Two of the Best Wildlife Spots on My Doorstep
Client work fills most of my calendar, but the camera doesn’t stop when the studio closes for the day. Knowsley Safari Park and Chester Zoo are both close enough to home that a wildlife afternoon is never more than a short drive away, and I’ve been visiting both for years, camera in hand every single time.
What’s Changed Is Who’s Coming With Me
Our own children are grown now, but the trips haven’t stopped, they’ve just been passed down. These days it’s our two grandsons in the back seat, and watching them see a tiger up close or a meerkat pop its head up for the first time brings back exactly the same excitement I remember from years ago, just from a different side of it.
A Few Favourites From Recent Visits
Some of the shots below are from Knowsley, some from Chester, gathered across a handful of trips rather than a single outing. A prowling tiger, a meerkat keeping watch, a deer breaking away from the herd to look straight down the lens, and an eagle owl that held completely still for the whole time I had the camera up.
Why It Still Matters to Me
Photographing wildlife isn’t part of the business, there’s no client, no brief, no deadline. It’s the kind of shooting that keeps the eye sharp between paid work: reading light and movement, waiting for the moment an animal looks exactly the right way at exactly the right time. It’s also, increasingly, a family day out that happens to come with a camera rather than the other way round.
