WHEN North East wildlife photographer Kaleel Zibe first landed on the Farne Islands three years ago, he wondered why he had not made the trip earlier.

“I still can’t believe it took me so long to visit such a jewel of a place right on my doorstep,” he said.

“I thought it was a bird paradise and that I would have a go at documenting this amazing place to make up for lost time.”

That he did with a vengeance. Eight trips to the islands off the Northumberland coast followed, including one on Christmas Eve.

The result is his new book Wildlife of the Farne Islands, published at £14.99 by Kaleel Zibe Photography, containing a distillation of thousands of images which he took.

Kaleel had a good reason for delaying his first journey – he was fully occupied running the family ink manufacturing business, Multichem Ltd in Hexham.

Kaleel, who lives in Gosforth in Newcastle with his wife and three children, had enjoyed photography as a hobby.

In 2007, after 13 years of being wrapped up in the company, he decided he would “fire” himself and pursue a more creative path, although he retains a majority shareholding.

That path was photography, across a range from commercial to landscape and portraits, but with wildlife his first love.