David was born and brought up in Blackpool, Lancashire.  After taking a degree in mathematics at Sheffield University he trained to be a maths teacher.  He worked in Norfolk then Yorkshire before moving to Cornwall in 1992 where he was promoted to Head of Department at Helston School. David has been interested in wildlife and photography from a young age but during his time in Cornwall his passion for bird photography really grabbed hold and when he married Sarah they bought a small holding near Hayle.  This plot of land is excellent for wildlife with quite varied habitats for its modest size of five acres. 

In 1999 he started to write nature diaries for Cornwall Today and these proved to be very popular, so much so that he expanded his writing to include monthly features for, amongst others, the Caravan Club Magazine, Smallholder, Cornwall Life, SAGA online and a regular wildlife travel feature for MMM.

In 2003 David left teaching to work as a full time professional  photographer and writer.  He joined the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and in his first year of membership was given two of their prestigious awards for writing and photography.  In 2004 he repeated this feat with another double award.  Since then he has gone on to undertake a variety of commissions for Cornwall Enterprise, Trebah Garden, Pinetum Gardens, Land's End and others.  In 2011 he won the 'Wildlife in the Garden' section of the International Garden Photographer of the Year having previously come a close second. 

David has written fourteen books about natural history and photography in Cornwall, all are lavishly illustrated with his own photographs, their titles include:  Photographing Cornwall; A Cornish Year; Wildflowers of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Birds of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Exploring the Cornish Coast; Walking in Penwith; Walking around the Fal and the Roseland; Walking on The Lizard and Where to Watch Wildlife in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  He has also taken all the photos for another book written by his wife, Sarah: Iconic Cornwall.

David's photographs can be seen in a wide range of publications including BBC Wildlife and Bird Watching magazines as well as many other newspapers, magazines, calendars and on greetings cards.

In 2016, in response to demand from online magazines, David started to use his DSLR to capture video footage of wildlife and landscapes.  As well as having a library of some 50,000 images he now has some interesting videos and sound recordings.

From 2009 to 2017 David contributed to the running of the Natural History and Marine Photography degree course at Falmouth University, Tremough campus, Penryn.  He tutored students on photography and essay-writing as well as planning and leading trips locally and further afield.  On trips he taught students about ecology, conservation and photography.  In May 2017 David left the university to concentrate on his own photography projects and writing.