A long-standing birder, passionate conservationist and award-winning photographer.

With a special focus on wildlife and nature photography my aim is to capture and share moments of exceptional beauty and to help others do the same, passing on my experiences as both a photographer and conservationist.

- Martin Sneary (based in Mies, Switzerland)

And something a little more personal...

Since my childhood, I have had an unreserved love of the natural world. I remember, to this day, when I first went on a family holiday to Cornwall: a quite beautiful part of the south west of England. It was here that I began my love affair with nature, with a special attraction to birds and ornithology. Every weekend or school holiday I would spend away from home exploring the countryside: counting birds, looking in rock pools, searching for orchids and butterflies... everything that moved or grew was an immense source of fascination. That was the beginning, and since then I have always been captivated by the natural world.

It's through this love of the natural world that I developed a passion for photography. My first camera, an Edixa, was gifted to me by our then neighbour, Cedric Bagnall - a professional artist and illustrator for the school boy comics Eagle and Victor, as well as a professional photographer. He was very kind in sharing his passion and knowledge, although it's only now that I wish I’d been more attentive and questioning, just to learn and benefit a little more from his wisdom. I dabbled a little with chemicals in a dark room, have drawers full of transparencies, but in-time drifted away from photography. That all changed with the advent of digital and a trip to Kenya with my dear friend John Watkin (everyone can learn from this ambassador for conservation).

I have been fortunate enough to work for a number of conservation organisations – starting with the British Trust for Ornithology, back in 1988, then UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, BirdLife International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). My work has brought me into contact with many amazing people from all over the world, equally passionate about wildlife and conservation – it has been a rewarding, at times humbling, journey that has brought me many riches, and most importantly, at IUCN's World Conservation Congress, in Barcelona, lead me to my amazing wife Kelly Milton.


Photo credit John Watkin