A few years ago, I decided to give up full-time employment so that I am able to spend more of my time concentrating on the outdoor activities which are my passion.  These include Mountain walking, visiting remote locations, wildlife photography, and sailing.

My current website is my attempt to showcase these activities, particularly my wildlife photography.  I have been fortunate enough to have photographed some great species in many different parts of the world ranging from the Arctic North and Canada through to both The Falkland Islands and Southern Africa.  But, I particularly enjoy photographing in cold places such as Northern Finland, Norway, Iceland, and around the Arctic circle, photographing some species that can be tough to find where I have also been fortunate enough to be able to watch and photograph the Northern Lights.

I am qualified as a Mountain Leader, and an RYA Coastal Skipper and work as a wildlife guide and photography speaker. 

My home is in South Leicestershire, but I have always lived in the Midlands.

I have always been interested in the outdoors, wildlife, and wild places, when I was younger spent a lot of time climbing in the mountains of Britain and further afield.  As a result, I built my first website back in March 1989 and the website content was based on the peaks which I have climbed, these included: Mt. Blanc, Kilimanjaro, Kinabalu, Toubkal, and many other peaks.

Currently, I am also trying to complete my ascent of all 282 of the Scottish Munros (a Munro is a Scottish mountain of over 3000 feet in height).  Progress is good and currently, over 220 have been completed.

I have spent a lot of time visiting some of the many remote areas of Scotland including Shetland, The Orkneys, Fair Isle, over 50 islands in the Hebrides including St Kilda.  The more I visit these places, the more my passion for these love remote areas grows.

Most of my hobbies mix well with photography and I can often be found behind my camera, and more often than not the subject in front of my lens is wildlife related.  I am interested in a wide range of wildlife from rare birds and animals through to the birds visiting the feeders in my garden.

I have been interested in photography for a long time and purchased my first digital SLR in 2006.  Since then I have purchased a few specialist items such as a macro lens.  In the years since I have upgraded both the camera body and lenses a few times.

I am particularly interested in wildlife in macro and am proud to have photographed all of the 58 species of British butterfly.

The vast majority of my images are on the theme of nature and they have been captured within the Wildlife photography code of practice.  My image processing is also within ethic guidelines, I do not add or remove much from my images.

Occasionally, I also produce "arty images" such as this pair of Burnt Tip orchids below.  But I always state any created images that have altered reality in photoshop.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to have been achieved success in various photographic competitions, many of these are shown in the "awards section" of this website and in my blog.

The highlights include:

• Best digital image in the Royal Photographic Society, 2019 Natural History exhibition.
• "Chairmans Nature Award" in the 2015 Photographic Alliance Of Great Britain (PAGB) GB Cup.
• 40th Smethwick international exhibition 2014, where I was awarded 2 gold and 1 silver medals including the Best Nature print for my European Brown Bear.

I enjoy spending time on various small boats on our seas and oceans.  During the past 5 years, I have traveled almost 15,000 nautical miles on a variety of boats.

During this time, I have achieved a number of Royal Yachting Association (RYA) qualifications, including "Coastal Skipper"

One of my highlights was a single circumnavigation of the British Isles in a 46 feet sailing boat.  This journey lasted 45 days and covered over 2500 miles.

For a number of years, I have worked as a part-time wildlife guide on a small cruise boat that operates in the waters of the Hebrides and west coast of Scotland which is one of the most spectacular places in Britain to visit.  Their two boats are shown below.

I have a strong interest in conservation and actively support a number of charities, my images have been published in various organisations including Butterfly Conservation, BBC Springwatch, and The Royal Photographic Society.

As well as maintaining this website, I am often to be found researching and planning trips to faraway places with my camera, but, I am found local to my home searching for new species to photograph.

However good your images are, there are always better images to be taken.  Better angles, better light, and hopefully both.

Nigel Spencer
Updated September 2019