The photograph of the month for October 2026 comes from my 2026 workshop to Finland to photograph Wolves and Bears (Read the Trip Report) and is of a White-tailed eagle that fortuitously landed in front of my hide position during heavily overcast and misty conditions. This was one of those photographs that was simply about being in the right spot at the right time and waiting for the bird to lift from the grasses. I used pre-capture to ensure I did not miss the take off, and with 40 frames per second was able to pick the optimum wing and head position.
In recent years, I have written and podcasted extensively about gloves for cold-weather photography. Not to put too fine a point on it, or rehash my words too much, but the vast majority of gloves that are marketed to photographers are simply unfit for purpose. You can read my thoughts and experience with gloves HERE. Episode 166 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast also includes an extensive discussion on this topic.
Thanks to Lynette, who recently shipped me a pair of Ascent Premium Thermo Gloves (thank you so much!) my search is now at an end (pending final field test in Greenland in a few days) for the perfect cold-weather photography glove. These gloves are waterproof, windproof, have a pocket in the right place on the back of the hand for a chemical hand warmer (not shown on their website as they have updated the glove) and best of all, work flawlessly with the I.R Touch Sensitive Auto Focus button on both the Canon EOS R3 and EOS R1.
These gloves were originally designed for winter cycling but tick all the boxes for cold-weather photography, and I am super excited to try them out in just a few days on my South Eastern Greenland workshop for Icebergs and Arctic landscapes. They are rated to -10º Celsius and feel more than capable of keeping my hands warm down to that temperature (and probably less for me). Thanks to Lynette for the recommendation and for shipping me a pair of these gloves tp try – thank you. More to come after an extensive field test.
The winners of the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year have been announced today, and the winning and commended photographs can all be seen online on the Bird Photographer of the Year website. Congratulations to the winners and all those who received a highly commended or commended. Some beautiful photographs! This year, I have one of my photographs of Emperor Penguins included in the collection book.
This is the second time I have had images selected for inclusion in this prestigious publication. I am told that less than 2% of the submitted photographs make the selection, so it is a huge thrill to be included. Back in 2023, I had three photographs selected for publication in my very first entry into the competition, which were published in volume 8. I was subsequently a finalist in both 2024 and 2025, although my photographs did not make the publication in these two years.
The Bird Photographer of the Year volumes are among the very best ways I know to improve your bird photography. They are packed with amazing, inspirational, creative, and powerful photographs that will have you chomping at the bit to get out and take photos. They are must-own books for every wildlife photographer, and Volume 11 of Bird Photographer of the Year can now be pre-ordered online HERE. I have also previously reviewed these volumes in my Podcast. The most recent of which was Volume 10.
I have just published episode 174 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I discuss the business case for and against publishing and self-publishing photography books, briefly cover the newly announced super-lightweight Sony 400 and 600mm Telephoto lenses, and highlight the recent feature in Wildlife Photographic magazine on Reindeer in Svalbard in Winter. You can download your free issue by following the LINK. Just as an aside: The podcast was also recently featured by FeedSpot as one of the Top 21 Wildlife Photography Podcasts on the web: https://podcast.feedspot.com/wildlife_photography_podcasts/
We are down to the last two places on our 2026 Mongolia workshop next January to photograph the Pallas’s cat in Winter. If you are interested in photographing this stunning wild cat, be sure to check out our Mongolia PRIMER. Please contact me for any bookings or queries. Single or shared rooms are possible. See the Portfolio of what is possible HERE.
