![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01630390.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Volcan](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Ann-Toon-meerkat.jpg\" "\\"Volcan")
<\/div>![\"Sue](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Sue-Flood-3.jpg\" "\\"Sue")
<\/div>![\"Sue](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Sue-Daly.jpg\" "\\"Sue")
<\/div>![\"Karine](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Winner-2022.jpg\" "\\"Karine")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Jen-Guyton-2.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Lisa-Hoofner-1-1.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tracy-Rich-1.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Hanne-Eriksen.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Linda-Pitkin.jpg\" "\\"Linda")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mary-Ann-2.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/lorraine-Bennery.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>Sue Flood<\/h1>\n
Sue Flood is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and mentor of Girls Who Click<\/a>, a charity aimed at empowering young women pursuing careers in photography. She has worked on iconic series alongside Sir David Attenborough, including “The Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth” and produced various documentaries for the BBC Natural History Unit, spotlighting subjects ranging from killer whales and polar bears to the resilient Inuit communities of the Canadian Arctic. With a profound connection to the polar regions, Sue’s passion has drawn her back to these beautiful landscapes for over two decades.<\/p>\n Sue\u2019s successes are down to her hard work and dedication. \u201cWhen people say \u2018you\u2019re so lucky to have worked with David Attenborough \/ be a wildlife photographer,\u2019 I always tell them: \u2018Yes, the harder I work, the luckier I get!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating with a Zoology degree from Durham University, Sue began her career by honing her skillset and laying a foundation to build on. \u201cIt took me seven years from writing my first letter to the BBC Natural History Unit to landing my first researcher job there,\u201d Sue explains. Over those 7 years she volunteered for the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service, qualified as a dive instructor, helped excavate a shipwreck with a team from the Mary Rose and spent 8 months voluntary work at Bermuda Biological Research. All of these skills eventually helped her get her foot in the door at the BBC.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDuring my time with the BBC my photography on location improved dramatically with advice from some of the stellar cameramen I was working with on location,\u201d says Sue. \u201cOn Blue Planet, I was thrilled to capture images of two bits of behaviour that had never been filmed or photographed before – killer whales hunting gray whales in California, and polar bears hunting belugas in the Canadian high Arctic (see below images<\/em>). Both of these encounters led to my first articles in distinguished wildlife magazines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI realised that, after 11 years as a wildlife filmmaker I was enjoying photography more and made the rather brave decision to leave the BBC and see if I could make it as a photographer. It was a decision that I\u2019ve never regretted.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even with her determined attitude, Sue still faced challenges during her career. \u201cSome of the biggest obstacles I\u2019ve faced have been down to plain old sexism,\u201d says Sue, \u201cfor example, lack of equal pay or opportunities when doing the same job as a man, or people assuming I can\u2019t manage in particularly testing conditions (e.g. camping at -40C!). However, I\u2019ve persisted and worked hard to create opportunities for myself and simply get on with the job and show I can do it!\u201d<\/p>\n Keen to help encourage more women to join the world of wildlife photographers Sue became a mentor for Girls Who Click<\/a>, an organisation started by wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas<\/a>, which seeks to empower girls and young women to enter the male-dominated field of nature photography and use their work to further conservation efforts around the world. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely satisfying to see how Suzi\u2019s vision and the support of like-minded photographers is helping change things for young women,\u201d says Sue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ann Toon is an award-winning photographer, journalist and conservationist. Her passion lies in photographing Africa, where she and her husband, Steve Toon, dedicate six months each year to leading photography workshops. However, running photo safaris is something Ann never saw herself doing; it was her love for Africa that steered her towards success in the world of wildlife photography.<\/p>\n \u201cI was travelling in the game parks of southern Africa for the first time on a sabbatical from my first career as a journalist,\u201d says Ann. \u201cThe wildlife blew me away. The whole place was so much more diverse than I thought and I wanted to find a way to be able to spend as much time as possible in these magical places.\u201d Ann met photographers on her travels and saw an opportunity to achieve her goal. \u201cI had no idea what would be involved or even how to go about it at first,\u201d admits Ann, \u201cbut with hindsight that was probably a good thing. Had I realised how competitive and how insecure a profession it can be, I might have been put off.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Working her way into the competitive profession as a woman also came with its challenges. \u201cIt is undoubtedly tougher for women in wildlife photography because as with many professions it’s been male dominated for so long,\u201d explains Ann. \u201cIt’s also trickier because wildlife photography is often a solitary occupation, conducted in isolated or remote spots, so safety can be a concern in some places.\u201d<\/p>\n Ann overcame the latter by working in a husband-and-wife team. \u201cWe can look out for each other,\u201d says Ann. However, \u201csexism has always been and remains the biggest issue. People often assume my husband is the photographer and I’m just along for the ride. You constantly feel you have to prove yourself; especially at the start of your career. I’m quite a competitive person by nature so I’m continually driving myself to counter what people might think.