DM Smith Photography

30/01/2026

13/12/2025

If you’ve never been to Swineshead Christmas Festival you have no idea what you’re missing. There’s a real buzz here, please feel free to say hello if you’re passing.

10/12/2025

I shall be here on Saturday 13th December, as part of the craft fayre in the church. Please join us in celebrating the Swineshead Christmas Celebrations, which are happening throughout the village.

19/08/2025

Who doesn't love a meerkat?
They're very sociable animals and their characters are unique to each and every one. They live in packs, or mobs, of up to 30 related individuals and when the pack is foraging for food, a sentry perches at a high vantage point, mainly watching the skies for predators. If anything is spotted, then a sharp bark is used to alert the others to the danger.

19/08/2025

If you love giraffes hopefully you'll like these captures!
It was feeding time at Twycross and clearly these beautiful creatures were food orientated - this one especially!
'Did you know that a giraffe’s tongue can be up to 45cm long and is prehensile? This means that they can control it like a hand to carefully rip the leaves off thorny trees without getting hurt' (Twycross Zoo).
Sadly, 'the current threats to giraffes are habitat loss through human development and poaching for skins and meat' (Twycross Zoo), which means that the species are vulnerable to extinction in the current climate.

17/08/2025

Twycross Zoo is home to many primates and not least the François’ langur. They are 'Old World monkeys, a term describing monkeys from Africa and Asia'. Unfortunately, these are also endangered, 'the main threats being hunting, mainly for use in producing traditional medicines (such as ‘black ape wine’) and habitat loss as farming and human settlements expand.
Fortunately, Twycross Zoo is at the forefront of conservation and scientific research, in an effort make a global impact on endangered species around the world. What started out as humble beginnings in 1963, it has now grown into an organisation which is admired around the world and 'in the last 10 years, they've successfully bred 72 different species of animal, created new habitats for endangered and critically endangered species and contributed over £450,000 to the work of global conservation organisations.

17/08/2025

It doesn't matter how large or small a creature is they all have a place in the world.
We were fortunate enough to see the Panther Chameleon and the Fiji-banded Iguana and this was one of those situations where my 400mm zoom lens paid dividends.
The chameleon is indigenous to northeast and eastern Madagascar, with introduced populations in Réunion and Mauritius and currently there are are not at risk of extinction (Twycross Zoo). The Fiji-banded Iguana is endangered and the main reason for this is the destruction of their habitat but also other significant reasons include the invasion of non-native species into their habitat but also the illegal pet trade. (Twycross Zoo).

17/08/2025

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (William Blake)

We were fortunate enough to visit Twycross Zoo yesterday, almost 30 years after our last and only visit, up until this point.
I will confess to preferring safari parks over zoos but this zoo became established to protect the primates in our world today and they deserve significant recognition frothier work in conservation.
As is usually the case, I took my trusty camera with me to see if I could capture some 'up close and personal photos' of some of their long term guests. At first I didn't have too much hope, as there was a lot reflection on some of the glass, which ruined some compositions but therefore other opportunities to create better images.
Despite being very busy, Twycross didn't disappoint but we look forward to visiting again in the future. The first of my group of shots is of the Sumatran Tiger, 'classified on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered with less than 400 individuals left in the wild of Sumatra, Indonesia' (Twycross Zoo).