All things Bermuda is the inspiration behind photographer Chris Burville's exhibition "Wild Bermuda".

A former Royal Gazette photographer and now freelance photographer, Mr. Burville went from the Challenger Banks, to North Rock to Tom Moore's jungle for his subject matter. He even swam with sharks and humpback whales to get some of the pictures of Bermuda's wild side.

Now his show of 43 pieces opens tonight at the Onions Galley at the Bermuda Society of Arts. It was initially supposed to be the launch of his new book, but he decided to have the book launch later and still host the exhibition, which features some of his work over the past five years.

"I love to shoot all sorts of different things. I love to do everything from birds to landscapes to tiny little creatures to shooting some cool underwater stuff. I sometimes worry that I am spreading myself too thin, but it is a lot of fun."

His photos include a Cahow soaring during sunset, a tern captured in a snap shot, a white eyed verio, which is another of Bermuda's endemic birds, a blue bird and a longtail nesting, an owl on a cedar branch, an Antiguan anole, a Warwick lizard, a bee with a big pollen ball and a monarch butterfly resting.

"I also have our critically endangered skink," he said.

Some of his sunrise and sunset vistas include one at John Smith's Bay, while another was taken from Spanish Point looking towards Dockyard. He also managed to capture the Perseid Meteor Shower over Grape Bay and has also captured lightning storms.

Staying on land means nothing to Mr. Burville and whilst capturing surfers out at North Rock, he took the time to shoot a huge swell and he also has shots, under and above the water, showing mangroves. Shipwrecks didn't go amiss either and he has two shots of the Mary Celeste, which was shipwrecked on the South Shore.

Another shot is of a shearwater seabird, which migrates past the Island. "They are similar to the cahow, but they are a little bit bigger.

"They have one of the biggest migrations of all the sea birds, as they go from way, way down south at the Arctic and on their way back they grab a meal while hanging out behind fishing boats. They go after all the bait and this is what this guy (in the photo) is doing out at Challenger Banks.

"Fishermen hate them. They sometimes go down and take a hook; they can swim and they can practically fly underwater. They are amazing. They are really fast."

Other shots where Mr. Burville was overboard at Challenger Banks include those of the tiger shark and the humpback whale. Another is of a blue ocean slug, which gives the impression of being almost fluorescent.

"It's this type of mollusc that floats out in the open ocean, it doesn't have a shell, but you can find them off the edge of Bermuda. They are absolutely miniscule. It is a very, very cool little creature. They eat the Portuguese Man of War tentacles and they take on the stinging properties temporarily. It's fascinating."

After studying maths at university, Mr. Burville started experimenting with photography during the summer of 2005.

"The photos span back to 2005, I think the (Warwick) lizard is one of the first I took on August 1, 2005," he said. "It was a little later that year that I applied for a job at The Royal Gazette, but it was earlier that year that I first took up a camera and began playing around.

"Before that I was working on tourism dive boats and when that season died, I didn't know what I was going to do, and then I started at the Gazette in 2006.

"I have a degree in maths and I minored in economics and now I'm taking pictures. I was completely learning when I started at the paper. I mean those guys taught me a lot of what I know."

This show is a preview of what's to come in his upcoming book.

The show opens tonight at the Bermuda Society of Arts in City Hall from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The shows runs until November 3.