2020 Vision Project.

2020VISION is the most ambitious nature photography project ever staged in the UK. It aims to engage and enthuse a massive audience by using innovative visual media to convey the value of restoring our most important but often fragmented natural habitats - to show that healthy ecosystems are not just for wildlife, but are something fundamental to us all.


The 2020VISION Collection

View stunning galleries of the images, videos and other resources gathered throughout the course of the project.


The 2020VISION Roadshow

Coming to a venue near you between 2012 and 2015, find out where and when.

Contact NPL to license images from the 2020V collection.

Get your copy of the project's flagship book here.

Book tickets for an evening of spell-binding imagery, music and anecdotes.

Find out more about our team of pro photographers.








About 2020VISION

In a nutshell, 2020VISION is a nature photography project that aims to communicate the link between habitat restoration and our own well being.

For the first time, 20 of the UK’s top nature and wildlife photographers, along with filmmakers and sound recordists, have come together to tell an inspirational story about some of the UK’s ecosystems and the services they provide to us all, such as clean water, fresh air and productive soils.

2020VISION has identified a number of flagship projects up and down the country, that are currently restoring, reconnecting, or at the very least protecting, damaged habitats or species. Over a 20-month period, the2020VISION team will carry out 20 iWitness assignments at these locations, producing a set of stunning pictures, along with supporting video footage and sound.

The thousands of images and hours of film generated from these assignments will then be woven into compelling narratives and presented in innovative ways, such as the stunning 2020VISION Roadshow, a multi-city event that will reach far beyond ‘the converted’.

2020VISION will inspire people of all ages and backgrounds and establish that link between healthy nature and healthy people.
What makes 2020VISION different?

For too long, conservation has been communicated using technical jargon, inaccessible to all but a minority audience. The time has come for fresh thinking; 2020VISION speaks a new sort of language - one that recognizes that people’s relationship with nature is not scientific but emotional; one that motivates a wide audience by connecting with their value systems.

By bringing nature photographers and film makers together with the scientific and conservation community, we can create an unprecedented set of communication resources that would simply not be possible in isolation. Using the power of visual imagery - unique in its ability to communicate on an emotional level - 2020VISION will inspire and inform a massive audience.
Who’s behind 2020VISION?

In the longer term 'the vision' is one for society as a whole, but for now, 2020VISION is spearheaded by theWild Media Foundation, a social enterprise company working to bring nature's stories to life.

Meet the 2020VISION.


Our Mission

2020VISION is committed to reframing the language of conservation using powerful visual imagery to motivate fresh thinking about our dependence upon wild nature.

2020VISION aims to inspire a wide audience with a compelling case for rebuilding and reconnecting fragmented habitats, not only for the benefit of the plants and animals that live there, but for us too.

2020VISION Phototeam

Our team of award-winning nature and wildlife photographers are responsible for some of the most spectacular nature imagery being produced today. As well as their outstanding visual artistry, they are also committed to using their images as valuable communication tools.

This is the first time that many of the UK's best nature photographers have come together to collaborate on a project of this scale. Take a look at their portfolios to see what we can expect from the 2020VISION Phototeam.

John Beatty



John has over 30 years experience as a nature and adventure photographer. "My work is chiefly concerned with those timeless rhythms of the natural environment and man’s place within it."




Niall Benvie



Niall has worked as a professional outdoor photographer and writer since 1993. His special interest is in the nature / culture dynamic. He has a passion for using photography to introduce people to the natural world.




Peter Cairns



Peter is an award-winning nature photographer and writer with a deep fascination for our relationship with the natural world. In addition to documenting Europe's high profile wildlife species, he covers a range of topical conservation stories.




Joe Cornish



Joe is one of the UK"s premier landscape photographers. He says, "A trip to Alaska made me a hard-core wilderness advocate, and I am looking to dedicate the rest of my career to the preservation of the wild."




Guy Edwardes



Guy works as a professional nature and landscape photographer. "Creative photography, which shows threatened species and habitats in engaging ways stands a real chance of imprinting the issue into the mind of the viewer."




Fergus Gill



Fergus is arguably the UK's most talented young photographer having already won a host of national and international awards." I am truly passionate about the natural world and strive to capture this through my photography."




