Gary is a full time Wildlife Photographer and Guide, based in North Wales close by to the beauty and ruggedness of the Welsh Coast and Snowdonia. Since an early age he has had a passion for the outdoors and especially Wildlife, and by trying to photographically record what he saw in the wild, it eventually turned into his profession. He is an accomplished mountaineer and spends a lot of his time in the Mountains but whatever he does and wherever he goes the camera always goes with him. He now travels far and wide to photograph Wildlife, to many of his favourite places both in the UK and overseas. He adores Snowdonia from the rugged mountains down to the beautiful coastline and he has a real passion for Scotland, in particular the Cairngorms and the Western Isles, especially Mull.

Here’s a link to Gary’s website for more information: https://gjwp.co.uk/ .

This is our annual competition against Aspley CC of Queensland, Australia. The competition has been running for several years now. There are no prizes – it’s just a bit of fun with a camera club on the other side of the world. Here’s a link to Aspley’s website for more information about the club: https://www.aspleycameraclub.org.au/ .

Here’s how the competition is run. Each club presents 30 images for judging and these are sent to the other club for judging and later presentation to members. The images are classed in two levels: Intermediate and Advanced, and each level has the same three categories: General, Landscape/Nature and People. The 60 images are sent to two judges – one in Australia and one in Scotland. Neither judge knows the source of each image. Of course, there will be some giveaways like the Sydney Opera House or the Forth Bridge! Each judge awards points in the normal way and these are presented to club members at a normal club meeting. Aspley CC meets on a Monday so we can learn the outcome of the competition on the same day. Last year (2020), Aspley won by one point!!

Oliver Smart is a wildlife photographer and ornithologist. His passion for nature and interest in photography captures the diversity of wildlife from behind the camera. As well as scores of magazine covers, his images have been published in the national press, nature magazines, books and wildlife guides. He is also represented by RSPB Images.

Oliver travels the globe in search of iconic species in their natural habitat, often waiting days to capture the perfect photograph. His wildlife photography has taken him all over the world to countries including Alaska for bears, Antarctica for penguins, Cuba for endemics, Ethiopia for bird diversity, Madagascar for lemurs, New Zealand for landscapes and the Azores for marine wildlife.

Oliver also holds voluntary positions for the RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology and the Avon Wildlife Trust where he is a warden at Puxton Moor nature reserve. Here’s a link to Oliver’s website: https://www.smartimages.co.uk/index.php .

Jeff Carter has been a professional photographer since 1994 and on leaving the Royal Air Force in 1996 he set up MacLean Photographic, the MacLean taken from his full name Jeffrey Stuart MacLean Carter, specialising in sports photography, becoming the Official Photographer for the British Canoe Slalom team ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. In 1997 he gained a Licentiate to the British Institute of Professional Photographers, one of the first to gain the award with a portfolio of motor sport images.

Since 2009 he has worked for the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world governing body of motor sport, as the Media Delegate for the FIA GT3 European (2009-2011), FIA GT1 World Championships (2010/2011), since 2012 the FIA World Endurance Championship and in 2019 the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship.

As part of this role he has been able to be hands on with motor sport photography, providing images and videos for the official website and social media feeds, as well as being the main point of contact for the international media and coordinating the work of the official photographic agency for the championship. He has also been the photo delegate for the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2012.  Since 2013 Jeff has also worked on the European Le Mans Series and since 2016 the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

Here's a link to Jeff’s website: https://www.macleanphotographic.com/ .