Success in British Wildlife Photography Awards 2015

I'm very pleased to have a Highly Commended image in the 'Hidden Britain' category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2015. The image is of a tiny Globular Springtail, just 2-3mm in size.

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Globular Springtail (Canon 60D with MP-E 65mm lens and MT-24 twin flash)

I've photographed Globular Springtails many times but on this particular occasion I wanted to achieve something a little different. I noticed that the wet leaves on my garden lawn (this was taken in winter) often contained Globular Springtails and by holding a wet leaf up and shooting into sunlight I was able to create unusual lighting effects. The use of flash added to this and also helped to darken the background thereby emphasising the light on the leaf and the springtail.

What particularly pleases me about this image being highly commended in the BWPA is the fact that it didn't require a long journey or a trip to a remote part of the UK. I simply walked into my back garden. Come to think of it, my highly commended image in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in 2010 was also photographed in my back garden.  I think this emphasises the often rich biodiversity that exists around us which often goes unnoticed.