Wildlife photographer Meng was born in Macau, grew up in Hong Kong, now in Romford from 2006 working as a graphic designer. Hong Kong cinema, Jackie Chan, Drunken Master and dubbing voices in different countries. Jaiden is back in the house, bringing vibes and RAGGA JABA PUNCH to the studio. Meng’s incredible photo of green rose-ringed parakeets flying through a rainbow caught Nick’s eye at the Essex Photography Prize - taken in the tropical paradise of Romford. Meng ran to the park with three cameras, three tripods, and took over 200 photos to catch the exact magical moment. It was taken on a long lens which makes the image much closer to the birds in the distance, and makes the slice of the rainbow fill the image. Meng takes photos in the park while his kids play in the playground - and now he knows where the woodpeckers are, the rabbits, the parakeets - the whole ecosystem of Romford wildlife. Nick gets dreamy talking about baby bunnies. The best time for capturing wildlife is sunrise. Meng has run guided photography around his park to show other people how to appreciate and capture the wildlife. Macro lenses are used for super close up details, like Meng’s photo of a spider’s face. Parakeets are raver birds with their bright green feathers and loud calls! Shooting the super moon behind The Shard and St.Paul’s cathedral from Parliament Hill, London. You can use an app to find out the position of the moon, and then pick the perfect photo angle. How did Meng manage to capture the International Space Station crossing over the moon? You need a 600mm lens, a very sturdy tripod to stop movement from the wind, and find out the ISS locations from the internet. There is a lot of luck in taking a good photo. Meng started his photography journey in 2015 taking photos of his new baby son with a fix lens camera. After five years he upgraded to a DSLR camera. With a manual focus long lens, balancing composition and focus together is very hard. Learning all about cameras and photography from YouTube. Meng realised he had a talent for photography when National Geographic shortlisted one of his shots, and now he has won a lot of photography awards including Essex Wildlife Trust Photographer of the Year. Wildlife photography competitions often need to review raw photos now to check images aren’t AI. There was an exhibition in the park where Meng takes most of his photos and an accompanying book called ‘Out There’. The UK felt like slow motion after living in the hectic fast city of Hong Kong. If you want to start out in wildlife photography, experiment and try to copy good photos to learn technique, and then develop your own style.

Meng on Instagram

HUK Shooter website

HUK Shooter on Instragram

HUK Shooter on Facebook

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

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A special episode about Nick’s epic Costa To Costa walk to raise £5000 for Chelmsford Foodbank. Disclaimer: Nick doesn’t know about coffee or bleaching beans or anything - Costa Coffee DO NOT bleach their beans, but it sounds funny. Nick visited 33 Costa Coffees in Chelmsford on foot! Nick walked 27.01 miles, which took 12 hours. Now some Costa To Costa artefacts are in The Museum of Chelmsford. Stuff from now is the old shit of the future. The beautiful handmade posters that supporters (Candy Joyce, Elaine Tribley, Jen Flint) made are in the museum. Community support, and people involved in it are legends. Should The Museum of Chelmsford have a mannequin of Costa Man? YES! Suzi Quattro’s bass in the museum. Peak Costafication. Chelmsford is the Costa Capital of the WORLD! Chelmsford now has 37 Costa Coffee outlets, 2 new ones since Nick visited 33 on 10/12/2025. Nick has a 2:2 Geography degree which helped with map planning. The dangers of drinking too much coffee early in the morning in a ski suit onesie. Costa Man was entirely powered by Costa drinks and food - bacon rolls, millionaire shortbread and choc chip cookies. Nick does not like coffee at all. What would an athlete do? Probably drink one water at least. How do Costa heat water up hotter than boiling to lava temperatures? Scolding hands with hot liquid. More blister than foot. Getting a square blister. Why donating money to foodbanks is very useful for them. Costa Coffee’s donation of 10 x £5 vouchers. Costa To Costa was the greatest adventure to ever happen in Chelmsford! But also it was a performance art critique on capitalism and the homogenisation of the high street. Nick doesn’t know coffee names or coffee culture. Costa should serve the finest Civet Cat coffee from civet cat poo. Costa staff were awesome all day! Sledging through the Costa drive thru on Eagle Way. How do you have these crazy ideas? NICK? The helpers’ high, and how doing good makes you feel good. How to donate to Foodbanks. Random encounters on the street. The Costa to Costa legacy: 1, make people think about the foodbank and why people use it. What do foodbanks need. Food poverty awareness. 2, make people think about consumerism and capitalism, and support independent shops.

Donate to Costa To Costa

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

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Thanks to NGDA for their support

Podcasts, audio drama, recording, editing, mixing, Helen does it all! And is in the studio judging us! Helen’s voice is YouTube famous because she narrates a school sex education film - in the style Julie Andrews reads 50 Shades of Grey! Helen does amazing on-hold message voices and you have probably been told by her that your call is important to the company. Also the English voice of petrol pumps in Spain. Having a signature voice. What are VO (Voice Over) Sessions like? Is Artificial Intelligence for voice overs affecting the industry? Stock phrases and concatenation. Tom Baker, Toast of London and Irish sat nav voices. Helen’s professional voice journey started with Hospital Radio, Restricted License Radio Stations and then on local radio with live traffic reports (A LOSE MONKEY ON THE M4! SWANS ON THE M25!) - then onto continuity at Paramount Comedy Channel. Continuity is a live person to tell you what is happening, what’s next, and to be on standby if anything goes wrong. Helen got into production, setting up mics, writing scripts and recording audio. Helen started podcasting with Robin Ince in 2006 (OG!) establishing the ‘...Shambles’ brand. Setting up a home studio - starting with the downstairs toilet! Sound effects on The Archers - and complaints about cold water pouring for tea. Home recording with celebs during COVID. The origins of the aubergine emoji. AI can’t replicate niche Northern voices yet! The art of directing voice talent in a studio without bruising egos. The voice work market is currently very saturated with a lot of people going for the same work, and some of the work going to AI. But you can still get started by recording a demo reel at home. Voice acting for computer games. Working (and laughing) with Greg Davies on continuity for Paramount. Helen finds out she is a Webby Nominee. Mixing and editing dialogue. Monkey hangers! Making Rylan Clark cats-eyes for Chelmsford. Producing ‘The Menopause Monologues’ podcast. When is the best time of day to record a VO? 11am. Dolphin noises!

HQ Voice Website

HQ Voice on Instagram

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

Don't forget to like, subscribe, share and all the good stuff.

Follow our Instagram for latest news and behind the scenes photos

Send comments, questions, or suggestions for fascinating creative people in Essex give us a shout on our Instagram

Thanks to NGDA for their support