Iolo Williams

"To look at Oliver Hellowell's photography is to see the natural world through his eyes." - Boudicca Fox-Leonard, The Telegraph "In Ollie's hands [...] the camera is more than a mere instrument; it is an extension of his inquisitive mind." - Iolo Williams From flower-filled forests to ancient castles and isolated lochs, from the concrete jungle to the play of sunlight across the sea, the latest book from award-winning young photographer Oliver Hellowell captures Britain at its most beautiful. The British landscape is renowned for its infinite moods. Oliver's photography celebrates this, capturing rain-jewelled flowers and haunting, mist-shrouded ruins. Perhaps the most charming aspect of his work is his ability to highlight overlooked beauty. To some, the dandelion is nothing but a weed - but Oliver finds a worthwhile subject in even the humblest wildflower. Insightful commentary reveals the inspiration behind each of Oliver's pictures. An ode to the British Isles from a passionate young photographer, every page demonstrates the enthusiasm and talent that endeared Oliver to his worldwide following. Also available: Oliver's Birds ISBN 9781788840101

The UK is known for its natural beauty and its wildlife and in Wild Places UK television naturalist Iolo Williams picks his favourite forty wildlife sites from the many nature reserves around the country. From Hermaness on Shetland to the London Wetland Centre, from Dungeness in Kent to Loch Neagh, Williams criss-crosses the country. As this informative and lavishly illustrated book demonstrates, all the sites are packed with the widest variety of trees, plants, birds, animals and insects. Williams draws on his considerable knowledge to guide readers and visitors to the natural delights of each site. Wild Places will show them rarities like the osprey, where to find almost six hundred different species of moths, and the site for an incredible 51 species of caddis fly. Readers will learn where to find birds, both rare and in huge numbers, where hares box and otters swim, where to spot dolphins and salmon, and where to see whales and sharks. Each entry includes a survey of what is to be found there, a brief description of the facilities, and directions to reach the site. Illustrated in beautiful detail and with glorious images of the site by top nature photographers, Wild Places UK confirms the country’s stunning landscape inhabited in abundance of all manner of life.

Oliver doesn't only snap birds; his camera shutter also clicks closed for the play of light across rippling water, the mist rising off a wood in early spring and the rolling Somerset hills where he was raised. But birds are a favourite subject of his, and his camera never fails to do them justice. Oliver's sensitivity to lighting, colour contrast and mood imbues each picture with a unique atmosphere, resulting in precise shots of professional quality. The birds' glossy eyes, their beaks, the intricate patterns on their feathers and the texture of their down have all been captured with a patience and skill that is admired by dedicated fans from all across the world.

The rugged countryside of Wales has long been a destination for successive generations of naturalists, ornithologists, oologists and, latterly, birdwatchers. Since the pioneering days of Willoughby and Ray, Pennant and Edward Llwyd, a growing number of intrepid travellers have recorded the wildlife and other natural riches of the mountains and coastlines of Wales. Despite these beginnings and the more recent twentieth century vogue for birdwatching, no volume on the birds of Wales has been produced until now to serve the increasing need for scientifically valid information for conservation purposes. In the years that have passed since the first naturalists visited Wales, changes of unimaginable scale have taken place in the Welsh countryside which have had equally dramatic impacts on the native bird communities. A succession of bird species have either been eliminated deliberately by the hand of man - mainly birds of prey - or have been dispossessed by changes in land use, the spread of industrialisation, urbanisation and pollution, trends which continue today to the increasing detriment of even some of our most familiar countryside birds. Much fine habitat remains however, and new species have come in to colonise Wales and add to the magic of its countryside. This volume sets out for the first time the historical and current status of all the bird species found in Wales together with their present distribution. The three authors, all staff of the RSPB in Wales, have between them an accumulated experience of some 80 years of first-hand knowledge of birds in the Principality. Their knowledge and love of the birds and Wales itself makes this authoritative volume a landmark both in Welsh and ornithological publishing.