ABOUT
They say you’re supposed to write your biography in the third person so you can write how wonderful you are without sounding arrogant.
But I’m just a regular guy who’s been lucky enough to have lived an irregular life. I studied nature conservation and the journey I’ve been on since has been quite an adventure.
I’ve lived with a remote tribe in the Amazon, stayed in a nomadic yurt in Kyrgyzstan. I’ve spent a month on a far flung island looking after one of the world’s rarest birds and even had a Parisian go out of their way to help me in Paris. I’ve seen what I swear was a man-made storm in China and fell off a bike on the world’s most dangerous road in Bolivia. I’ve hung with the Himba, surfed with the dolphins, seen 9 different wild tigers in a single day safari in India and had my aerial photo of Namibia published by National Geographic.
I traveled extensively and am at my happiest when I have a camera in hand and in a new place.
In a Nutshell: Award winning South Africa travel photographer with a 4 year degree in Nature Conservation and numerous guide qualifications. I’ve traveled to over 50 countries in the past 15 years and am currently based between Cape Town and planet earth.
Work History: I worked 5 years as a Professional Safari Guide for &Beyond one of Africa’s Top Safari Lodge Operators which including a number of years at Londolozi. I did an additional 2 years as Head Safari Guide at Relais and Chateaux Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve. I have 7 FGASA (Field Guide Association of South Africa) qualifications and am also a qualified cultural guide for Cape Town.
I sold my first major international image with Getty Images within a year of taking my first photo. I have been a specialist photography guide leading photos tours around the world since since 2010 . When I started my own business Photography Tours which won the International Luxury Travel Guides best tour operator of western Cape in 2017.
Getting a little too close for comfort on a Namibia Photo Tour. Image by Beth McCarley
- I have had images published in a number of magazines including Nat Geo Travel, cover images and articles in PIX (Africa’s leading photo magazine)
- My images from over a decade of sales now hang in homes and offices throughout the world
- I will have a soon to open exclusive gallery on Cape Town (August 2018)
- I will be launching a revolutionary (hopefully!) new photographic app (august 2018)
TIMELINE
- 2002 Bought my first camera (a used Nikon F90 with assortment of lens) from my lodge manager
- The very first thing I ever photographed was a 3 month old leopard cub! I worked as a safari guide at Londolozi
- Late 2002 was signed on as a wildlife stock photographer with Gallo Images when everything was E6 slide film and images had to be perfect in camera.
- Early 2003 sold my 1st international image with Gallo Images (of a chameleon) for thousand of dollars not realizing this was the end of the slide film era and start of the digital
- 2004 bought my first digital camera a Nikon D70 (once I went digital I never went back!)
- 2004 become Head Guide at Relais and Chateaux Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve
- 2007 Traveled South America continent for a year working with Tropic Eco and the Huarani a remote Amazon tribe
- 2008 become part of an elite team of guides for Worlds best travel Operator Micato Safaris
- 2010 started Photography Tours in Cape Town
- 2010 – 2017 diversified from wildlife to travel photography.
- 2017 Photography Tours wins Luxury Travel Guides Best Tour Operator for Western Cape
MY THOUGHTS ON PHOTO COMPETITIONS
For a long time I never entered photographic competitions simply because as I don’t believe photography is a competition with others more a journey of self. But in 2010 I realized when launching Photography Tours in Cape Town that photographic awards can help establish you and give credibility.
So in 2010 I entered a Cape Town Tourism Association “Best of Cape Town Photo Contest” with thousands of entries and won with this image, they awarded it first place saying it was from a unique never seen before angle of Cape Town. Since then this unknown spot has now become a Instagram sensation and almost impossible to find unoccupied!
That win helped establish me in Cape Town and I was content but in 2016 having spent time living in the USA I wanted to get credibility with a wider audience and so entered a few international competitions. I placed in 2 of the 4 I entered with these 3 images
Winner 2016 USA Center of the Arts International Photo Contest. Thousands of entries.
Travel of Year 2016 Finalist. Biggest Travel Photo Contest on Earth
Travel of Year Finalist 2016. Biggest Travel Photo Contest on Earth