Bio - David Dooley

I started my photographic journey in 2003 when I borrowed a camera from my brother Peter and took some photos in the southern Kalahari while working on an assignment there.

The photographic bug had bitten me way back then, but it was only much later in 2021 that I bought my first camera. At that time, I learnt a lot about photography from my brother Peter who was already an accomplished photographer and he set a solid foundation for me which I follow each time I go out into the field with my camera.

More recently I have been very inspired by Scott Keys, a wildlife photographer in Pennsylvania in the USA. He specialises in photographing birds in their natural environment, spending hundreds of hours a year in the field creating intimate portraits often at low level with eye contact. According to Scott, “A great picture shows the beauty of its subject and environment. It also provokes a thought emotion or connection” and his images certainly achieve this. Scott uses the principles of natural light, perspective, engagement, and a focus on the environment. 

I have been influenced by Scott Keys and instead of trying to copy him, I have developed my own style by building on some of his bird photography principles that have inspired me and resonated with me.

Eye contact now plays a very important role in my bird photography, and while it may not always be possible to have eye contact with my subject, I always use this technique as far as possible. To illustrate the importance of eye contact, try having an intimate and meaningful conversation with someone who is sitting while you are standing and one will quickly see how awkward this can be. 

Eye contact allows me as a photographer to engage more fully with my subject on their level and see and feel what they are experiencing at that level. For waterbirds, this means getting down very low at the water’s edge.

Another technique that I use is creating a stage and waiting for the ‘actors’ to arrive. The stage in bird photography is their natural environment and is a key element in the overall composition of the photograph.

Different situations require their own set of requirements to achieve the best results. Having spent a lot of time in my younger days being involved in live theatrical performances, I have learnt the importance of setting the stage properly which greatly enhances a performance. A poorly lit stage or bad set design and backdrop can destroy the best performance of even the top actors. 

So, using this principle of setting the stage and finding the best lighting, I often spend time looking around at the environment to find a stage in a natural environmental setting that will greatly enhance the scene when the actors finally arrive. Once I have found a suitable stage, I then take a photo of my stage. The stage must look good as a standalone set even before the actors arrive. If my stage does not look good before the actors arrive, it is quite likely that it won’t be pleasing when the actors finally do arrive. In this case, my actors are the birds all dressed up in their magnificent colourful plumage on my stage.

Of course, this is not always so easy and I first have to spend hours observing the bird behaviour and then find a suitable stage where they are most likely to visit, even if I have to wait several hours which I often do. It is not uncommon for me to spend 3 -4 hours at a time waiting for a single bird to appear on my stage or even observing a scene for days before I actually get to capture the image.

I have always been amazed at how the colours of birds blend so perfectly into the environment in which they operate This provides the bird with some element of camouflage. Hence, I always try and include the environment in my bird photography.

As a rule, I never chase after birds – I always wait patiently for them to come to me and when they do, they are quite relaxed and will always give me the best opportunity to show them off in their natural state. For me, I apply the 4 ‘P’ principle to my bird photography – Patience, Patience, Patience and Persistence (and did I mention Patience as being the most important of the ‘P’s)

More recently I have also concentrated on photographing mammals, but again, I try as far as possible to show them in their natural environment. There are literally thousands of wildlife photographers out there but I have tried to portray animals in a way that evokes an emotion or capture something quite unusual to make my images stand out from the usual wildlife images that one sees. This has been both challenging and very rewarding for me for some of the images that I have managed to capture.

As a nature lover with a very special connection to birds and animals, my images are a tribute to the natural world, an examination of the conspicuous, the beautiful and the not so. There is beauty in everything, if we just take the time to look. When the events of the day overpower the peace within my soul, I am able to find peace in the beauty of nature and though my photographs, I hope I can share this peace with the viewer of my work.