subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 23 November 2019 47
Bird Behaviour category of
Bird Photographer of the Year.
It just shows you how judging
can be so different.
‘Because there’d been so
much criticism and it had been
hit and miss, I thought I’d enter
it into the Sony competition
and see what happened. I only
entered the day before the
deadline – I was gobsmacked
when I got the call.’
While Tracey has a ‘normal’
day job as a network
maintenance engineer for a
telecommunications company,
she says she’d love to turn
photography into a full-time
career one day.
‘It’s a huge jump. Wildlife
photography is hard to make a
living from – but I’m thinking
about it.’
For now, Tracey is lucky
enough to have flexibility with
her shift work to fit in her
travels. With the next two years
of annual leave already bookedup, she’ll next be heading to
The Falkland Islands for a
four-week stint in January- ‘It’ll be summer and the
breeding season over there, so
we should have plenty of chicks
to look at. I still can’t believe
I’m going – we’ll be island
hopping to see penguins, seals,
birds and more.’
Finally, I ask Tracey if she
could offer just one piece of
advice to anybody wishing to
capture great wildlife shots.
Once again, it all comes down
to putting in the time and
effort. As she explains, ‘I’d say
know your subject. Take time
to learn and read about them,
watch them and study them.
Find out everything you can
about the subject because it
really helps if you can read
the signs and signals, to try
and pre-empt what they’re
going to do. And really, have
patience – definitely a lot
of patience.’