Ian Silvester

Ian Silvester is a keen amateur photographer, particularly of steam trains and African wildlife. He took up photography as a serious hobby in 1973 when he bought his first Nikon SLR camera. Since then, he has used Nikon equipment almost exclusively, buying a digital camera in 2005. His colour photography is currently divided equally between digital and slide, while for black and white images he uses a second-hand Rolleiflex camera. Capturing the last workings of live steam trains has taken Ian all around the world, to countries and regions little visited by mainstream tourists. Now that steam has virtually ended as regular main line motive power, enthusiasts recreate the experience by organising steam-hauled private charter trains.
South Africa has been Ian’s favourite destination for photographing wildlife, but he has also been on safari in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania, photographed tigers in Indian game parks, and visited the Australian rainforest. Watch this space for a forthcoming trip to Alaska and British Columbia, to photograph bears feasting on salmon!
Ian’s camera goes with him to record the scene on many other travels, whether following the England cricket team home and away, cross-country skiing in Siberia at -20C, absorbing the atmosphere of Paris during a business trip, tramping through the heather on the Yorkshire moors, or relaxing with a glass of wine as the sun sets on the picturesque island of Mykonos.
To develop his skills, Ian has been a member of three local camera clubs, Northfields (near Ealing), Maidenhead and more recently Amersham. He is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, and his slides have been included in RPS International Slide Exhibitions; he won first prize in the 2003 exhibition.  Visit www.dorneyphoto.com for more Railway and Wildlife pictures.