Danny Green talks sinking ships and battles for sleeping bags
WITH BBC WILDLIFE PICTURE EDITOR TOM GILKS
How did you get into photography?
I have always loved wildlife. When I was 18, I went on safari to Kenya and a guy in my Jeep had all this great gear –I just had a little point-and-shoot camera. I bought some equipment and haven’t looked back.
Which shot is most important to you?
An image of a red deer stag that I took in my old film days. It was awarded in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which meant a lot.
What’s your biggest ‘oh drat it’ moment?
I’ve always wanted to photograph a blackthroated diver. It is rare in the UK and sensitive to disturbance, so I planned a trip to Sweden, where it is more common.
I built this elaborate floating hide and travelled by ferry so I could transport it.
On the maiden voyage, it started to list, then sank. I should have tested it first…
Anything ever tried to eat you?
While photographing brown bears in Finland, I fell asleep in my hide and woke to find a bear cub had stuck its head into the camera porthole and was pulling at my sleeping bag. I was pulling it back when its mother and sibling joined in. That was a tug-of-war I was never going to win. They eventually got the sleeping bag out and the cub ran off with it. It was expensive, too.
What’s your poorest photographic yield?
On another trip to Finland, I spent eight days in a hide waiting for wolves. I never so much as glimpsed them.
Which piece of kit have you used least?
That expensive sleeping bag…
What’s the shot you nearly got?
I was in Norway, checking out a hide a friend was building. He’d told me not to bother bringing my camera. While on site, we saw a female stoat on the move with nine kits. It was an amazing spectacle.
Any advice to budding photographers?
Pick a subject or location, work it and work it some more. There is always another shot to be had. And always take your camera.
Danny Green is a wildlife photographer from the UK. dannygreenphotography.com
Enter a wildlife photography competition
Pursue your dreams and get your work recognised. It might be the start of a new career…
Here are some of the best to whet your appetite.
• International Nature Photographer of the Year
Open to all professional and amateur photographers.
Submission deadline: 12th June 2022
• The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
A competition that awards various prizes for funny images.
Submission deadline: 1st September 2022
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY)
Probably the world’s most prestigious competition.
Submission deadline: normally in December each year.
See the full round up and details at discoverwildlife.com/ photocomp – and good luck!