Lorne Gill



Lorne has been a professional environmental photographer for over twenty years; firstly with the Countryside Commission for Scotland and latterly with Scottish Natural Heritage.




Chris Gomersall



Chris works as a professional nature photographer with a keen interest in environmental issues. "Photography has the power to touch people emotionally; enabling them to see just what the environment does for them."




Danny Green



Danny is one of Britain's most dedicated nature photographers, producing images of outstanding quality. This is borne out by his multiple awards in all of the premier nature photography competitions in recent years.




Ben Hall



Ben works as a professional wildlife photogrpaher. "I find that my images communicate most powerfully with people when they discover that they were taken in their own National Parks and nature reserves."




Mark Hamblin



Mark has 15 years experience as a freelance nature and landscape photographer. "I especially enjoy working on longer term projects close to home, where I feel more in tune with the seasonal rhythms of the natural world."




Paul Harris



Paul has over 25 years experience as a professional photographer. "Despite many years of rock climbing and exploring in the British Isles, I am excited at the prospect of gaining a deeper knowledge of this island nation."




Ross Hoddinott



Ross lives in the South West of England and works as a nature photographer almost exclusively in that area. "My fascination for all things ‘wild’ grew the moment my parents moved to rural north Cornwall when I was 7 years old."




Rob Jordan



Rob works as a freelance nature photographer concentrating on long-term projects in his native Northumberland, including Black-necked grebes, which helped to double the UK population of this rare nesting bird.




Alex Mustard



Alex is an award-winning underwater photographer with a keen eye on producing images that stand out from the crowd. Much of his photography is driven by his knowledge of marine wildlife and passion for the marine environment.




Andy Parkinson



Andy is a wildlife photographer and a passionate conservationist. By immersing himself in the lives of his subjects he feels better able to produce images that sensitively reflect the issues that affect them.




Linda Pitkin



Linda speciaiises in underwater photography. "I am passionate about underwater photography because of the amazing beauty and diversity of marine animals - with patience and care you can get nose to nose with a fish."




Andy Rouse



Andy is a larger than life character, who has done as much as anyone to promote wildlife photography through his books, talks and TV appearances. He has his own conservation fund, in partnership with Paramo Directional Clothing Systems.




David Tipling



David works as a professional wildlife photogrpaher with a special interest in birds. "My hope for 2020VISION is that it might have some part in firing interest in the young who may not have had the spark yet to ignite this interest."




Terry Whittaker



Terry is an environmental photographer with a background in zoos, wildlife conservation and research. "I am honoured be involved in 2020VISION, which places communication through images at the heart of ecosystem conservation."

2020VISION In Press

A gallery of recent press articles featuring 2020VISION. Click thumbnails to view larger images.

Research Raindrop photograph.

Photographing raindrops is one of the many things you can do in the field of macro photography.

What is ISO speed?
10 Important Photography Terms
5 Tips for Still Life Photography


Every day, events in nature happen all around us that seem mundane, but are actually incredible when given a closer look. Take for example a raindrop falling off a leaf after a recent rain -- while that may not seem very interesting when it happens so quickly, it's actually a complicated dance between water, the leaf and the air.


Photography allows us to witness such an event in all its detail and glory. By taking a picture of the raindrop as it falls off a leaf or other surface, we can learn a lot about aerodynamics, the way water moves and even how different surfaces create different shaped raindrops. Whether you're taking a picture of a raindrop on a leaf or on a window, this type of photography will let you create a unique piece of artwork you can keep for years.


Photographing raindrops is one of the many things you can do in the field of macro photography -- shooting photos extremely close up. While point-and-shoot digital cameras can do excellent macro photography, your best bet is to use a single reflex lens (SLR, or the digital DSLR) camera with a special macro lens.


In addition to simply photographing raindrops, we can manipulate backgrounds and surrounding objects to create colors and images reflected in the water. With the right camera settings and tools, expressive and original photos can be easy.


In this article, we'll discuss how to take photos of raindrops and learn more about ways to take incredible pictures of tiny things.





Try to find a raindrop you can shoot through if you want to catch a reflection of other objects in the water.

