Storytelling for Photography and Wildlife Enthusiasts
I offer in-person or ‘Zoom’ talks and presentations to members of Photographic Societies/ Camera Clubs across the UK. A selection of presentations are shown below.
If you are interested or would like to know more, please feel free to get in touch.
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Wild Pennines
As a passionate photographer, there's nothing quite like seeing my work in print! That's why, over the past couple of years, I have been preparing to publish a book about the wildlife in the Cumbrian North Pennines near my home.
This presentation will provide insight into the thought process and practical steps taken to turn this project into a reality, illustrated with some of the photographs I hope to include in the final product.
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Black Grouse Lek
The black grouse lek is one of England’s most spectacular wildlife displays. Every spring, male black grouse gather at their local lekking grounds, where they produce an incredible array of sounds, to accompany their elaborate displays and aggressive interactions, all in the hopes of attracting a mate, the greyhen.
This talk will offer nsights into how I located and approached these fascinating birds, enabling me to create stunning imagery of this remarkable event.
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Elusive Polecat
Polecats once had a truly awful reputation and our ancestors apparently loathed it more than any other mammal. Nowadays, they are rarely seen and remain unknown to most of us. Yet, recent surveys show this critter is increasing in numbers and range.
My polecat tale follows a chance encounter with a species I had barely heard of. I has since become the subject of my longest (ongoing) photographic project to date, my business logo, and has developed into a minor obsession.
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The Arctic
I visited arctic Norway on several occasions during the ‘noughties’ and had memorable experiences every time. On my last trip, I visited a museum in Tromso and learned of an interesting place, full of interesting stuff. The place was Svalbard.
This is a true bucket-list destination and eleven years later, I touched down in the capital, Longyearbyen.
After a couple of nights in that uninspiring but functional and modern town, I boarded a former research vessel, MS Malmö, an ice-strengthened, Swedish charter with eleven crew and guides and eleven guests. This was home for the next eight nights.
Comments from the Audience
“By common consent, members thought John’s presentation was memorable and interesting. He has expertise in aspects of photography that speakers don’t usually cover, such as camera traps, as well as being an entertaining and professional presenter. John is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to wildlife photography and kept even the experienced shooters in the club thoroughly engaged. A highly recommended and enthusiastic speaker. Andy Atkins on behalf of the Committee of NCC.”
“I was knocked out by John’s fantastic talks yesterday.”
“I would like to thank you for coming to South Manchester Camera Club to give a presentation entitled Wild Pennines.
It was a tremendous presentation with loads of wonderful pictures including some technical information to help us with our photography.
Your book projects on the polecats and the black grouse were particularly interesting to our members as it showed what you can do when you are a keen wildlife photographer.
Thank you again and we hope to see in 2025 for more beautiful photography.”
“I’d like to thank you, John, on behalf of Stokesley Photographic Society’s members for last night’s informative and entertaining presentations on Polecats and Black Grouse. The mixture of video and still images, plus details of the camera and flash set up for various locations, made for a very enjoyable evening. We certainly appreciated you battling through one foot of snow and crossing the A66 to reach us! We look forward to seeing other presentations you have in the future and the book when you finish it.”
“Thanks a lot John for sharing your adventures with us and giving us a real feel for what it takes to be a wildlife photographer. It was great to hear your behind the scenes stories.
Thousands of insect bites, constant rain on the lens, animal subjects that do not show up, heavy camera kit, subjects hidden in the tree tops silhouetted against a bright sky are just some of the privations and challenges when trying to photograph wildlife in the tropics. All eloquently presented and demonstrated.
Thank you”
“On behalf of all the members can I just thank you for an excellent evening. Because of the skills you have developed we actually had the opportunity to see wildlife that the majority of people will never see. And up close and personal. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the behaviours of the polecats and the grouse and a really good idea to concentrate on the two so we could really see the process you followed to get your footage.
So once again John, many thanks for sharing your work with us. It will be fascinating to see the book as it develops. ”
“Everybody found the presentation to be very interesting and informative, and for some members this is the first time that they seen video and pictures of a wild Polecat...
The overall feedback I got from members was very positive...”
“Thanks very much for your presentation on Tuesday, which I found interesting and informative.
It was very comprehensive, with some great examples of how an average image can be transformed into something much more impressive.”
“On behalf of Stockton Camera Club I would like to thank you for your presentation on “Wild Pennines” last night , it was truly fascinating to see the pole cats and the black grouse at close quarters.
The images and video clips were stunning and it was interesting to hear how you overcame some of the practical problems to capture the work.
We look forward to seeing your other presentations in the future.”
“Thanks very much for your presentation last night, it was good to see you and to put a face to the name. I thought your talk was really enjoyable and informative, and it was refreshing to hear someone provide some explanations about the “how and why” the images were taken rather than just one continuous slide show. I’m sure all our club members who attended would agree with me.
