Catching up with Jamie ‘Eagle-Eyed Girl’ Smart is like stepping into the wild with a guide who discovers nature for the very first time. At just 9 years old, this young Welsh prodigy has already racked up an impressive collection of photography awards. And she’s just getting started. Homeschooled by her parents, Jamie studies natural history and photography while living and breathing nature. When we spotted her on Instagram in one of our floating hides, we dove in for a chat about her incredible talent and mesmerizing images.
“It started with a big passion for dinosaurs,” Jamie tells us about her love for nature. “But I realised I’d never get to see a real one. So, I took an interest in birds because they are the closest relatives of dinosaurs. As you can see, now I am interested in all animals!”
Wales is very wet and mountainesque, but the Smart family explores the wild regardless of the rain. They travel whenever possible. “One day, my parents and I were at a lake, and I was finding it hard to use binoculars to focus on birds and animals. So my dad proposed that I try the camera. I knew how expensive it was, so I was nervous, but I tried and started taking pictures of sparrows in the bush and things in our house. After about 2 days, I could take pictures of sparrows in flight. And a week later, I got a good photo of a peregrine falcon flying over!”
Studying wildlife
Jamie excels in gathering knowledge of the animals and birds she shoots, knowledge she vividly shares through the clips her father makes for social media. “I want to inspire people to fall in love with nature and teach them lots about the animals I see. I’ve got many books and study a lot about them online. The more facts I know about the animals, the easier it is to find them and take pictures of them in different places and circumstances.”
Professional photography equipment is technically challenging for anyone, and the lenses are pretty heavy, especially for such a young girl. Still, Jamie has managed it since she turned 7. “When I first started, the 70-200mm was heavy. But then I got used to the weight – I do a lot of push-ups every day. Now, I can hold the 800mm F6.3 lens without shaking! One night, I was photographing barn owls when I saw a juvenile redstart in the bush. With the 800 mm lens, I brought my shutter speed to 1/125s and got a crisp photo!” she smiles proudly. “And most recently, I’ve been photographing lots of macro stuff at night.”
It’s wonderfully contagious to see Jamie talk about the animals she discovers. Like the common darter dragonfly she recently shot in macro. “Early in the morning, bugs are still cold on the branches, which helps when taking stacked photos. This female was sitting on a reed. Did you know that dragonflies have a 95% chance of success when they hunt for food because of their eyesight? They have 2 different lenses, one like a wide angle for looking down and the other like a telephoto, so they can predict where the flies they want to catch are going. They are small now, but in prehistoric days, they were huge, with a wingspan of 70cm, picking up small animals and stuff. Just imagine one passing by with a cat or a small goat!”
Floating adventure
Recently, we spotted Jamie in one of our floating hides! “I was fascinated by people using them and the different angles you can get, so we decided to try it. We started looking on the internet and found Jan Gear’s hides. It was amazing! At first, it was freezing because I was wearing a wetsuit, but then we found a secondhand drysuit, and it went much better; I could stay in longer.”
So, how does it work for an 8-year-old whose feet can’t touch the bottom? “We built a seat inside. Dad does the wading, and I sit in front. He’s like a duck sometimes, paddling back when it gets too deep (giggles). At first, when the hide wasn’t adapted, my dad was trying to hold me up in the hide while wading, and he’d get stuck in the mud more often. Once, when we hit the soft mud, I collapsed into the water! That was in October last year. It’s actually an excellent period to try it again!
Learning in real life
Discovering her talent for nature photography has been a rollercoaster ride for Jamie. Since she started at 6, she has collected several impressive awards, such as the recent Young RSPCA award with her portrait of her pet turkey, Frederik. She recently went viral with her picture of a pink grasshopper. “This picture has 10.5 million views since we posted it just last week!” she tells us enthusiastically. “It’s a genetic aberration; he produces too much pink and not enough black pigment. He’s fortunate I snapped him because he’s famous now, as is the photobomber in the front. That other grasshopper was probably asking: hey, why are you so pink?!” (laughing).
“She learns very quickly through real life,” says her father, James. ”One thing always leads to another. With the RSPCA competition, she won a two-day photography workshop led by Danny Green. We’ll be photographing stags fighting and rutting. And after that, we’re hoping to photograph birds in the nearby Wash Estuary.” “That will be so much fun; we’ll be camping in the car! We love these small adventures!” Jamie smiles.
Congrats on your beautiful photos, Jamie! We can’t wait to see what incredible images and stories you’ll share next!
All images © Jamie Smart
