David Yarrow Photography

New Releases

Galleries

New Releases The Wild West Wildlife Storytelling The Lives of Others

News Feed

Dec 11, 2020

Endangered Rangers Virtual Event

We are pleased to announce that David Yarrow will be speaking at the Endangered Rangers Event on Sunday the 13th of December.
read more
Nov 10, 2020

Space for Giants Charity Campaign

We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Space for Giants and Adrian Steirn on an exciting campaign - #artforgiants - with the London Evening Standard and the Independent to…
read more
May 05, 2020

Art For Heroes

In April 2020, David Yarrow released an exclusive image to support ‘Art For Heroes’, the virtual art exhibition set up by Maddox Gallery. Like everyone in the UK, we feel enormous…
read more
Apr 29, 2020

Harper’s Bazaar x Yarrow, Rwanda

Go behind the scenes of David Yarrow's Harper's Bazaar shoot in Rwanda...
read more
Feb 13, 2020

Letter From Kangaroo Island, Australia

read more
Feb 13, 2020

The #KoalaComeback Campaign Support

There is no use having a voice if not to speak out on important issues and I am grateful this week that our message has been amplified a thousand times…
read more
Feb 13, 2020

Upcoming Events – February

February 19th - Casterline Goodman Gallery, Aspen
read more
Feb 13, 2020

Recent Events – January

I was honoured to be asked to give the Keynote speech at the UBS Leaders' Forum in Orlando, Florida in early January.
read more
Feb 13, 2020

Tim’s Obituary

Obituaries are not written for elephants. When they die, their names are not remembered, their photographs are not featured in the news, nor are their virtues explored by those that…
read more

Latest from Instagram

I am pleased to announce that I am an ambassador for the African Community and Conservation Foundation. Their mission is to contribute to the preservation of important African wilderness areas, as well as to empower the communities living alongside these spaces, contributing to a world in which people and wildlife live together, sustainably, forever. We don’t own this planet, we rent it, and there is a growing awareness that as a generation we need to materially improve our legacy. An organization such as ACCF, has the substance, reach and field excellence to offer hope and sets an example as to how things can improve. I am proud to be an ambassador, and I know I will be humbled by their ability to work smart and work effectively in the challenging circumstances that face us post Covid. @AfricanCCF #AfricanCCF #ACCF The Breakfast Club In 2018, I had a clear preconception of what was necessary to take a powerful image in South Georgia. My overriding goal was to capture a sense of depth and a sense of scale. South Georgia is raw and dramatic with many fiercely steep mountains towering above the wildlife and to exclude them from an image would risk telling only half the story. These mountains define the island. The riddle is that to include the Everest like peaks and also the wildlife on the beaches below risks the image being too loose - there must be detail in the foreground and this necessitates proximity. So I am wanting everything and that can be a challenge in low light. I dwelt over this dilemma for many hours on the way to South Georgia and I was reminded that simple maths often plays a lead role in making an image. The lens best equipped for the challenge of giving depth as well as foreground detail is my favourite Nikon 58mm F1.4 lens. The first day on St Andrews Bay, we landed on the beach at 4.40 am, but this was too late to set up and then capture the soft early morning light. By 5.20 am, on a clear summer day the light is already too harsh and the King Penguins are lit up like Christmas trees. It is too much. So the following day, the whole team was on the beach by 3.50 am - quite an achievement and one we are all retrospectively proud of. I had my moment in the corner of the beach at about 4.40 am. I knew that’s where the big groups of penguins marched for their morning fish and the light - whilst low - was just strong enough to give the penguins a little “ping” without being too visually loud or harsh. I chose a D5 camera that day simply because I thought the more shots per second, the more the chance of the penguin pattern cooperating in the one shot - I know to my cost that armies of penguins can be messy. It is not often that your day is complete before 4.45 am, but this was the day. It was a wrap. Rocket Man The second of my three shots that we will release from my trip to the Sea of Cortez earlier this month. I have always wanted to find an excuse to call a photograph Rocket Man and I doubt I will ever find a better opportunity. I prefer to photograph with the sun between 9 am and 3 pm to my 6pm, but to shoot directly into the lowering sun is too much. The boat captain had that directive when considering his constant repositioning.  In brief moments of time like this, it would be disingenuous to suggest I had much say in the matter.  It is more a case of winging it and hoping for the best. We just got lucky. Camera autofocus has improved so much over the years and the Nikon flagship - the D6 - is ideal for capturing this sort of sudden explosion from below, but the mobula ray behaviour tests it to the full.  It remains the most challenging of technical tests and for every hit, I had many misses. The quiet serenity of the Sea of Cortez was punctuated by splats from the rays and expletives from me. This was the angle I was looking for - head on and high. The ray needed to be pin sharp and this time I got him. Rocket Man indeed. I wonder whether it will be a Blue Moon in Porto tonight? Glencoe Combining a cow and a hill is not the most promising of premises for an artwork—the concept would miss many an editor’s cut. But I sensed that this was a very special moment in time. It shows the Highlands of Scotland as we know them—imbued with atmosphere, dominated by grandeur, and enveloped in mystery. The image brings to mind whiskey, bonhomie, and a barbarous past. The history of the Highlands is dark and unruly, and I think there is a nod to that here. Buachaille Etive Mor is a spectacular peak. It guards the eastern entrance to Glencoe like a centurion in ancient Rome. Its much-photographed and emblematic rock face is best complemented not by blue skies, but by the weather that defines western Scotland—dark and low clouds that put a menacing ceiling on the wilderness that lies below. I could have gone to Glencoe at any time, but I chose the last days of spring, as I wanted the hint of cold and the additional tonal breadth that the remaining snow pockets give to the scene. There is such simplicity to the image, and yet it can grab and hold attention for much longer than the premise suggests. Photography without emotion is nothing, and when I look at this image, it evokes childhood memories on a grand scale. There is a timeless, almost prehistoric, element to the content, and while we will never know, there is a sense that this pairing could have also happened thousands of years ago. As a country our glorious days of engineering and invention may be behind us, but the one constant is the unique rawness and geological drama of places such as Glencoe. Mars Attacks! Every year in the early summer, thousands of mobula rays congregate in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of La Paz in Mexico. On calm days at sea, a spectacular courting ritual unfolds during which the rays show off by jumping several metres out of the sea. It is one of the most surreal sights to witness anywhere in the world. In the ocean, mobula rays look as one would expect, but when flying through the air, they look like aliens or spaceships. They are quite literally a fish out of water. I have no preconception as to what a “Mars Attack” might look like, but this is hopefully the closest I will get to it. There are a few dilemmas on this location for the filmmaker. Firstly, the action often takes place 90 minutes from port and the light and the activity are at their best in the hour before sunset. We also discovered that the wind picks up after the sun sets. Secondly, I wanted to be as low as possible and this ruled out hiring larger more comfortable boats. There was no way we would sacrifice content, so we had no choice but to spend a few dark evenings returning home in quite rough seas in a small fishing boat. But that was still the right trade. There are no shortcuts in this gig. I took a great deal of frames over the week, but it is such a low percentage assignment that just three or four did justice to the spectacle. It requires quick reactions and - as always - good fortune. Much depends on the alertness and manoeuvering skills of the captain of the boat. I was fortunate to work in La Paz with my fellow Londoner - Luke Inman - who now lives in the city and knows the sea and sealife there as well as anyone @cortezexpeditions @luke_inman_photography. He hired the boat captain - Tony Ruelas - and this picture is as much his as it is mine. What a planet we live on.
follow davidyarrow