Capture The Moment
Renowned landscape photographer Colin Prior returns to his first loves – bird photography and conservation
HIS name is synonymous with stunning panoramas of Scotland, but a childhood fascination with ornithology has come full circle for Colin Prior.
This year he is preparing to publish a new book on a more intimate aspect of the natural world.
While internationally acclaimed for his visionary landscape photography, most recently the 62-year-old has been exploring the habitats of wild birds.
His new book, Fragile, will reveal just how vulnerable to change the UK’S birds really are.
“My first love was birds,” Colin says. “From a young age, I had an innate fascination with birdlife, especially in my home country.
“But, over the decades, there has been a huge decline in bird species, including tree sparrow, corn bunting, starling and cuckoo, to name a few.
“Their UK populations have been affected by more efficient farming methodology, habitat loss, the building of houses and retail parks and, increasingly, climate change.”
Fragile has seen Colin photographing eggs, all part of a research collection held at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Each painstakingly photographed image of an egg is presented with a dramatic image of a wild habitat.
“The book is a culmination of 10
years of work,” Colin says. “My aim has also been to reconnect these eggs of wild birds with their natural habitats through imagery. I am looking forward to the public reaction to the book and to increasing awareness of wild bird populations in freefall.”
With Colin’s lifetime interest in wild birds, you might imagine that he would have chosen to focus on wildlife as a photographer. In fact, it was images of the natural world captured underwater that first gave the Scot the inspiration to make a career of photography.
“I wasn’t a natural scholar and I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school. I started my career working in the same company as my father, Hugh. I was an operations manager at Lincoln Electric UK.
“At the same time I got into scuba diving and I decided to take a camera underwater. My first results were terrible but I learned quickly.”
Colin, by then in his early 20s, created a photography portfolio of Scotland’s coastline and the Red Sea.
“I entered the photos into a Camera Beneath the Waves competition without any expectation. I was very surprised when I won the Best Newcomer to Underwater Photography award.”
The win was the catalyst that changed his life. After a stint working on a North Sea oil platform as a photo-technician, Colin soon decided to set up his own business as a professional photographer. He spent the next decade concentrating on commercial photography, which he described in that era as “lucrative”.
“Commissions came from advertising and design agencies for clients in the travel, lifestyle and leisure sectors,” Colin says. “These paid the bills and helped to establish my reputation as a photographer.
“The money also allowed me the freedom to pursue personal projects. I experimented with different genres of photography. While the natural world, especially birds and underwater life, still greatly appealed I found this to be ‘hard fought’ photography.