Welcome to the 'Wild Guy' Blog
Welcome to the blog.
It would be a bit silly not to start with a picture wouldn't it, on a nature photography blog!
So here is a Chinese Water Deer buck that I photographed recently (May 2016).
First off I realise that 'Wild Guy' sounds a tad ... melodramatic, cheesy even, but the idea was that it sounded better and less long winded than 'Richard Guy Wildlife / Nature Photography' or any other iteration of that general concept while sending the same message. Also 'Wild Guy' seemed like it would attract more attention, be more memorable and finally and most importantly it is, at least I hope, true.
Wild-life, Wild-erness, getting out into the Wild - all things which I enjoy doing or am interested by, and all things which will feature in my photographs at some point or another, and therefore by extension, in this blog. I think Sir David Attenborough summed up how I feel about the natural world pretty well:
"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source
of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty, the
greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest
source of so much in life that makes life worth living."
I have tried blogging on a few occasions now; to be honest I struggled with it - primarily because I began to be very critical of what I was writing. It had to read just so - like I was writing an article for National Geographic but on subjects as trivial as finding a badger latrine in my local nature reserve. Not exactly gripping content.
For that reason I have set the following guide lines for myself in writing this to try and ensure it lasts:
1) I will do my very best not to take this too seriously - therefore please ignore minor spelling and grammar errors, poor writing style, unimaginative vocabulary and any other literary issues you could pick out because I have no intention of proof reading and re-drafting everything that appears here.
2) I will do my very best not to make these blogs too long! Instead I hope to provide informal snapshots of my 'life in the wild' for you to peruse at your leisure. If it takes you more than a few minutes to read I've gone to far.
3) They should be informative and interesting, I want you to read these thinking 'I never knew that!' or 'I've never seen that before', which leads me to my final self-imposed guideline...
4) I want to make you envious...
Not the sort of envy that drives people to violence, that is not a healthy goal for my own self preservation. I want you, as a result of what you read here, to WANT to do what I do, and see what I see. Why? Not because I enjoy job insecurity, I'm not looking to flood the conservation sector with new recruits necessarily. But because by making you want it, you are more likely to do it, and that means more people becoming fascinated by the natural world; more people working to protect and conserve it and more people who will take an interest or make a stand when it is marginalised, 'back burnered' and shoved way down the priority list.
That's not to say become an activist or a campaigner either, I certainly am not, in fact I fear that some of the extremes people go to in these areas are actually more harmful than beneficial, I simply do what I can where I can when I can. More often than not in my current circumstances that involves very little, but relatively often. But if everyone did a little bit, relatively often, what a difference it would make.
Anyway! That will be the bulk of posts here. I have no schedule to follow, please do not expect a post every Monday at noon or anything of that nature. Sometimes there may be nothing for a month, other times 3 in a week. What will be will be.
On occasion when something particular has caught my attention or irked me I may put up a longer, more considered post on something I feel strongly about. I will endeavour not to do so too often because I know the odds are no-one will read them and they will in reality just be a venting opportunity for me.
If I haven't already put you off reading, then please enjoy what will come.
Richard
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