Behind the Lens with Dr Barry Yates

Emma Chaplin
, 14 March 2019
Behind the Lens with Dr Barry Yates
Ringed plover (c) Barry Yates Sussex Wildlife Trust

I have been privileged to manage Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and live here with my family for over thirty years. 

Sheep grazing rye harbour farm at sunset 07742

I previously studied breeding birds in Lancashire, Sutherland and Shetland. My first degree was entomology and I have an O' level in photography!

Sunrise at the mary stanford lifeboat house 2 7822

In terms of photography, I like to capture the beauty in nature and share it with others, hoping that it will help them to appreciate wildlife more. To be a good photographer, it helps to have patience, persistence and perspective. Look at your subject through the camera from new angles.4 ducks

I started with a Russian Zenith camera and graduated to a Nikon, but film was not so forgiving as digital, and good equipment was so expensive. Now even a smartphone can take good images of wildlife. I sold my bulky, heavy DSLR equipment about two years ago for an all in one Sony RX10, but then discovered the amazing macro abilities of the Olympus TG5. The two cameras cover everything I need and I always have them with me.

My favourite shot is of a tiny spider I found on a leaf in my garden last summer that had created an egg sac of amazing design. I didn’t know such things existed and the photo captured them both.

Paidiscura pallens with egg sac

The biggest challenge to photograph is terns feeding their young. They are often a long way off, the pass of fish takes place so quickly and birds can often look awkward.

Sandwich tern feeding its chick 02543

In terms of where, and when, historically, I would most have liked to take a camera, it would have been great to be with Darwin on his voyages, to photograph wildlife at a time before people had started to have such an effect on the natural environment. But I don’t think I would have coped well with the conditions on board the Beagle.

Sunset over the new saltmarsh 9927

What I want to do with my photos is to highlight the things in nature that are difficult to see, things that are tiny, or that a happen only occasionally or occur very quickly. 

Because as Sir David Attenborough said:

“No one will protect what they don't care about and no one will care about what they have never experienced”. 

Bittern 1020382

It’s always pleasing when a photograph is seen by many people in print or online. This has happened with a couple of my photographs of the moon. Then there’s hope that one more person will care and protect nature.

Superbloodwolfmoon RHNR (c) Barry Yates

After years of running the reserve from a cramped cottage with few facilities, prone to flooding, Barry is delighted that work on the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre has now begun. A joint project between Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, this fantastic new visitor centre should be ready to open in 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. "The Discovery Centre will make the reserve a more welcoming place all year round for visitors, volunteers and staff."   

Sussex Wildlife Trust is currently running a public appeal in support of the Discovery Centre - details here  

Anyone interested in learning more about the Discovery Centre can request a monthly newsletter to keep them posted about sightings of some of the outstanding wildlife at the reserve, news of upcoming events to support the project and other ways to donate to the Appeal. ryeharbourdiscoverycentre.org.uk

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Liz Steadman:

    Thank you, Barry, so much for that most interesting informative presentation of a Year at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve which you gave last night at Eldon Road, Eastbourne. I am sending a cheque for £500 for your Discovery Centre Appeal.
    I would like to ask you if the camera you praised for its micro capabilites is the Olympus TG5 which you mention above? If so, I shall be off to purchase one immediately.
    Kind regards
    Liz Steadman

    22 Nov 2019 15:26:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    Hi Liz, Thank you so much for your generous donation and Barry says that it is a TG5 and the most useful light ring to get is the LED light guide and not the flash light guide.

    24 Nov 2019 14:55:32

  • thi công mạng lan hà nội:

    Việc lắp đặt khối hệ thống mạng cần thiết đảm bảo đúng
    kỹ thuật để đạt hiệu quả chất lượng nhất.

    09 Dec 2021 13:29:50

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783342068.68250 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783342068.71170.0292Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783342068.71190.0002Server address: 216.73.216.170
1783342068.7120Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783342068.7120Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates
    [s] => behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates
    [1] => behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates
)
1783342068.71230.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.71310.0008 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783342068.71480.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783342068.71550.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783342068.71740.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22688570
1783342068.71810.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22688570
1783342068.71870.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-06 12:47:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-06 12:47:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783342068.72010.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 12:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783342068.72270.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783342068.72330.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1721 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 12:47:00'
1783342068.72420.0009 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783342068.72490.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783342068.72550.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1783342068.7260.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1783342068.72650.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=69 LIMIT 1
1783342068.72710.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783342068.72740.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783342068.72860.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 12:47:00' AND postSlug='behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates'
1783342068.75890.0304Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783342068.75950.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783342068.76090.0014Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783342068.76110.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783342068.76840.0072 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783342068.76980.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783342068.77290.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.77340.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783342068.77570.0022Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783342068.77570 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.77680.0011 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.77730.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.78050.0031 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.78160.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.78250.0009 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783342068.78570.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.78650.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783342068.78850.002 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783342068.78890.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783342068.78910.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783342068.78980.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783342068.79020.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='behind-the-lens-with-dr-barry-yates')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 12:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783342068.79240.0022 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783342068.79280.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783342068.79340.0006Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783342068.79430.0009 [3] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1721 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783342068.86630.072 [3] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783342068.86720.0009Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783342068.86740.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783342068.86870.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783342068.86940.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783342068.870.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783342068.87210.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.87950.0074 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783342068.88160.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783342068.88280.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783342068.88360.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783342068.8840.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783342068.88630.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.88680.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783342068.88870.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783342068.89210.0034 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783342068.89280.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783342068.89330.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783342068.89570.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.89630.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783342068.89870.0024 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783342068.90060.0019 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783342068.90110.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783342068.90160.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783342068.90380.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783342068.90430.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783342068.90610.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783342068.9080.0019Request time: 0.228
1783342068.9080Process time: 0.2279
1783342068.9080Memory: 1.6219