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy advice would be to ignore all the people who say it’s not possible or too competitive but learn as much as you can from ‘pathfinder’ women photographers who are already doing the job. Wildlife photographers work independently, and because of the competition to earn a living, tend not to share stuff or support one another that much. Women photographers are more ready to help each other so I’d say it’s worth reaching out.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy desire to photograph nature was born from a love for all things wild, instilled in me by my artist parents at a very young age,\u201d says Tui. \u201cIt was also fuelled by the proximity of the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, among which I grew up.\u201d Tui\u2019s passion quickly became her vocation as an award-winning wildlife photographer, author, adventurer and naturalist. \u201cI never pursued photography as a career objective,\u201d explains Tui, \u201cit\u2019s just something that I do out of passion for the natural world. That I manage to make a living from it is a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the first moments of success in Tui\u2019s career was at age 19 her cover story on giant tortoises of the Galapagos appeared in AUDUBON Magazine. Later, in 1995, a researcher friend invited her to Sulawesi Island where she was studying the Red-knobbed hornbill. Tui learned to climb giant rainforest trees and saw another boost in success when the resulting photo-firsts were published around the world (see below images<\/em>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, nature photography has rapidly changed over Tui\u2019s career. \u201cAt the beginning, this wasn\u2019t an obstacle, but half a century later, it has become disheartening that nature photographers in most protected areas are seen as some sort of parasites,\u201d says Tui. \u201cNowadays we have to jump through far more expensive bureaucratic hoops than either scientists or tourists for exactly the same access to wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Competition is also fiercer than ever. \u201cI think my approach is even more appropriate than it was 50 years ago,\u201d says Tui, \u201cdo it for yourself as a passion while getting your earnings from another source.\u00a0 You can then transition over to photography as a profession gradually as it begins to pay for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Sue Daly is an underwater wildlife filmmaker and photographer based in the Channel Islands. \u201cMy interest began with underwater photography, probably the most complicated place to take a camera!\u201d says Sue. \u201cThis started when I began to learn to scuba dive in 1988, while I was a student working for the summer in Jersey. I was fascinated by the marine life I saw and wanted to record it to show everyone I could what wonderful creatures there were in the seas around the Channel Islands.\u201d Sue worked her way up to being a diving instructor and eventually an underwater photographer and filmmaker.<\/p>\n However, becoming an underwater filmmaker did not come without its challenges. \u201cI wasn\u2019t a \u2018natural\u2019 and was hardly able to swim when I first started,\u201d Sue admits. Although \u201cI think my toughest challenge was gaining my HSE part IV diving qualification which is what you need to work professionally filming underwater. I\u2019d been scuba diving for 19 years by then but the commercial training uses quite different equipment and techniques, and mine took place in the chilly waters of Fort William. It\u2019s a tough course and most of it was irrelevant to working with a film camera underwater but I needed it to progress into moving image work.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the first moments of success Sue experienced was a visit from a UK diving magazine in the early 1990s while she was working as a diving instructor. Sue supplied images and wrote an article about diving in the Channel Islands. \u201cI was so chuffed to see my work in print,\u201d says Sue, \u201cand it didn\u2019t even occur to me to ask to be paid. I\u2019ve still got that magazine but have since learnt to value my work. If it\u2019s good enough to be published you should be paid for it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sue\u2019s advice to women trying to break in to photography is \u201cnot to be put off by the technical side of photography. It really isn\u2019t that complicated and now we can take limitless shots to experiment while we learn. You don\u2019t need to spend thousands of pounds on equipment these days when you can achieve amazing results with a simple digital SLR. The most important thing is to have a creative eye, which is something that\u2019s much harder to learn than understanding your equipment. And of course, for wildlife photography, an understanding and passion for the natural world and bags of patience are essential.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marie-Luce works in a professional wildlife photography team with her husband Jean-Louis. Together they’ve been awarded several prizes in the prestigious \u2018BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year\u2019 contest.<\/p>\n Marie-Luce\u2019s interest in wildlife photography began as a teenager when she helped vets after school and photographed her pets with her father\u2019s old Pentax camera. Later, as a biology student, she travelled to Norway and then Greenland to study muskoxen. It was here that she met Jean-Louis. He had more experience in wildlife photography and since ethology research opportunities in the field were scarce, they decided to quit everything and to start wildlife photography professionally.<\/p>\n [Above] Marie-Luce started out photographing pets with her father’s old camera. Since then Marie-Luce has greatly improved her photography skills but pet photography remains a passion for her.<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe obstacle came more from the absence of support from family and friends who were sure I would end up in the streets begging for food!\u201d says Marie-Luce.\u201d The first years were financially difficult, but this was absolutely not something to break our spirit. However, it took long time to be recognized as a female photographer. Wildlife photography was a macho world in the 90\u2019s and many male photographers were just shaking heads or laughing when they saw me with a 500mm and tripod on the shoulder. It took a long time before I was considered a photographer and not an assistant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got a lot of hope when Wendy Shattil won the overall prize at the 1990 \u2018Wildlife Photographer of the Year\u2019 competition. We sat next to each other the evening before the ceremony and we spoke enthusiastically about foxes, sharing stories about \u201cher\u201d red fox family and \u201cmy\u201d arctic fox family (that I had been photographing). Now, I see many female photographers in wildlife parks or when travelling, and it\u2019s such a good feeling!