Interview with wildlife Photographer

by skyje · Jan 16, 2012

Interview with two brothers from the UK specializing in wildlife photography. Enjoy!

1. Please tell us a few words about you guys!

Hi, we’re Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas, two wildlife photographer brothers from the UK. We’ve been taking photographs for about 6 or 7 years. We try to come up with innovative ways to photograph our subjects and often travel abroad to do so. Teamwork is a large part of our success, and many of our favourite shots wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t been working together. We have a popular website and blog at www.burrard-lucas.com.

2. It is just amazing that two brothers share the same passion for something and the outcome is so delightful! How did you come up with this idea to work as a team?

Ever since we started photography we’ve worked together to achieve certain images and projects. It’s something that happened naturally rather than a concerted process, we’ve always enjoyed doing things together and photography is just an extension of that. In recent years we’ve begun to work as a team more regularly, and now we mostly just take photos under the single Burrard-Lucas entity. We really enjoy working in this way – we’re constantly bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with hair-brained schemes for different projects!

3. Do you travel especially to take photos or the portfolio is a result of your vast wandering all over the world?

When we first started out, we would use photography to document our travels and record some of the amazing things that we saw. Now we travel especially to take photos, and we always plan our trips depending on the sorts of photos that will broaden our portfolio. We generally have a good idea of the kind of images we want to get from a trip before we set off.

4. If you were to pick only one thing to use in the photographic work, what would it be: passion, natural talent or great quality gear?

I think the most important aspect of our photography is creativity. Photography isn’t about having the most expensive, state-of-the-art equipment. It’s about having good ideas for original and exciting images. Today’s technology is so good that it’s possible to get great results with relatively inexpensive gear. I believe it’s not so much about natural talent either – anyone is capable of being a good photographer, as long as they put the time and effort in to practice. After a while, changing the settings and composing a photo becomes second nature.

5. Which is the best experience you ever had since you practice the travel photography? (can also be an amazing thing or a place)

One of the best photographic experiences that we’ve ever had was using our remote control “BeetleCam” in Tanzania. We built a custom-made robot that was capable of fearlessly driving up to Africa’s most dangerous animals, and taking pictures of them from a ground perspective. The whole experience was an amazing adventure and we got some stunning photos – even when it got mauled and carried off by a lioness! The trip was such a success that we decided to revive the project again this summer – but this time BeetleCam was far better prepared for any lions that were to come its way…

6. Some little piece of advice for the newbie photographers fascinated by the wildlife photography?

The best piece of advice for a beginner is probably one that you’ll hear a lot – always keep practising! The only way to improve is to take lots and lots of photos. It’s also a good idea to be critical of your own work. Think about that things you can improve and how you can go about doing it. Try looking at the work of other wildlife photographers for inspiration – don’t copy them but instead try to apply some of their techniques to use in your own projects.