Raindrop Photography Tips


To start taking raindrop photographs on flowers or plants, you'll need an SLR or DSLR camera with a few accessories. You'll need a tripod that can get close to the ground, a macro lens for shooting close-up pictures and possibly something to hold the object you want to photograph. A good macro setup for a DSLR includes a camera with a lens designed to focus down to 1:1, or life size.


You can wait until after a fresh rain or you could even simulate your own raindrops using a spray bottle or an eyedropper filled with water or glycerin. Glycerin is sticky, so your drop will hold in place longer.


Try to find a raindrop you can shoot through if you want to catch a reflection of other objects in the water. Be careful not to bump the flower or you might lose your selected raindrop. When you're ready, focus your macro lens on the center of the drop.


Now, you should be ready to take your shot. One recommended camera setting is shooting with the aperture wide open to give a blurry background while focused on the drop, and with an ISO of around 100 to 400.


Now let's say that instead of taking pictures of raindrops on a flower or a leaf, we want to shoot a close up of a drop as it falls on a window. Find a clean window with a fairly plain background. You can shoot as the rain is coming down or shortly after the rain has fallen and the drops sit on the window.


Once again, shoot with the aperture wide open in order to keep the background out of focus. If you're using a camera without manual settings, experiment with the automatic settings until you find a way to focus on the raindrops.


In this next section, we'll discuss how to create the illusion of colored raindrops using macro photography.




Raindrops have the ability to reflect and refract images of the objects around them. Because of this, we can create the illusion of colored raindrops fairly easily.

How to Create Colored Raindrops in Photography


We can take photographs of much more than just raindrops falling off plants or onto windows. Because raindrops have the ability to reflect and refract images of the objects around them, we can create the illusion of colored raindrops fairly easily.


Let's start with raindrops on windows. Remember how we said earlier that using the widest aperture possible allows us to obscure the background and focus on the drops themselves? Each raindrop acts like a miniature lens against the backdrop behind it.


By obscuring the actual background image, you can cause it to be reflected into the raindrops themselves. Let's say you have a green forest with a blue sky behind your window -- obscure the background enough and you can cause the raindrops to appear blue and green against a dark background.


Think of it as creating a sort of optical illusion. You can experiment with lots of different backgrounds to generate different effects, like the reflection of a blue object in the raindrops against a light background. This creates the appearance of blue raindrops falling on glass.


In addition, it's possible to reflect whole images in the raindrop. Let's say you're taking a photograph of a raindrop falling off the petal of a flower, and you want to reflect another object in the raindrop -- in this case, another flower. One way to do this to use a device called a Plamp, a plastic arm-like instrument that attaches to your tripod and is used to hold items in place for picture-taking.


First, focus your macro lens on the center of the raindrop falling off the petal, where the image will appear. Take the second flower and attach it to the Plamp. Now move the flower and Plamp to where it's in a straight line between your camera and the drop. It should be in focus in your viewfinder.


You can also experiment with different images on the Plamp to be reflected in your raindrop. The sky's the limit!

Raindrop research Digital Camera.

Rain Photography: how to take pictures of raindrops

Many photographers go home when it starts to rain, but rain photography offers up a number of fun photo ideas that allow you to get creative with the right techniques. Our tutorial explains how to capture amazing pictures of raindrops.



Rain photography carries the obvious risk of both you and your camera getting soaked, so an umbrella is an essential accessory, as is a rain cover for your camera.

If you don’t fancy going out in the rain, you could always get a similar effect by ‘faking it’ – using a watering can with a rose attachment.

As long as you are shooting close-
ups and you can cover the whole area of your image in a realistic ‘rain’, this approach can actually produce convincing results.



Speed is the key
The key to recording rain is the shutter speed you choose – use too slow a speed and the drops will disappear. If you want to capture the rain drops you’ll need to use a shutter speed of around 1/1000sec, while a slower speed of around 1/125 sec is perfect for recording falling rain with a slight blur to give a sense of speed.

This means that unless you are shooting in bright conditions you’ll have to shoot at high ISO settings such as 800 or above. In dull conditions it is also possible to use flash to ‘freeze’ raindrops.
How to capture pictures of raindrops





1 The best lens for the job
It’s better to keep the camera as far from the subject as possible to avoid splashes, so use a long focal length lens. This distance from the subject also gives you more options for keeping your camera dry, including just covering it with a brolly.