On a personal note, I tend to veer towards nature photography myself so I am very envious of your wonderful images and the locations you have been to so perhaps I shall have to try and attend one of your workshops when circumstances allow!
Anyway, thank you again for a great talk, and maybe in the future we can invite you to our club in person next time.”
“Last night we had guest wildlife photographer, John Birch for the 2nd time showing us some of his fantastic images.
He did 2 talks, the first “Wild Pennines”, when he talked about the challenges faced by wildlife and their struggle to exist in harmony on UK’s Northern uplands.
His 2nd talk was about the black grouse lek. My god, his images were remarkable. He was virtually in the middle of the lek. Absolutely stunning.
If your club is ever looking for a speaker, then you can’t go wrong with John.”
“On behalf of Washington Camera club, I would like to thank you for coming to our club on Friday and giving your great talk on Wildlife. I understand from the members that were there that this was a very good evening with you, they really enjoyed the talk and your photography . I had hoped to be there but due to work commitments I couldn’t attend on this occasion.
We wish you all the best and hope you back at Washington camera club in the future.”
“Many thanks for your excellent presentation yesterday. You showed us some really stunning images, particularly the Svalbard polar bear! I really appreciated that you freely shared your knowledge regarding cameras, lenses, camera settings etc.
I will be looking out for some of your wildlife photography workshops in future!”
“Thank you very much for a very informative session on two very different locations.
In your Svalbard talk, describing the challenges of capturing the wildlife in that vast landscape from a moving ship! And how you had to adapt the normal use of equipment to suit those conditions- was very insightful and helpful. Both seeing the wildlife diminutively against backdrops of the huge mountains and then the stunning close ups – revealed the landscape and its wildlife in full glory.
Your ‘Elusive Polecat’ presentation – together with the other wildlife found in the Stainmore area – presented a totally different landscape but also.
the challenges of capturing a creature that is definitely ‘elusive’ and you must be applauded for your ingenuity and determination to find a way of capturing images with cameras, lighting, sensors etc - impressive results. This part was great to see and make us aware of what it actually on our local doorstep and I think this is the part that captured the interest of our members- - who showed interest in your local workshops at the end.
Very many thanks for your presentation – there seemed to be a lot of interest and questions – so that proves your talk was a hit with our members – and hopefully inspired some to have more of a go at wildlife photography”
“Many thanks for your excellent presentation yesterday. You showed us some really stunning images, particularly the Svalbard polar bear! I really appreciated that you freely shared your knowledge regarding cameras, lenses, camera settings etc.
I will be looking out for some of your wildlife photography workshops in future!”
“John was a guest speaker at the Copeland Photographic Society. He gave a very interesting presentation on his wildlife photography which we can highly recommend. John described his recent trip to the Artic and his close encounter with a Polar Bear and other artic wildlife. He went on to talk about his Polecat family near his small holding here in Cumbria. He showed some top notch images along the way.”
“Three thousand people and 3,500 hungry Polar Bear, don’t lock your car, and don’t venture far without a well trained sharp shooter by your side.
John and his very tolerant wife took to a Research ship in this harsh and dangerous archipelago off the coast of Norway.
For his companions of eleven fellow photographers and the identical number of crew it was 24hours of daylight, and two inflatable ribs for fast manoeuvring once,
the ice had been eased to make a safe passage.
It was the stunning images of the white landscape, long, barren and hostile. John had used his vast knowledge to high light the occasional snow free gullies
running down the mountains. And the denseness of the landscape. The sense of size was size was enhanced by the lonely Polar bear on the distant pack ice.
For seven miles the ice floated away, carefully followed by, on board, camera in hand he was able to capture stunning photographs as
the hungry animal swam, tormented and then devoured its prey. What drama John captured when 300 meters away, red fur and predatory look met his lens.
Astounding is the only word for it.
Soon it was time for John to take us, photographically, round his back garden. A back garden that sits high on the hills of Stainmore, and brings with it
considerable wild life. John has set up a network of Trail Cameras all of which he uses, together with his hides to capture fascinating images of what goes on after dark.
Chickens, are his wife Pride and Joy, alas one day after they had returned home from a few days away, there were the sad remains.
Polecats, were the culprits, hammer and nails to the Hen House and cameras on reset.
Also birds of prey feeding there chicks in the nest were another of Johns, images.
The evening came to a close after we had seen some of the most remarkable wildlife images which we had seen for a long time.
We must thank John sincerely for both entertaining us with his photographs, easy flow, but also the valuable hints and tips which he gave to us.”
“Hi John. Just wanted to thank you again for last night, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. We even had 4 people who said that they don’t normally like to photograph nature and they nearly didn’t come along, but they are so glad they did. They really enjoyed it.”
“Thank you for a wonderful presentation last night. Your photographs and presentation were outstanding.”