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Tony Bates Tony was born in Watford, from an early age most of his spare time when not playing football was spent exploring the countryside near his home either with friends or the family dog.A close view of a Heron was a key moment in wanting to watch wildlife on a more regular basis. Many happy hours were also spent wandering the streets of London with his first camera. Indeed he still loves to visit London his favourite city whenever he can, particularly his beloved Stamford Bridge. With so many great places to visit and things to see and do, he is as happy there as on his forays into the beautiful English countryside.Eventually his two interests of photography and wildlife merged and he began taking images, just for himself at first, then progressing to being a semi-professional photographer. A few years ago a close encounter with a wild hare captivated him and led to him wanting to learn more and to photograph what is now his favourite animal, a truly magical creature as he calls them. This led to an interest in folklore, myths and legends of our countryside and is the subject of two of his several slide show presentations he performs for various groups around the country. The shows are fun and informative but not a lecture! Tony's images have appeared in various publications including magazines, calendars, newspapers, and been featured on television. They also hang on many walls around the World, with diverse locations from an Australian high school to an Indian reservation. He produces a wide range of hand made greetings cards that prove extremely popular wherever he takes them. He has an extensive knowledge of the night sky and enjoys going to dark remote locations to stargaze and has been known to produce astro-landscape photos thanks to these outings. At the moment Tony lives in Lincolnshire with his bearded collie Indie. Tony says "There is not enough time to read all the books on my list, see as many Pre-Raphaelite paintings as I would like to, and get the perfect wildlife shot of Hares interacting, but its certainly great fun trying!" |
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