2 Blur the rain
You’ll need to take control of the shutter speed, so switch to Shutter Priority or Manual mode. Set the shutter speed to 1/125 sec, take a test shot and use a faster speed for less blur, or slower for more. Go too slow and the raindrops will vanish.





3 ‘Freeze’ the rain
If you want to get more definition in your raindrops, you can try shooting at faster shutter speeds. To freeze the rain completely you’ll need a shutter speed of 1/1000sec or faster, but even in bright conditions you may find you need to set the ISO to 400 or higher.

Lynette Evans.

Lynette Evans a photographer from Pontypool, Gwent, United Kingdom. He has a great passion for photography, particularly macro rain drops. Most of the drops are real with real refractions, some are layered in Photoshop. No one can possibly imagine the beauty inside these tiny rain/water drops until viewed through a macro lens. His photography offers that opportunity to admire the beauty that nature has created for us, which sadly goes unnoticed

Lynette Evans.

S A Goodwin.

About Lynette Evans.

Hello dear friends, welcome to my corner of the world. My name is Lynette and I have a great passion for photography, particularly macro rain drops. I have the good fortune to own two camera’s… a Canon EOS 400D and I’ve recently purchased the Canon EOS 500D. I use the 100/150mm macro lens with a 1.4 converter.

Lynette Evans.

S A Goodwin.

No one can possibly imagine the beauty inside these tiny rain/waterdrops until viewed through the macro lens, a chance not many of us get to see. My macro photography offers that opportunity to admire the beauty that Nature has created for us which sadly goes unnoticed by the naked eye. Feel free to splash around in my raindrop world if you don’t mind getting wet, you won’t be disappointed, the effects are simply stunning.
Thank you so much for taking the time to view.

“Reach for the moon… that way if you miss… you will land among the stars”

Lynette Evans.

S A Goodwin.

Research into optics

Introduction to Lenses

The term lens is applied to a piece of glass or transparent plastic, usually circular in shape, that has two surfaces that are ground and polished in a specific manner designed to produce either a convergence or divergence of light. The two most common types of lenses are concave and convex lenses, which are illustrated below in Figure 1.

A common bi-convex lens is considered a positive lens because it causes light rays toconverge, or concentrate, to form a real image. Real images can be projected onto a screen or viewed without the aid of additional lenses, but appear inverted or opposite the orientation of the object viewed. These lenses are thicker at the center than the periphery and appear to be bulging outward in a hemispherical manner with a constant curvature of radius. The bi-convex lens illustrated in Figure 1(a) has a focal point at point F with a corresponding focal length FL. Since this convex lens is symmetrical with equal curvature angles on both sides of the lens, there is another focal point of the same length as FL on the other side of the lens, although it is not illustrated.

Concave lenses, on the other hand, are considered to be negative lenses because light waves passing through them diverge, or are scattered away from, a focal point or centerline. This divergence occurs because the lens is thinner in the center and thicker on the periphery, causing light entering the lens to be refracted away from its center. The bi-concave lens illustrated in Figure 1(b) operates in a manner similar to concave mirrors, with which light waves are refracted as if they were emitted from a point behind the lens. These waves converge on a negative focal point, labeled F in Figure 2(b). Since light does not actually converge on this point, it is called a virtual focus point and the corresponding image is a virtual image. Virtual images appear erect or in the same orientation as the real object, but can only be viewed or projected with the aid of another lens.
Interactive Java Tutorial


Lens Shape and ActionExplore how lens shape affects the interaction of light with the lens.





As illustrated in Figure 1, a lens operates by refracting incoming light waves at points where they enter and exit the lens. The angle of that refraction, however, and therefore the focal length of a lens, depends upon the material of which it is composed. Materials with a high index of refraction have a shorter focal length than those with lower refractive indices (RI). For example, lenses made of synthetic polymers such as Lucite (RI = 1.47) have a lower refractive index than glass (RI = 1.51), which results in their having a slightly longer focal length. Fortunately, the refractive indices of Lucite and glass are so close together that Lucite can be used in place of glass in many lens applications, such as the popular disposable camera. As another example, a lens made of pure diamond (RI = 2.42) would have a focal length significantly less than either glass or Lucite, though the cost of designing such a lens would be prohibitive.

