How important is the net to the Britain Goes Wild project?
It's fundamental as it enables people to follow up information imparted by the show and allows people to take part. The Make Space for Nature project has more information and the facility to pledge your intent or interact via the messageboards.
It must be nice as a broadcaster to have such interactivity?
It's getting increasingly interactive. At one point, there was almost a divide between the television programme makers and the people working in the interactive web area. That divide has evaporated and it's now seen as a holistic event.
What can visitors to the 40 webcams experience?
If you don't want to wait till the next broadcast, you can log on and watch it as it happens. The BBC doesn't have a webcam on the Bass Rock, where I have just been, but the Scottish Seabird Centre does. It's incredible when you think that the images from Bass Rock, a mile and a half offshore, are going to the mainland via microwave, then sent up to a static satellite before being beamed down for the show. That's a heck of a way to end up in Devon!
Are webcams allowing us closer access to wildlife?
Undoubtedly. Hopefully, we've never been intrusive but what one has been able to see has been limited. As technology gets more micro and sensitive to low light levels and infrared, then you have the ability to expose events that otherwise would not have been seen.
Have you gone all digital now?
For still photography, the digital arena has changed so dramatically so rapidly I've now converted to digital for about 90% of what I do. Lomo makes wonderful lenses for film cameras but digital photography does allow creativity and freedom. Its instant gratification lets you experiment. I'm using a Canon 10D and for my snaps I use an Olympus C50, a fabulous quality 5 megapixel camera you can carry in your pocket.
Are you a dab hand with PhotoShop?
I use it but I don't manipulate the images I take. It's not a purist thing, I just try to create the image within the camera. PhotoShop is a great helping hand but people go a bit overboard on the after effects. That said, Ansel Adams did say the photograph is the orchestra and the printing is the symphony.
What technology do you take on your travels?
I always travel with my Apple G4 and my Palm Tungsten - they contain my life. I used to always use Psions , which were great but they always died on me _ it almost felt like a built-in obsolescence. That's not funny when your life is contained in it.
· Britain Goes Wild is on BBC2 every evening Monday to Thursday at 8pm
Visit: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/britaingoeswild & www.simonkingwildlife.com
