Ian Hay

Ian Hay

IanHayWildLife

My passion for wildlife started with the 'Eye Spy Book of Birds' age seven. My passion for photography started at Lancaster University seeking to capture the views whilst walking in the Lake District.​

Seven years ago photography became more than a hobby. I started running workshops on a small-scale, selling greetings cards and gained a contract to supply RSPB images.

However, things had to change. I had been photographing Puffins on Shetland, in fact one of the images is on the home page. It was a stormy night and I woke up feeling very ill, I had quite a major infection and took a long time to recover.

After that experience I had to sort myself out so for the last three years photography has been replaced with swimming, mountain biking, walking and now running for least one hour a day. I have lost the equivalent of a large rugby player and am fitter than I have ever been. If you like that kind of thing you can even follow me on Strava.

I have now decided to return to photography, alongside my four day a week day job trying to improve the East Grampian Coast. However, now I will be tackling more projects that involve climbing mountains rather than taking pictures sitting in a car or a hide.

• Date joined: 13/12/2020