INS Wildlife Photography and Guiding

INS Wildlife Photography and Guiding Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from INS Wildlife Photography and Guiding, Photographer, Carrbridge.

Light, what a huge difference it makes with your photography when the sun peeks through the clouds briefly.I posted som...
14/05/2026

Light, what a huge difference it makes with your photography when the sun peeks through the clouds briefly.
I posted some images up yesterday where the light was flat due to the overcast conditions.
I managed to get just over an hour in one of the hides yesterday morning.
The conditions up until about 09.00hrs had been pretty abysmal with rain, thick cloud and pretty damn chilly.
As luck would have it not long after getting in the hide the weather improved considerably and I decided to put the big lens on the camera and added the 1.4 teleconverter giving me 700mm of reach.
Now this approach can cost you some of your images as you have to drop your focussing area almost down to the bottom of your screen otherwise you end up cutting large parts of the birds wings off. And you can still end up clipping their wings off and other parts 😊
None of these images are cropped as there wasn't any point in doing that as they were frame fillers.
Now to try and get a particular diving image of an Osprey using the same set up 😊

A few recent Osprey images, sometimes you have to wait a while for the Ospreys to turn up.On other mornings they arrive ...
13/05/2026

A few recent Osprey images, sometimes you have to wait a while for the Ospreys to turn up.
On other mornings they arrive early and its just a case of doing the best you can with the light levels as they are.
Gordon (Aviemore ospreys) asked me recently to turn up at the pond just to be there in case anyone turned up to do the Ospreys.
He does have an online booking system, however clients sometimes phone him up direct which can cause issues, in that dates can be forgotten.
So I turned up, and I waited until 05.15hrs just to make sure there was no one who was expecting to go in the hides.
I was then free to go in the hide myself😂😂.
With a Northerly wind it would have to be the Walkway hide, I hadn't been in there long before The dominant male turned up and proceeded to sit in the tree opposite the hide for the next two and a half hours, during that time it had a couple of dives but missed a fish.
For some reason it departed from the tree and vanished for almost an hour before turning up again and having a couple of false dives.
I was sat at the far end of the Walkway hide and whilst he was flying around the pond I moved myself and my gear down the opposite end of the hide, as on both the Ospreys false dive attempts he was targeting the bottom of the pond.
A few minutes after moving he did indeed come in and dive at the bottom of the pond and this time managed to get a fish.
I managed a few images of him as he went past where I was sat.
The last four images are the ones of him going past me.
The other images are a few of the images I've captured since then.

A few Black Grouse images I was lucky enough to capture the other day.The early morning start was very productive and we...
04/05/2026

A few Black Grouse images I was lucky enough to capture the other day.
The early morning start was very productive and well worth the effort😀.
I was even lucky enough to get back to Aviemore in time to get an hour in the Osprey hide and was rewarded with a few images of an Osprey fishing😊

03/05/2026

I had a very early start the other day in order to get into a hide at a Black Grouse Lek.
Twenty minutes after getting myself sorted out I started to hear these rather strange noises and I guessed (and hoped) it was coming from the Grouse as they moved into the area..
There was a full moon and I could just about make out their white tail feathers as they were scurrying about.
I just sat there listening to the incredible sounds they were making and waited for the light levels to improve so I could hopefully capture some images of them strutting their stuff.
It turned out to be an absolutely fantastic morning with twelve male Black Grouse making an appearance and they were joined by a couple of females.
The session was cut short rather abruptly when a logging lorry went past sounding his horn and a few seconds later a deer came bounding through the Leking site and all the birds departed rather rapidly.
I got packed up and I noticed as I was driving away a little while later that the Black Grouse were returning to the area.
An absolutely fantastic early morning and so worth the early start.
I then headed back to Aviemore and was lucky to get an hour in the Osprey hide.
As luck would have it an Osprey did fish whilst I was in there.
Just a little video for now, I'll post some images up later .
Ps turn the volume up and have a listen to their calls!!

