Sean Holt Photography

Sean Holt Photography Sean Holt Photography

23/08/2026

You hear them long before you see them. A low rumble that builds into a roar as thousands of Common Starlings sweep across the evening sky.

Catching a wild Barn Owl hunting low over the reeds at Lunt Meadows as the late summer sun drops is always a special mom...
23/08/2026

Catching a wild Barn Owl hunting low over the reeds at Lunt Meadows as the late summer sun drops is always a special moment. The golden hour light really brought out the textures in the dried seed heads and highlighted those translucent wing feathers, even picking up the midges dancing in the warm evening air.

Shooting flight sequences as the light fades is a constant balancing act. I had to push the ISO right up to 8000 here just to maintain a 1/1600s shutter speed and freeze the wing action. The Canon R6 Mark II handles that high noise incredibly well, keeping the crisp details intact.

Camera: Canon EOS R6m2
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM II with EF 1.4x III
Settings: 560mm, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 8000

These birds are perfectly adapted for this exact environment. Their distinct facial disk acts exactly like a radar dish, funnelling the faintest rustle of a vole in the deep grass straight to their asymmetric ears so they can pinpoint prey entirely by sound.

Swipe across to see a different wing position from this sequence.

Which local reserves do you usually head to when you are hoping to spot owls? Let me know in the comments below.

22/08/2026

Beautiful Roe Deer enjoying some evening feeding. 🦌

Spotting a mature Roe deer buck peering over the tall summer grass on a late August evening. He was carefully tracking m...
22/08/2026

Spotting a mature Roe deer buck peering over the tall summer grass on a late August evening. He was carefully tracking my movements from the cover before finally deciding to step out into the open.

This was taken just moments before the full portrait I captured. You can see how perfectly their reddish summer coat blends into the dry stems and wild flowers. Older bucks like this one are masters of using cover to their advantage. They will often stand perfectly still in deep vegetation for ages, relying on their large ears to monitor threats rather than bolting immediately and giving away their position.

Camera settings:

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM with EF 1.4x III extender (560mm)

Settings: 1/800s | f/8.0 | ISO 1000

Do you prefer environmental wildlife shots like this where the animal is partially hidden, or do you prefer a completely clear portrait? Let me know below.

19/08/2026

Look at the eyes focussing!

16/08/2026

Sleepy Long Eared Owl 😴 🦉

There is a very specific thrill to catching a Long-eared Owl out in the open.I found this one using an old dry stone wal...
15/08/2026

There is a very specific thrill to catching a Long-eared Owl out in the open.

I found this one using an old dry stone wall as a hunting perch in the golden evening light yesterday. The low August sun caught the rough stonework perfectly and really highlighted the deep orange in the bird's eyes. It sat completely still on the weathered rocks, giving me a direct stare before turning its head to quietly scan the landscape behind.

These birds are deeply secretive by nature and usually spend their daylight hours tucked away against the trunks of dense conifers or thick hawthorn scrub. Getting a clear, relaxed view of one resting comfortably out in the open is a real privilege.

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM II with EF 1.4x III
Settings: 560mm, 1/640s, f/8, ISO 800

Have you managed to spot a Long-eared Owl this year, or are they still on your list? Let me know in the comments.

Spotting a Long-eared Owl during the day usually means staring at tree bark until your eyes water. I lucked out and foun...
15/08/2026

Spotting a Long-eared Owl during the day usually means staring at tree bark until your eyes water. I lucked out and found this one roosting deep in the woods yesterday evening.

In the first shot, you can really see how its patterned feathers work as the perfect camouflage against the lichen and dead branches. By the second frame, it had totally relaxed, turning away just as the fading golden backlight caught its feathers.

A lot of people think those prominent tufts on its head are for hearing, but they're actually just display feathers. They break up the bird's outline against the tree trunks, keeping it hidden from daytime predators and mobbing crows.

Shooting under a dense canopy at 7 PM meant the light was dropping fast. I had to push the R6 Mark II all the way to ISO 12800 just to keep a shutter speed fast enough to freeze any sudden head turns. The noise handling on modern mirrorless bodies is incredible—it genuinely changes the game for late-day woodland birding.

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM II with EF 1.4x III
Settings: 560mm | 1/640s | f/8.0 | ISO 12800

What is the highest ISO you are comfortable pushing your current camera to when the woodland light drops? Let me know in the comments!

Spotting a wild Long-eared Owl roosting in the UK woodlands is one of those moments that completely stops you in your tr...
15/08/2026

Spotting a wild Long-eared Owl roosting in the UK woodlands is one of those moments that completely stops you in your tracks.

I spent a quiet evening scanning the dense branches before finally catching the brilliant flash of those piercing orange eyes looking back at me. This beautiful bird was tucked away perfectly among the woodland cover, making the most of its natural camouflage. I have put together a carousel of three frames to show exactly how well it blends into the environment as it subtly shifts its posture.

These secretive birds are absolute masters of disguise. When they want to avoid detection, they pull their feathers in tight, stretch their bodies out incredibly thin, and raise their distinctive ear tufts to perfectly mimic a broken tree branch. It is a brilliant bit of evolution that makes them so challenging to find.

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM II with EF 1.4x III
Settings: 560mm | f/8.0 | 1/640s | ISO 4000

Have you ever managed to spot a Long-eared Owl out in the wild, or are they still on your target list? Let me know down in the comments, and save this post as a reference for what to look out for next time you are scanning the tree lines!

A split second at 1/100s as Nicolas Hamilton flashes past in the EXCLR8 Motorsport Hyundai i30N during today's intense B...
07/06/2026

A split second at 1/100s as Nicolas Hamilton flashes past in the EXCLR8 Motorsport Hyundai i30N during today's intense BTCC rounds at Oulton Park.

Capturing motorsport is all about conveying that raw sensation of speed. To get this shot, I tracked the car smoothly across the frame to keep the chassis tack sharp against a completely blurred background, with the dull light helping to keep reflections manageable.

Tech Spec:

* Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II
* Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
* Focal Length: 135mm
* Aperture: F8.0
* Shutter Speed: 1/100s
* ISO: 125

Did you catch any of the racing action today, or were you out tracking something else with your camera? Drop your favourite trackside photography tips or thoughts on the race in the comments below.





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