\u201d<\/p>\n Marie-Luce also feels that women have a much better connection to animals than men do. \u201cWomen look for experience and emotion and have a true respect for nature and animals.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01606699-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Sue-Flood-2-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Sue")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Emperor](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01606694-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Emperor")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Sue-Flood-polar-bear-not-on-web-360x240.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\u201cThe harder I work, the luckier I get!\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Untitled-1-1200x848.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Beluga](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01084506-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Beluga")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Polar](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01090282-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Polar")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Grey](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01084492-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Grey")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01081572-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Killer")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Killer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01082843-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Killer")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"Great](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/naturepl_01739754-300x196.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h2>\n
Ann Toon<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01630391-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01630392.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>![\"Female](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01702820.jpg\" "\\"Female")
<\/div>![\"Ostrich](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01702855.jpg\" "\\"Ostrich")
<\/div>![\"Female](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01707430.jpg\" "\\"Female")
<\/div>![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01702826.jpg\" "\\"Two")
<\/div>![\"Ostrich](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01632981.jpg\" "\\"Ostrich")
<\/div>![\"Male](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01702835.jpg\" "\\"Male")
<\/div>![\"Impala](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01575494.jpg\" "\\"Impala")
<\/div>![\"Ground](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01489997.jpg\" "\\"Ground")
<\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/meerkat-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n
“Ignore all the people who say it’s not possible or too competitive”<\/em><\/h2>\n
Tui De Roy<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Ann-Toon-meerkat-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>\n![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/edit-2-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Photographer")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Sulawesi](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_00140330-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Sulawesi")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Sulawesi](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_00140329-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Sulawesi")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n“Do it for yourself as a passion”<\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Flock](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01716756.jpg\" "\\"Flock")
<\/div>![\"Alcedo](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01649041.jpg\" "\\"Alcedo")
<\/div>![\"Female](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01703335.jpg\" "\\"Female")
<\/div>![\"Green](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01703346.jpg\" "\\"Green")
<\/div>![\"Galapagos](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01651518.jpg\" "\\"Galapagos")
<\/div>![\"Pair](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01716740.jpg\" "\\"Pair")
<\/div>![\"Red-footed](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01703391.jpg\" "\\"Red-footed")
<\/div>![\"Marine](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01687837.jpg\" "\\"Marine")
<\/div>![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01717280.jpg\" "\\"Two")
<\/div>![\"Galapagos](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01650988.jpg\" "\\"Galapagos")
<\/div>![\"Whitetip](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01703416.jpg\" "\\"Whitetip")
<\/div>![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01716587.jpg\" "\\"American")
<\/div>Sue Daly<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Sue-Daly-300x450.jpg\")
“The most important thing is to have a creative eye”<\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Diver](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01426695-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Diver")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Koheru](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01426757-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Koheru")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"Nudibranch](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01335270.jpg\" "\\"Nudibranch")
<\/div>![\"Jewel](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01396231.jpg\" "\\"Jewel")
<\/div>![\"Red](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01417517.jpg\" "\\"Red")
<\/div>![\"Anemone](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01581794.jpg\" "\\"Anemone")
<\/div>![\"Common](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01473906.jpg\" "\\"Common")
<\/div>![\"Atlantic](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01581783.jpg\" "\\"Atlantic")
<\/div>![\"Beadlet](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01417496.jpg\" "\\"Beadlet")
<\/div>![\"Nudibranch](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01581922.jpg\" "\\"Nudibranch")
<\/div>![\"Deep](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01581950.jpg\" "\\"Deep")
<\/div>![\"Edible](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01581947.jpg\" "\\"Edible")
<\/div>Marie-Luce Hubert<\/h1>\n
![\"Tabby](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01605520-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Tabby")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Brown](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/naturepl_01723306-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Brown")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n