Not brilliant images by any stretch of the imagination😉.something that will be happening next year is Black Grouse photo...
29/04/2026

Not brilliant images by any stretch of the imagination😉.
something that will be happening next year is Black Grouse photography.
Gordon has been given permission to set up a little photography area at a Black Grouse Lek.
Its looking really good and I've been lucky to get a little visit so far, but will be getting another go pretty soon.
Just a few images for now😀.
I never expected to see so many of them🤯

This morning, we had an Osprey in first thing when there was quite a bit of mist on the water.After that Osprey had depa...
28/04/2026

This morning, we had an Osprey in first thing when there was quite a bit of mist on the water.
After that Osprey had departed with its breakfast we had to wait a few more hours before the next Osprey fished.
There had been a few Ospreys flying around with a couple of them coming over the pond but they ended up chasing each other.
Nine o'clock came and an Osprey came over the pond and sat in the fir tree to the left of our hide.
With a light Northerly wind I was thinking it would dive off the tree and fly out of the pond into the wind and we would have only got rear end images as it disappeared over the fence line.
We were very lucky as this Osprey did indeed dive away from us as it left the tree but as it surfaced it turned towards us and rose from the water with its catch and came right in front of us before gaining enough height and disappearing through the trees.
I was over gunned again in the lens department with the 1.4 teleconverter on the 500mm lens.
Talk about fill the frame up, but I really like the images as the Osprey as it first starts to emerge from the pond with the spray going all over the place.
The light, was, just unbelievable and it Was great to get some images with a fairly low ISO.
Just a few images of another good morning in the hide.
Aviemore ospreys.

Whilst you are waiting for the Ospreys to make an appearance in the mornings the Golden Eye's have been putting on a goo...
25/04/2026

Whilst you are waiting for the Ospreys to make an appearance in the mornings the Golden Eye's have been putting on a good show first thing😊

A few recent Osprey images, they seem to be spending quite a bit of time just sitting in the trees on the opposite side ...
23/04/2026

A few recent Osprey images, they seem to be spending quite a bit of time just sitting in the trees on the opposite side of the pond at the minute with the odd one choosing to fish when it suits them.
I don't usually bother with the x2 teleconverter on the 500mm lens but on a couple of the mornings I have given that combination a go as the light levels as the sun has been rising have been fantastic.
Adding the teleconverter gives you a 1,000 mm lens at f8 but unless you have very good light conditions and everything is rock solid on a tripod I don't tend to bother with it.
On this occasion whilst the Ospreys were in the tree or flying around it was the right choice.
As soon as the birds left the tree it was back to my normal set up of the 500mm plus the 1.4 teleconverter.
It seems to have worked pretty well as I am pretty happy with how the images have turned out😀.

It would appear that the diversionary feeding is certainly working.No little birds are being attacked at the moment as b...
23/04/2026

It would appear that the diversionary feeding is certainly working.
No little birds are being attacked at the moment as both the male and female Sparrowhawk are choosing to feed on the roadkill Pigeon that I have put out for them.
I had a friend who is also a photographer come round to visit recently to help me sort out instagram and link it up to my page.
I was a little gutted for her as less the fifteen minutes after she had left the female Sparrowhawk turned up and spent almost forty minutes feasting on what was left of the Pigeon after the male had almost devoured it.
I would sooner that pair feed on something that's all ready dead than see them attacking and killing the Siskins and Goldfinches
😉.

I am pretty sure this is the Loch Garten male KL5 having a go at fishing at a small lochan in Aviemore on Thursday morni...
18/04/2026

I am pretty sure this is the Loch Garten male KL5 having a go at fishing at a small lochan in Aviemore on Thursday morning.
I was tracking him in when he started to dive but before he hit the pond he slowed up a tad and I carried on through with my tracking of him which meant I ended up chopping parts of his wings off.... Nearly got him😉.
He doesn't have his Darvic ring, but he does have a BTO ring.
He also has the little blemish in his left eye👍
Aviemore ospreys

Address

Carrbridge

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when INS Wildlife Photography and Guiding posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to INS Wildlife Photography and Guiding:

Shortcuts

Share

Category