leader and Winter Mountain Leader awards through Mountain Training Scotland.
in 1998, I sat my hgv class 1, thinking I’d get lots of opportunity to travel and explore, the reality was very different, so this led me to sub-contracting, which then allowed me more time in the outdoors. In 2011, we decided to move to Cromdale, beside Grantown on Spey, but sadly I fell ill, a week before we were due to move. After a prolonged period of illness, I was able to start venturing back out, and it was during this time, I started spending more of my time out with the camera, exploring the Cairngorms National Park, one of the most outstanding places for wildlife and nature.
It was also during my time living in the Cairngorms National Park, I turned my camera towards the night sky and started capturing the Northern lights and the Milky Way. In 2018 the Cairngorms National Park received its International Dark Sky Park status, this means it has some of the darkest skies in the UK, making it perfect for stargazing.
In 2017, we moved to our current location in Alness, Ross-shire, next to the Cromarty Firth, giving me the perfect location, to reach most parts of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The next chapter of my life has evolved, and I am now venturing into photography and guiding to share my knowledge and experience with other like-minded wildlife and nature enthusiasts, no matter what skill set.
I have had a number of images published in various newspaper and magazines over the years, and also had some of my video work featured on Secret Scotland with Susan Calman at Dunnet Head, back in 2020.