Will Burrard-Lucas Explained
Will Burrard-Lucas |
Education: | Imperial College London, MSci Physics (2006) |
Occupation: | Wildlife Photographer |
Nationality: | British |
Will Burrard-Lucas (born 2 September 1983), is a British wildlife photographer and entrepreneur. He is known for developing devices, such as BeetleCam and camera traps, which enable him to capture close-up photographs of wildlife.
Early life and education
Burrard-Lucas was born in the UK and spent part of his childhood living in Tanzania. During this time he became interested in wildlife and nature.[1] He attended Sevenoaks School in Kent[2] before going on to study Physics at Imperial College London.
Career
Burrard-Lucas has been a full-time wildlife photographer since 2010. Previously, he worked for a Big Four accounting firm in London.[3]
Burrard-Lucas works with various conservation NGOs including WWF,[4] African Parks[5] and The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme.[6]
Inventions
In 2009, Burrard-Lucas created BeetleCam, a remote-control camera buggy, and used it to take close-up photographs of elephants, lions and buffalo in Tanzania.[7] In 2011, he returned to Africa to photograph lions in Kenya.[8] He has since used BeetleCam to photograph wildlife in other African countries, including leopards in Zambia and African wild dogs in Zimbabwe.[9] In 2015, Burrard-Lucas used BeetleCam to photograph wildlife at night in Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia.[10] This series went on to win the Professional Natural World Category in the Sony World Photography Awards.[11]
While living in Zambia in 2012–2013, Burrard-Lucas also developed high-quality camera traps for photographing rare and nocturnal animals.[12] These camera traps were based on a passive infrared sensor and took photos using a standard DSLR or mirrorless camera.[13] In 2015, his work with camera traps led to a collaboration with WWF to photograph elusive animals in Namibia.[14]
In 2014, Burrard-Lucas founded a company, Camtraptions Ltd, which produces BeetleCams and camera trap systems for photographers and filmmakers.[15]
In July 2019, Burrard-Lucas announced his intentions to take two new versions of BeetleCam back to the African continent in search of lions for a new project.[16]
Ethiopian Wolf Project
In 2011, Burrard-Lucas collaborated with Rebecca Jackrel, a nature photographer from the USA, to document endangered Ethiopian wolves in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. The project was funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign which raised $13,705.[17] The photographers spent more than a month documenting the lives of the wolves and the work of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme.[18] The project culminated in a book titled The Ethiopian Wolf: Hope at the Edge of Extinction.[6]
Tsavo Elephants
In August 2017, Burrard-Lucas started working with Tsavo Trust in Kenya to photograph the last "Big Tusker" elephants in Tsavo. During the project, Burrard-Lucas used his BeetleCam to photograph F_MU1, a female elephant with extremely long tusks.[19] [20] The project resulted in a book, titled Land of Giants, which was published in 2019.[21] [22]
Melanistic African Leopard
In February 2019, Burrard-Lucas captured the first high-quality camera trap photographs of a melanistic African leopard, also known as a black panther, in Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya.[23] [24] Previously, only one such leopard had been photographed in Africa, in 1909 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[25] The project resulted in a book, titled The Black Leopard, published in 2021.
Awards
- 1st Place, Living Planet Category, Travel Photographer of the Year, 2021[26]
- 1st Place, Animal Portraits Category, Nature Photographer of the Year, 2021[27]
- Highly Commended, Animal Portraits Category, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2021[28]
- Grand Title Winner, MontPhoto Awards, 2021[29]
- 1st Place, Dusk to Dawn Category, Travel Photographer of the Year, 2019[30]
- 1st Place, Animals in their Environment Category, Siena International Photo Awards, 2019[31]
- Highly Commended, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2016, 2017 & 2018[32]
- 1st Place, Natural World Category,[33] Professional Competition, Sony World Photography Awards, 2017
- Highly Commended, TIMElapse Award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2014[34]
Publications
- The Ethiopian Wolf: Hope at the Edge of Extinction. 2013. .
- Top Wildlife Sites of the World. 2015. .
- Land of Giants. 2019. .
- The Black Leopard: My Quest to Photograph One of Africa's Most Elusive Big Cats. 2021. .
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Will Burrard-Lucas: How to get close to wildlife - Amateur Photographer. 9 December 2016.
- Web site: Noteworthy OS. Sevenoaks School.
- Web site: Brothers zoom in on the beauty of wild animals.
- See Rare Close Ups of Secretive African Animals. TIME. Photo. Time.
- Web site: Ingenious Camera Traps Capture Striking Photos of African Animals at Night. 30 June 2016.
- Web site: Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme. www.ethiopianwolf.org.
- Web site: Pictures: Lion Steals Roving Camera, "Takes" Photos. https://web.archive.org/web/20100430090452/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/photogalleries/100427-lion-steals-camera-remote-science-pictures/. dead. 30 April 2010. 28 April 2010.
- Web site: A beetlecam's view of wild lions. BBC News.
- Web site: The private life of animals. Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
- Web site: Photos: African lions and hyenas, captured by a robot camera under the Milky Way. Selina. Cheng.
- Web site: UK photographer wins SWPA 2017 Professional Natural World category.
- Web site: Camera Trap Photography Made Easy!. Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography.
- Web site: Camtraptions Unveils New PIR Motion Sensor for Wildlife Camera Trapping. 12 June 2017.
- Web site: Photographing Wildlife Without a Photographer. Nicholas St. Fleur. 29 March 2016. www.nytimes.com.
- Web site: Camtraptions launches PIR Motion Sensor.
- Web site: 10 Years of BeetleCam: Will Burrard-Lucas Looks Back. TTL. Nature. 2019-07-10. Nature TTL. en-GB. 2019-08-04.
- Web site: Ethiopian Wolf Documentary Project. Kickstarter.
- Web site: Ethiopian wolf photo gallery by Will Burrard-Lucas and Rebecca Jackrel - Discover Wildlife. www.discoverwildlife.com.
- Web site: Incredible pictures capture rare 'Elephant Queen' in Kenya . Francesca . Street . May 9, 2019 . CNN. www.cnn.com.
- , March 12, 2019
- Web site: Last Photographs of the Elephant Queen . W. . Burrard-Lucas . 2019 . Burrard-Lucas Photography. www.burrard-lucas.com.
- Web site: Last photos of Kenya's 'elephant queen' . 2019 . BBC Newsbeat.
- Web site: Black leopard spotted in Africa for first time in 100 years . https://web.archive.org/web/20190212165623/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/rare-black-panther-spotted-in-africa-century/ . dead . 12 February 2019 . J. . Goldman . 2019 . . www.nationalgeographic.com.
- Web site: Black Leopard: My quest to photograph the most elusive cat in Africa . W. . Burrard-Lucas . 2019 . Burrard-Lucas Photography. www.burrard-lucas.com.
- News: Kate. Lyons. 2019-02-13. First photographs of rare African black leopard captured in more than a century. The Guardian. 13 February 2019. 0261-3077. www.theguardian.com.
- Web site: Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2021 Winners. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: Black Leopard - Nature Photographer of the Year. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: Night eyes - Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: MONTPHOTO VERDICT 2021. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2019 Winners. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: Gallery Siena International Photo Awards. 2022-03-08.
- Web site: EUROPEAN WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018. 2022-03-08.
- News: The winners of the Sony world photography awards 2017 – in pictures. 2017-04-21. The Guardian. 2019-02-15. en-GB. 0261-3077.
- Web site: Migration in motion - Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 2022-03-08.