How to Become a Wildlife Photographer

Professional wildlife photography tour leading is one of the most competitive areas in travel, and we work with those individuals who not only possess fantastic technical ability with a digital camera, but also great organisational and people skills. It's no mean feat to balance these skill sets, ensuring our clients have a trip of a lifetime while, hopefully, learning a few tips and tricks along the way to improve their digital photography.

What are we looking for from Wildlife Photographers?

We're looking for a number of things from potential wildlife photography tour leaders ...

Wildlife Photography Portfolio

Firstly, consider your photographic ability. We're looking for great wildlife photographers with a passion for the natural world with a top-notch portfolio. It's important to state that you don't need to have travelled all over the world. Sometimes it can be a particular species much closer to home with which you have spent years honing your skills. We would much rather see an excellent body of work of a familiar species, than a portfolio of ordinary images from an African safari.

Many of our existing leaders have spent much of their own time (and money) photographing animals that they're passionate about. They've captured stunning images of species on their doorstop, in addition to further afield. The key, is that their passion shines forth and that comes through in the photography.

The Right Equipment

We don't expect you to have every camera and lens, but it's important that you know your equipment inside out. If you're confident with how your own camera works, then you should be able to help other wildlife photographers get the best out of their own camera system. This knowledge is usually apparent when looking through your portfolio.

Wildlife Knowledge

A wildlife photography tour leader must have an excellent understanding of animal behaviour. Sometimes you might not be familiar with the exact species, but your experience of working with similar species elsewhere can make a massive difference in helping our clients capture the best images they can. This may mean encouraging a group to get lower down (when on foot), suggesting compositional options, helping to position a safari vehicle to maximise light, all without disturbing the subject.

We appreciate that the more time you spend out in the field tour leading, the more confident you'll become. Of course, this will have a positive effect with each trip you lead, as you can help our clients as they're taking pictures. Leading tours is incredibly rewarding, and you'll come to realise that improving your wildlife knowledge and then maximising photography opportunities is what the job is all about.

Photo Editing Workshops on Tours

Our wildlife photography tours are designed primarily to allow our clients the best opportunities in the field. However, when we have some downtime, we do ask our leaders to assist with guiding people through appropriate editing techniques and mastering the digital darkroom. These do not have to be formal sessions, but enjoyable one-to-ones or small group sessions help our clients get more pictures which are 'keepers'.

People Skills

Probably the most important skill you need to have is being good with people. Our priority is to find leaders that love to share their passions, knowledge and skills with our clients. If you're not a people person, then maybe this is not the right job for you.

In the unlikely event an issue arises on a tour, we need you to be able to handle it with a calm and caring nature, ensuring everything is resolved swiftly and there's little or no disruption to the group. Patience and compassion are a must, and our leaders go on to form long-term friendships with many of our clients.

Do you need to be a 'Professional' Wildlife Photographer?

This is a term which is now very muddied by the change in the role over the last 10 years or so. There are few people out there who are a full-time wildlife photographer. Most professional wildlife photographers now make a living by running workshops or tours and being able to deliver excellent talks and by publishing books etc.

Do you need to have Won Awards?

Although several of our wildlife photography tour leaders have won awards, some of them in the world's biggest competitions, this really isn't necessary. It's a lovely accolade to have, but at the end of the day, many people don't enter competitions and if your work is of an exceptional standard, it will be clear for all to see.

How do you work for Wildlife Worldwide as a Wildlife Photography Tour Leader?

The first thing to do is download a copy of our dedicated Wildlife Photography Tour Brochure or visit our dedicated wildlife photography holiday page. Here, you can find all the trips we currently offer, whether they're one-day workshops in the UK, to multi-week expeditions to the polar regions. We visit every continent on Earth, quite literally, and our expert team have a wealth of knowledge that we rely on.

Once you're familiar with all of our product, work out what you can offer that might be a little different, or even think of areas we could improve.

When it comes to new ideas, try your best to find a gap in our existing portfolio and outline your target species and a rough itinerary. It's important to think about logistics. It might be there's a great subject to see and photograph, but reaching the destination makes it prohibitively expensive or is physically demanding. After all, it's important that this makes sense on a practical level, but also from a business point of view.

With that in mind, now is the time to reach out to us. Email danf@wildlifeworldwide.com outlining your skills, experience and an idea that you may have. Ideally, you'll provide a link to your portfolio so that we can assess the quality of your wildlife photography.

What happens next?

Once you've emailed us telling us a little about yourself, your photography skills and what sets you apart in this competitive industry, please wait to hear back from us. We're a very busy team, but we'll ensure we email you back.

We'll either be in touch to arrange a meeting, if there's an opportunity, or to let you know that we'll be in touch if an opportunity arises.

If we're looking to arrange a meeting, we'll arrange a date where we can have a conversation online and get to know you a little better. This is a very relaxed and informal opportunity to tell us more about yourself, reaffirm your skills and experience, and show us exactly who you are.

After an online meeting, we'll sit down together and discuss whether we think there's potential for us to work together. Either way, we'll be in touch and give feedback where we can.

For those of you that tick all the right boxes, we'll invite you into the office for a chat in person. This is really just to confirm that you're what we're looking for and to discuss some of your ideas in more detail. A face-to-face meeting is invaluable, and it really helps to cement the start of a successful working relationship.

Once we're sure that you're the right fit for us as a wildlife photography tour leader, we'll let you know that we're keen to work with you. It's important to state, this does not mean you'll go out and lead a tour to a far-flung destination right away.

Most of our tour leaders start closer to home, either assisting with an existing tour in the UK, or by joining a scheduled tour in Europe to learn how we go about doing things and how our leaders work with our clients. This is an absolute must for anyone who wants to work with us. It may seem like a dream job, but it's not for everyone and both parties have to be sure it's going to work going forward.

Having proved that you meet all the requirements in the field, and that you've enjoyed yourself, we'll look to work with you to develop new ideas and give you an opportunity as and when it arises. We're always looking to develop new wildlife photography tours and workshops, particularly within the UK and in Europe.

A final piece of advice

We really do get a lot of enquiries from those with a passion for wildlife photography who are looking to lead tours. The biggest piece of advice we can give is that persistence, dedication and hard work pay off.

Those that already lead for us have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are. It didn't just come about from a tentative email. They may have already been a professional wildlife photographer, have had a great wildlife images, won awards, have all the equipment or be hugely successful on social media, but it's their continued commitment and drive that has helped them to have a successful career. There's no one clear path to take, it's up to you to be a success.

So ask yourself. Are you ready to lead photography tours? Is this really what you want to do?

If your answer is yes, then we really look forward to hearing from you and working together to design and operate the finest wildlife photography holidays and workshops on offer.

If you're interested in becoming a Wildlife Photography Tour Leader for us, email danf@wildlifeworldwide.com. Please also take a moment to familiarise yourself with our Photography Tours & Workshops brochure and all of our wildlife photography holidays.