GEOGRAPHICAL
SPECIALITIES
RECENT
ARTICLES
PICTURES
BEST TRAVEL
EXPERIENCES
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Not
many people are lucky enough to make a living out of doing what they
enjoy most.
I consider myself to be one of the fortunate few, for I am a freelance
journalist and photographer specialising mainly in wildlife and
nature-oriented travel features for magazines all over the world.
. . . . .
I
have been interested in all things natural since I was 11, my main
schoolboy passion being astronomy. I also collected rocks, minerals and
fossils. I wanted to be an astronomer when I left school, but I was
utterly useless at maths. Being reasonably good at English, I took up
journalism instead, serving a three-year apprenticeship on a weekly
newspaper.
As the years passed, so my interests broadened. Enthralled by the BBC’s
natural history programmes, I became hooked on wildlife. Photography
- merely a hobby initially - later became an invaluable additional skill.
During my journalistic career, which has now spanned more than 40 years,
I’ve turned my hand to all manner of things, from editing newspapers and
producing guidebooks to planning PR campaigns.
. . . . .
After my leisure
and tourism PR consultancy went bust during the economic slump of the
early 90s, I began forging a new career as a travel writer. Now I start
each day with a zest I never experienced in my early professional life.
I meet genuinely interesting and extremely knowledgeable people in a
wide range of fields and get paid to write articles on subjects as
diverse as kayaking through the coastal creeks of Gulf Coast Florida,
exploring the Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador, learning traditional
skills from South African bushmen and watching all manner of wild birds
along the Rio Grande in southern Texas.
The future once looked as bleak as a grouse moor in the depths of
winter. Slowly but surely, however, I’ve managed to turn things around.
Today, 18 years after my PR business folded, I’ve got plenty of work,
although I always welcome more. They say every cloud has a silver
lining, and that’s certainly proved to be true as far as I am concerned.
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GEOGRAPHICAL SPECIALITIES
The world is my oyster. I am prepared to go anywhere at any time
(within reason!), although I tend to gravitate towards Africa,
North America and Europe.
I have visited many contrasting countries during the past couple
of years, including Zambia, Ecuador, Cyprus, South Africa, France,
Malta, Greece (Kalymnos and Telendos), the USA (Florida), Cape
Verde Islands, Poland, The Gambia and Egypt.
Within the UK, I have roamed from Devon, the Forest of Dean and
Pembrokeshire to Northumberland, York, Glasgow and the Orkney
Islands.
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RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES
I
had dozens of articles published in magazines all over the world
in 2007, including:
Open Skies
(Emirates’ economy class inflight magazine)
Stones of Mystery (Avebury Circle).
Born to be Wild (50th anniversary of the BBC’s Natural History
Unit).
City of all Ages
(York).
Denizens of the Deep
(exotic
creatures from the depths of the oceans).
Monkey Business
(Trentham Monkey Forest near
Stoke-on-Trent).
On the Roman Front
(Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend).
Rivers in Peril
(threats facing the
world’s mightiest rivers).
Portfolio
(Emirates’ first and business class inflight magazine)
Ostrich Farming Takes Flight
(ostrich farming in South Africa).
For Your Driving Pleasure
(bespoke Italian sports cars).
Canals and Rivers
Down Your Way
(profiles of
Southampton, Dartmouth, Glasgow,
Bristol, Keswick, Gloucester and Newcastle upon Tyne).
The Lady
Cornucopia of Curiosities
(the £30 million Wellcome Collection
in
London).
Trek Record
(camel riding in the Forest of Dean).
Wildlife Wonders (the Isle of Wight’s green attractions).
Out of This World
(space travel for everyone).
People Need Plants
(Botanic Gardens Conservation International).
This Restless Earth
(natural disasters).
March of the Marionettes
(Charleville-Mezieres’ puppet festival).
Storm Snapper
(profile of a storm-chasing photographer).
A Walk on the Wild Side
(Yasuni National Park, Ecuador).
Holiday Cottages
Wild About Scotland
(Scotland’s varied wildlife).
Holiday Villas
Wildlife Wonderland
(Everglades).
Sun-baked and Booming
(Cape Verde Islands).
Key Attractions
(Florida Keys).
See Naples and Chill Out!
(Naples in SW
Florida).
Altitude
(inflight magazine of Nationwide Airlines)
A Gem Of A Place
(Birmingham).
Bloomin’ Marvellous
(Chelsea Flower Show).
On The Crest Of A Wave
(Cowes Week).
King Tut’s Treasures
(Tutankhamun exhibition).
Travel Africa
Ace of Antiquities
(profile of Egypt’s top archaeologist, Dr Zahi
Hawass).
Heritage
A Verdant Metropolis
(London’s royal
parks).
Gulf Life
(inflight magazine of Gulf Air)
Jet Set
(buying your own aircraft).
Continental
(inflight magazine of Continental Airlines)
Vaults of Mystery
(Edinburgh Vaults).
Tengri
(inflight magazine of Air Astana)
Great British Eccentrics
(wacky British
events).
yeahbaby
(inflight magazine of bmibaby)
Green Cuisine
(Café Paradiso,
Cork).
Skyhost
(inflight magazine of Air Zimbabwe)
City of Charm
(Newcastle upon
Tyne).
Ahlan Wasahlan
(inflight magazine of Saudi Arabian Airlines)
Out of Africa
(Tribal Textiles business in rural Zambia).
Delightful Dolphins
(Dolphin Research Centre, Florida Keys).
Record Breakers
(Guinness World of
Records).
Paradise
(inflight magazine of Air Niugini)
Floral Delight
(orchids).
Indwe
(inflight magazine of South African Express Airways)
Gold Wonder
(Gold Museum in Cape Town).
Humsafar
(inflight magazine of Pakistan International Airlines)
Lifeblood of Glasgow
(Glasgow’s changing
fortunes).
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
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PICTURES
I can provide
complete packages of words and high resolution digital images. My
photos have not only been used to illustrate my own articles but
have also appeared in a wide range of magazines and books.
PHOTOGRAPHY SELECTION
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BEST
TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
Getting
up-close-and-personal with southern right whales off Cape Town,
watching manatees doing belly-flops alongside my boat in Florida,
encountering a large black bear in Ramsey Canyon, near Tucson,
Arizona, and seeing the Old Faithful geyser spectacularly blowing her
top in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
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. . . . .
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BY RON TOFT -
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK
Paradise on Earth - Ecuador
From
moisture-laden rainforests pulsating with wildlife to mighty,
ice-capped volcanic peaks set like jewels in a cobalt blue sky,
there’s something for everyone in tropical Ecuador.
Rainforests
are the greatest of all Mother Nature’s pharmacies. For every
human ailment, there is almost certainly a natural remedy waiting
to be discovered somewhere within these vast, lush cathedrals of
trees.
Read full article
...
Secrets of the Sands
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Egypt
Millions
of tourists flock to Egypt every year to gaze in open-jawed wonder at
the seemingly timeless Pyramids of Giza, the enigmatic Great Sphinx, the
elaborate tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the extraordinarily well
preserved royal mummies and golden grave goods of Tutankhamun in Cairo’s
Egyptian Museum and all manner of other ancient wonders.
Many, if not most, visitors probably think that modern archaeology has
uncovered most of what is left of Ancient Egypt. Nothing, however, could
be further from the truth.
Read full article
...
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Ron Toft
CONTACT
ME
. . .
EXAMPLES OF
PUBLISHED WORK
. . .
PHOTOGRAPHY
SELECTION
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