New light on wildlife

Looking for more-creative ways to light domestic wildlife? Top pro Richard Peters shares his artificial lighting and camera trap techniques with Kingsley Singleton

- Richard Peters

Finding new ways to light and photograph wildlife is an obsession for Richard, as he quickly became bored with ‘regular’ wildlife styles. ‘I’m not belittling the efforts of other photographers, but for me I need to keep pushing and challenging myself, which means not just shooting regular portraits or action shots,’ he asserts. ‘I need to stay excited. Over the years, I’ve found it’s not just about the subject, it's about the light and everything else around them. So, I’d rather shoot a common bird like a magpie in a creative way than a super-rare species in flat lighting.’

It’s a process, he says, that emphasises risk versus reward. Therefore, while the process, the construction and execution, is far more difficult and the luck required is often evasive, getting truly a unique image is always worth it.

That balance has certainly paid off in his work lighting wildlife in and around his home and garden. Pairing camera traps with remote flash he’s created a brilliant set of images which were published in the book Wildlife Photography at Home. It also gave him a new-found respect for the techniques of camera trapping. ‘Before I tried using camera traps, I considered it cheating,’ he admits. ‘I thought it was just a case of walking away and coming back to some great pictures. But having done it for years, the camera in your hand now feels more like cheating! With a camera at hand, you can react and change your composition or settings at any time. You can’t do any of that when you’re using a trap.’

Fantastic Mr Fox