Profile

‘Never look them straight in the eye’. I can hear my Father’s words as if it were yesterday. I had the honour of being brought up among herds of red deer in West Wales and from a very early age, I had figured out how to avoid making them flee for the cover of the woodland. It basically had a lot to do with food and a little to do with avoiding eye contact and sudden movement. Gradually guanaco, alpacas and even antelope joined the entourage and a few years down the line came an interest in filming and photographing these wild yet approachable creatures; I was hooked. I spent hours sitting in their field to get them accustomed to my presence so that I wouldn’t just capture shots of them staring intensely at me. I soon learnt that their survival instinct kicks in if you lie down; you are apparently branded a predator then!

I broadened my subject matter by staking out and stalking barn owls, buzzards, foxes, badgers, grass snakes and grey seals. I discovered an awe and wonder of the natural world which has stayed with me to this day. It was a natural progression for me to pursue a career in natural history filmmaking.

Ironically, my main passion and interest now lies with predators. I have spent many weeks in Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile, locating and tracking pumas both for blue-chip filming (Planet Earth – Mountains) and presenter led (My Search For Mountain Lions, with Gordon Buchanan). To ensure we were successful, this involved lamping at dawn, lengthy stake-outs, tracking in the snow and late night searches on foot. I also have experience of tracking tigers in Nepal and have invested a lot of time researching the mystery of Big Cats in the UK.

I studied an MSc in Animal Behaviour for which I undertook a camera trap study on nocturnal carnivores in South Africa. I was comparing the activity patterns, habitat use and dietary preference of black-backed jackals and genets and how this was affected by the moonlight. I also learnt a lot about caracal and serval behaviour whilst undertaking this study.

During my time in South Africa, I did the single most exhilarating and terrifying thing I have ever done; standing in the middle of a boma attempting to herd stampeding animals in a game round up! It was actually quite intriguing to witness each species’ escape tactic. I quickly learnt how to drive a 4×4 when there are angry rhinos around, how to control a bush fire and to avoid acacia thorns! As well as these survival skills, I obtained a good academic knowledge of animal cognition, operant conditioning, behavioural ecology and human-wildlife conflict from this MSc course.

I thrive on being out in the wilderness and have travelled to approximately 40 countries in the last 10 years. If I can surf when I get there, even better! From the tip of Kilimanjaro to the jungles of the Amazon, my first hand knowledge of locations is invaluable when planning a shoot. I love getting ‘under the skin’ of a place and conveying stories of the natural world in a tangible way.