Lenses of various shapes, sizes, and materials enjoy a wide variety of usage. For instance, single lenses able to form real images are found in tools used for simple magnification, such as magnifying glasses, eyeglasses, single-lens cameras, viewfinders, and contact lenses. More complex devices, such as compound microscopes, telescopes, and binoculars, use a combination of lenses in order to enhance magnification and other desirable optical properties. However, these instruments are commonly plagued by lens errors that distort images by a variety of mechanisms associated with aberrations, or defects, resulting from the spherical geometry of lens surfaces. There are several types of lens errors, but the general effect of optical aberrations in a microscope is the appearance of faults in the tiny features and details of an image that is being observed. Thus, aberration is one of many factors that should be considered when deciding what kind of lens to use.

Most lenses are classified according to their two principal surfaces and curvature patterns, since the type of refraction that occurs when light travels through a lens is dependent upon the geometry of that lens. Basic lens groups are typically divided into two sub-categories, the convergent lenses and the divergent lenses. Each category contains several different lens types, which are addressed individually below.

The Bi-Convex Lens - The simplest magnifying lens is the bi-convex (sometimes called the double-concave) convergent lens that condenses light rays into a focal point, as illustrated in Figure 1(a). The focal length of a bi-convex lens, also featured as Figure 2(a), is dependent upon the curvature angle of its faces. Higher angles of curvature result in shorter focal lengths due to the fact that light waves are refracted at a greater angle with respect to the centerline of the lens. The symmetric nature of bi-convex lenses minimizes spherical aberration in applications where the image and object are at symmetrical distances. These lenses are typically used for focusing and image magnification.

The Bi-Concave Lens - Concave lenses, like the one illustrated in Figure 2(d), are primarily used for diverging light and image reduction, as well as increasing system focal lengths and collimating converging light beams. The bi-concave (sometimes called the double-concave) lens refracts parallel input rays so that they diverge away from the optical axis on the output side of the lens, but form a negative focal point in front of the lens, as illustrated in Figure 1(b). While the output rays do not actually cross to form a focal point, they do appear to be diverging from a virtual image located on the object side of the lens. Bi-concave lenses are often coupled with other lenses in order to reduce the focal lengths of optical systems.

The Plano-Convex Lens - Figure 2(b) and Figure 3 depict typical plano-convex lenses that have one positive hemispherical side and one flat side. Plano-convex lenses are convergent, focusing parallel rays of light to a positive focal point, as illustrated in Figure 3. Thus, these lenses form real images, which can be projected or manipulated by spatial filters. The asymmetry of plano-convex lenses minimizes spherical aberration in applications where the object and image lie at unequal distances from the lens. When the curved surface of the lens is oriented toward the object, the sharpest possible focus is achieved. Plano-convex lenses are useful for collimating diverging beams of light and for applying focus to an optical system.

The Concavo-Convex Lens - The third type of convergent lens is the concavo-convex lens, which is depicted in Figure 2(c) and Figure 4. More commonly known as the positive (converging) meniscus lens, this lens also has an asymmetric structure. One of its faces is in a convex hemispherical shape, while the other is slightly concave. Meniscus lenses are used most often in conjunction with another lens to produce an optical system of a longer or shorter focal length than the original lens. For instance, a positive meniscus lens can be placed after a plano-convex lens to shorten its focal length without decreasing the performance of the optical system. Positive meniscus lenses have a greater curvature radius on the concave side of the lens than on the convex side, which enables the formation of a real image.

The Plano-Concave Lens - The plano-concave lens, illustrated in Figure 2(e) and Figure 5, is a divergent lens that has a negative focal point and produces a virtual image. When a collimated light beam is incident on the curved surface of a plano-concave lens, the exit side forms a divergent beam. This beam appears to emerge from a smaller virtual point source than if the plane surface had faced the collimated beam. Plano-concave lenses are used to expand light beams or to increase focal lengths in existing optical systems.

The Convexo-Concave Lens - This lens is commonly referred to as a negative (divergent) meniscus lens, since its concave surface has a lower curvature radius than its convex surface, as illustrated in Figure 2(f) and in Figure 6. This type of lens can be used to reduce or eliminate spherical aberration in optical systems with which the lens is coupled and can be combined with other lenses to produce increased resolution capabilities.