Joe Marano Photography

Joe Marano Photography BBC Featured Wildlife Photographer
Often imitated, never replicated.

I was hoping that after all the effort that went into this shot - the being stinking ill with a cold, the freezing tempe...
19/08/2026

I was hoping that after all the effort that went into this shot - the being stinking ill with a cold, the freezing temperatures, manual focus and waiting seven years for conditions like this to even happen - that my image might make it into Norfolk Wildlife Trusts 2027 calendar.

It's another negative in yet another absolute stinker of a year - so I have decided to call 2026 right now!

For clarity I am not just throwing a tantrum solely due to not placing in a competition.

It's on going things and I am feeling pretty under appreciated in the wildlife space right now.

I'm done with the year (already) so to that end there will be no more YouTube videos, no more Facebook posts (at least in this page) and I won't be making a Calendar for 2027.

I will return in the new year to get aboard the circular treadmill of doom for another year :)

It is what it is. Been feeling this way for a while now and this along with many other setbacks have given me the excuse I needed to call it.

Running and fitness will have my full concentration for the rest of the year.

It may seem childish but I don't care. I have always been honest about how this journey has been going.

1.5k views on this post kind of proves my point somewhat.

See you in 2027...if I don't sell my 150-400 by then ;)

I felt like this was an appropriate photo to post today!I am also glad that the British public elected a government, tha...
14/08/2026

I felt like this was an appropriate photo to post today!

I am also glad that the British public elected a government, that thought I needed a warning on my phone, to tell me not to light any fires in this freezing cold weather! :D

It's almost been a year since I started the transition away from Lumix in favour of OM System. I chose to switch due to ...
12/08/2026

It's almost been a year since I started the transition away from Lumix in favour of OM System.

I chose to switch due to the availability of pro lenses with OM System and Lumix's apparent abandonment of the Micro Four Thirds system.

A year later I couldn't be happier with the move but I'm under no illusion that the Lumix gear was more than adequate for the type of photography I do. I had great times with the G9's!

Here are some images that I hope back that up :)

Lumix OM System

Muntjac in my local fields...OM-1 Mark II, OM 150-400 F4.5 Pro F4.5 1/250 ISO 400
11/08/2026

Muntjac in my local fields...

OM-1 Mark II, OM 150-400 F4.5 Pro F4.5 1/250 ISO 400

Whilst it's imperfect from a technical perspective (needed focus stacking or a much deeper depth of field) I quite like ...
10/08/2026

Whilst it's imperfect from a technical perspective (needed focus stacking or a much deeper depth of field) I quite like this image of a Red Admiral because of how simple it is...a theme that's going to be with my wildlife photography going forwards...

It's pretty easy to forget how long I have been on this journey.

Starting out I was that guy with a very basic camera and limited knowledge of wildlife (and photography itself!) but I taught myself everything I know.

Success came almost instantly. Competition wins, features, appearing on BBC1's Countryfile and Radio Norfolk - it seemed like I was on a march to success!

Fast forward a few years and it's like I have regressed. A few things contributed to the decline - the dreaded word "Covid" destroyed my photography and mental health almost overnight and gave me thousands of new competitors.

Right now my website is still non-existent. YouTube content is at the stage where I am lucky to average one video a month, Facebook is at 2k followers after 7 years - it really does have me questioning what I have been doing wrong.

The truth is I am an average working class father in his 40s with all of the huge disadvantages that brings. I don't really have time for this social media lark and it achieves very little for me as the creator.

To that end I am going to be scaling back even more than I have been lately. Any prints I create will be for my own walls. Any photography I do will be for my own benefit. I am far too busy to be chasing whatever dream I think I am chasing.

For now I will be focusing on my fitness, health and family. It's an area I know I am guaranteed to succeed at (well the first bit anyway)

This isn't goodbye it's just a start towards a better beginning.

As promised some more non-baited, natural Kingfisher shots at my local RSPB reserve :)OM System
09/08/2026

As promised some more non-baited, natural Kingfisher shots at my local RSPB reserve :)

OM System

2000 FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK!!!Those are rookie numbers for a lot of photographers BUT I did it by staying authentic to wh...
07/08/2026

2000 FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK!!!

Those are rookie numbers for a lot of photographers BUT I did it by staying authentic to who I am and didn't take a single short cut on my way there. So in a way it feels more like 2 MILLION!

A quick little sum up of the year so far...

It's not gone quite the way I had planned it to (wildlife photography wise) but as ever a little perseverance and luck has resulted in some bangers in 2026.

Started off the year with the first proper snow that we have seen since relocating to West Norfolk, then a trip to Wales, a switch from Lumix to OM System, a trip to Havergate Island, we sold the campervan in favour of an EV, did a few trips including Rutland Water and the Fox Hide Experience, bought my own printer and of course experienced lots of fishing doom courtesy of my fishing mad teenager!!!

All whilst living a normal working class life, 50 hours weeks, dayshifts, nightshifts, exercising etc etc

Of course there's more to it than that so you can always scroll through the photo section of the page to see what we have been up to the last eight months!

Future plans will still center on getting the website back up and running but I also need to be more on the ball this year with calendar release timings. I released mine so late last year that people had already bought more expensive (and obviously not as great) calendars from more well known people 😁

Here's to the last 4 and a bit months of the year!

Thank you all

You hear it all the time in wildlife photography about getting "frame filling shots" I took it a little too literally wi...
04/08/2026

You hear it all the time in wildlife photography about getting "frame filling shots"

I took it a little too literally with this Great White Egret at RSPB Lakenheath Fen... :D

04/08/2026

Juvenile Kingfisher swallowing it's catch!

With over 10k views on my recent Kingfisher images at RSPB Lakenheath Fen I thought I would share this short clip...

Juvenile female is a rather good little fisher with 3 catches in 4 attempts!

It turns out that even after (what feels like an age of) not using my camera - I can still take photos of Kingfishers!Ha...
03/08/2026

It turns out that even after (what feels like an age of) not using my camera - I can still take photos of Kingfishers!

Had to put a decent bit of time and patience into these but it was a nice reward for kids holidays duties and going back to work this evening!

Lighting was a mixed bag. Obviously this Juvenile didn't fancy working with (the occasional) gorgeous lighting

All taken on the OM-1 Mark II and 150-400 with ISO ranging from 800-6400

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