Natural History Museum 2017

Favourite London Museum

If you were to ask me what my favourite museum in London is, the Natural History Museum is in my top two. The other is the Greenwich Royal Observatory because of my passion for astronomy. So why is the Natural History Museum one of my favourites, you may be asking? Easy answer – Ant Farm!

I first went when I was at university and as soon as I saw the ant farm I was fascinated by nature. I literally could have watched all those thousands of ants walking around in that tank for hours. Aside from this discovering more about nature has appeal no matter what age you are. Attracting young and old to learn about the world around us is what will always make me come back to the Natural History Museum.

Quick tip before I continue with the post, try to avoid visiting on a Saturday. Doesn’t take much to realise that Saturdays are the busiest days for museums and especially with the renovation work going on in 2017 this museum really is jam-packed.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

On a recent visit, I was focused on seeing two exhibitions. The first is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016. A few months prior to my visit I continually saw an advert for this exhibition outside my place of work. The advert was a photo of a fox leaning over a wall. Seeing it every day made me want to go more and more. So being an explorer I took the plunge and went for it one weekend.

The exhibition costs differ between peak and off-peak times. During Peak (school holidays, weekends and late-night) it is £13.50 for adults, £8 for children and £36.90 for families. Off peak (Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm) is £10.50 for adults, £6.50 for children and £27 for families. You do have to select a time for your visit as well. For what I was about to see the price was worth it.

I had to be out of here within an hour because I booked another exhibition to visit shortly afterwards. I wish I had given myself more time for the photography because it really deserved it. Unsurprisingly you were not allowed to take photos inside the exhibition, which is disappointing because I would love to visually show you some of my highlights. To be honest, each and every photo was incredible. I do not know how the judges made their choices in any of the categories because there are unique moments and stories behind each one.

I was amazed by the time and effort it took the photographers to capture the perfect moment, of nature in all its glory. My star photo was one of the evening sun shining over an ocean with a single bird flying across the sunlight. It captured perfectly the beauty that can be found even in the most remote of places.

To give you an idea for the contribution to the competition, there were almost 50,000 entries from 95 countries. 100 pictures made up the final selection and these were divided into the following categories; Earth’s Diversity, Earth’s Environments, Earth’s Design, Documentary and Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The Peoples Choice category was added with 25 images chosen from a global public vote.

Sensational Butterflies

The garden outside the front of the museum is where you will find this house of butterflies. I was a little worried that this exhibition may be totally themed for a younger audience, however, after a few seconds, I realised anyone would enjoy this. The tent itself is humidified and you are advised to take off your jacket before you melt away.

When I entered I saw butterflies flying right past me. There are literally so many just going about their business, flying around the captivated audience. It was the coolest thing! There are lots of notices asking everyone to be careful where they step, so I did as I was told and walked around very carefully.

My mirrorless camera really excelled here, as it was able to focus on the butterflies with great precision. What was really nice was that you are allowed to get up close to the butterflies. There were no restrictions like you have to stay a metre away from the butterfly. You could put your camera very close to one without disturbing it, which allowed me to capture the unique detail of each one. The experience was just fantastic and I couldn’t recommend it more. At £6.50 for an adult and £22 for a family, it really is worth visit. Prices include a donation.