Martin Goff - My Passion for Wildlife Photography

My name is Martin Goff and I am a passionate wildlife photographer living in Rossendale, Lancashire in the UK. In my day job I work as a Police Crime Scene Investigator which involves a totally different sort of ‘wildlife’ photography! I also run my own business as a Meteorite dealer so I’m definitely not a normal nine to five kinda guy! If you’d like to read more about my passion for Space Rocks then my Meteorite website is www.msg-meteorites.co.uk 

After leaving school I initially trained and worked as a chef (I’m half French and had the influence of French cuisine in my upbringing) but after being given my grandad’s old Canon SLR camera I got hooked on photography and took a City and Guilds Photography course at evening college. 

Alongside that I worked at quite a few other jobs including trainee electrician, cleaner (there’s a story there…..) painter and decorator, computer technician, cheesecake factory operative and then part time freelance photographer amongst other jobs. I then took the plunge and went on to study Fine Art Photography at Sunderland University which in a roundabout way eventually led to me starting my Police CSI career. 

The essence of photography is all about recording that decisive ‘moment’. Every moment is fleeting, and you never know when you’ll witness something extraordinary. The challenge is being in the right place at the right time and being able to capture that moment on camera.  The unpredictability is exciting, the uncertainty of what you’ll see that on that day, at that particular location. What behaviour will you witness? Will the light be amazing? Will these come together in your favour? Each image is special and tells a unique story captured at that time, at that place of that shared moment between yourself and your subject.

Or to put it a bit more eloquently, this is something that I wrote as a photography student many years ago:

Whether you deem that arty farty balderdash or a philosophical golden nugget to ponder on and set your brain cells tingling, I’ll let you decide………

During the first few years of my CSI career I had bought myself an Olympus OM-D  E-M10 camera which sadly didn’t get much use as I had lost my photo mojo and all but stopped my own photography. However seeing the resulting photos after a visit by some friends to photograph Little Owls had set my mojo tingling again (Thanks Jonathen Harty, Tracey Snelus and Dave Wilkinson!) So I booked a session myself with Pro Wildlife Photographer Gary Jones and caught the wildlife photography bug! Thank you Gary! 😊 I’m now so fascinated by the challenge, patience and timing required to capture wildlife on camera. 

Every outing with my camera in nature helps clear my head from the worries and stresses of day-to-day life. Its like a form of therapy with the whole process of wildlife photography, from the planning, through the taking, processing and sharing of images bringing me peace and a sense of fulfilment. It’s not solely about the experience or the connection with nature or even the resultant images, I enjoy the whole meandering journey. I feel that it’s a privilege to just be around wildlife and I am always so grateful to be able to witness nature in action and to capture any images at all. 

Nature is art in it’s most natural form and my role as a Wildlife Photographer is to try and do justice to that and to try and show the wonder and beauty of the natural world. Wildlife and Nature Photography is often seen as being a documentary process rather than an exploratory, artistic one with Images seen as being reportage rather than interpretive. I don’t want my Images to always just be scientific documents, I also want them to be impactful and to use creative techniques so they can display a more artistic feel. When that works it can give a much more layered and nuanced result and be more powerful for the viewer because of it. 

Beyond the art of photographic imagery, wildlife photography has deepened my appreciation for the natural world. Every time I venture out into nature with my camera, I’m reminded of how important it is to look after it and protect it.

I get a lot of satisfaction from sharing my wildlife images for others to see and doing so online and on social media is a good way to try and show my images to as wide an audience as possible. We live in a world where the sharing of anything in a public forum can often prompt anger and bitterness, especially so if it’s political, religious or sporting views or images that you’re sharing. However, the sharing of wildlife photos can really only be viewed as positive, although some may think my images banal or unimportant I find it nice and refreshing that in a world filled with hate and negativity that they can be seen as a breath of fresh air and positivity.  

I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to think that I have much if any impact or influence but hopefully through my photos I can at least help others to see and appreciate the beauty and wonder of the natural world. And through that appreciation it may just hopefully inspire a few more people to care for and protect it too. However, if my images do nothing else but raise a smile then that’s all good too! 😊