Wildlife Photography Show & Tell - Ben Christie
Ben Christie
Local wildlife photographer shows his amazing work, and shares wisdom from his experience in nature and behind the camera.
Intro by Tania Reitsma
It’s weird, but no matter the animal—a little hummingbird, a lynx, or a turtle—Ben Christie’s way of showing their expressions and behaviours in his photos gives me a sense of amusement as well as a feeling of connection to the wildlife.
Ben and his rescued grey parrot Sally
Originally from Yorkshire, England, Ben moved to Canada in 2014. Settling on the west coast of British Columbia, the amazing creatures in Ben’s new environment captured his attention, and eventually he started to capture them back—with his camera.
When Ben’s not busy running his local tree care business, Ben’s Trees, he’s outside taking pictures—often around Garry Point in Steveston and along the dyke area up to Terra Nova.
In this Steveston People feature, Ben shares with us photos along with his wisdom from his many years of experience and patience behind the camera. You’ll get to see animals from the local area, including the elusive saw-whet owl, as well as other amazing wildlife from remote areas of BC—all presented in Ben’s unique style.
After you enjoy viewing this show-and-tell. Continue on to check out my related article, Chainsaws and Cameras. It’s a lovely interview where we take a deeper dive into Ben’s world—exploring the significance of his career journey as an arborist, his evolution as a photographer, and how those two areas of his life are intertwined!
Show & Tell by Ben Christie
Where is the light coming from? It’s all about practice.
Where do you need to be to get the most out of what’s available? Try it, take pictures, LOTS of pictures. You never stop learning in photography. The lighting is always changing, and so are the subjects.
Hummingbird, photographed by Ben Christie
If I do go out with friends, they often ask, “What do you keep taking pictures of?”, my answer is anything and everything which interests me in any way.
I can often take 2000+ pictures a day and only keep 2 or 3, but every other picture taken is not wasted—it’s improvement, as there is a reason why they didn’t turn out as I wanted. Was it the lighting? Was it the shutter speed or other camera settings? There’s always an opportunity to learn and improve.
Turtles, photographed by Ben Christie
The extremely elusive saw-whet owl
Saw-Whet Owl, photographed by Ben Christie
This cute little owl species, I’ve only ever seen once, and it was in Steveston. At the time around 6 years ago, I was just starting with bird identification, so I had no idea what it was at the time.
It didn’t take me long to find out I had an encounter with something rather special, and I’ve not seen one since.
99% of the time while I’m out on my nature walks I’m alone, which is how I like it. Times like this encounter I will never forget.
Saw-Whet Owl, photographed by Ben Christie
Just be patient and quiet as to not startle them, then they’ll start to relax—they being as curious about you as you are of them.
Indeed, owls are my favourite
Barn Owl, photographed by Ben Christie
Owls are always a favourite, they are beautiful amazing animals in so many ways. With my photography I’ll take the picture and frame it just the way I want it to be seen.
Owl, photographed by Ben Christie
I love shooting animal portraits. Once you spend some time with an animal, you soon get to understand a bit more about their characteristics. My main goal is to get some of that character into one single image because I want to share that experience, which not a lot of people generally get the chance to have.
It’s about character
From birds to squirrels, they all have their unique attributes. A lot of people have commented that my photos contain a special depth of character.
Squirrel, photographed by Ben Christie
Bird, photographed by Ben Christie
I like to take snapshots of moments that people don’t usually get to see. I try to capture the animals doing a little something different.
Bird, photographed by Ben Christie
Go for the eyes
I find it very important to get the eyes—clear and focused.
Raccoon, photographed by Ben Christie
The glimmer in the eyes makes the difference.
Owl, photographed by Ben Christie
Awesome predators
The larger land predators are always exciting to photograph. I have even been fortunate enough to spend some time with the beautiful Canadian lynx in Kamloops a few years ago.
Lynx, photographed by Ben Christie
Coyote, photographed by Ben Christie
Black Bear, photographed by Ben Christie
Waterscapes once in a while
I don’t often take landscape type shots but when I do, there are some fantastic locations around Steveston, waterscapes I like personally.
Steveston Harbour, photographed by Ben Christie
Steveston Harbour, photographed by Ben Christie
Where to start?
You don’t need anything too special to start off—even an iphone is sufficient. If you want to get into wildlife photography, the most important thing is to be observant. Start understanding and studying the behaviours of the animals around you. For example, if you see a bunch of crows squawking by a tree. There might be an owl there that you can photograph. Most of my owls I found through watching the crow activity.
In Steveston, there is no shortage of animals to take pictures of. I got some nice shots of coyotes walking near the shipyards and along the dyke between Terra Nova and Garry Point. There are barn owls, short-ear owls and great horned owls. There are eagles, otters, beavers—there’s everything.
Just get out there, take your time, and give it a try.
Ben’s a pretty interesting guy, isn’t he?
You can connect with Ben Christie on Instagram @ben_christie_photography
And read this related article:
Chainsaws & Cameras
A deeper dive into Ben’s world—exploring the significance of his career journey as an arborist, his evolution as a photographer, and how those two areas of his life are intertwined!