Will Burrard-Lucas (born 2 September 1983), is a British wildlife photographer and entrepreneur. He is known for developing devices, such as

BeetleCam The BeetleCam is a remote controlled buggy with a DSLR or mirrorless camera mounted on top which can be used to film and photograph wildlife at very close range. Created by Will Burrard-Lucas, its first shots were released in 2010 in a series call ...

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 Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. During this time he became interested in wildlife and nature. He attended Sevenoaks School in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

before going on to study

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

Career

Burrard-Lucas has been a full-time wildlife photographer since 2010. Previously, he worked for a Big Four accounting firm in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Burrard-Lucas works with various conservation

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

including WWF,

African Parks African Parks is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on conservation, established in 2000 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was founded as the African Parks Management and Finance Company, a private company, then under ...

and The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme.

Inventions

In 2009, Burrard-Lucas created

, a remote-control camera buggy, and used it to take close-up photographs of

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

s and buffalo in

. In 2011, he returned to Africa to photograph lions in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. He has since used BeetleCam to photograph wildlife in other African countries, including

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

s in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

and

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lyca ...

s in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. In 2015, Burrard-Lucas used BeetleCam to photograph wildlife at night in

Liuwa Plain National Park Liuwa Plain National Park is a national park in Zambia's Western Province. "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language, and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lubosi Lewanika, the Litunga (ki ...

in Zambia. This series went on to win the Professional Natural World Category in the

Sony World Photography Awards The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives and helps artists working in photography broaden the conversation around their work. Established in 2007 by CEO Scott Gray, in the United kingdom it involves peop ...

. While living in Zambia in 2012–2013, Burrard-Lucas also developed high-quality

camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared (PIR) senso ...

s for photographing rare and nocturnal animals. These camera traps were based on a

passive infrared sensor A passive infrared sensor (PIR sensor) is an electronic sensor that measures infrared (IR) light radiating from objects in its field of view. They are most often used in PIR-based motion detectors. PIR sensors are commonly used in security alarms ...

and took photos using a standard

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...

mirrorless camera A mirrorless camera is a photo camera featuring a single, removable lens and a digital display. The camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder like a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but may have an electronic v ...

. In 2015, his work with camera traps led to a collaboration with WWF to photograph elusive animals in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. In 2014, Burrard-Lucas founded a company, Camtraptions Ltd, which produces BeetleCams and camera trap systems for photographers and filmmakers. 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.

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 The Bale Mountains (also known as the Urgoma Mountains) are mountain ranges in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River, part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They include Tullu Demtu, the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. The project was funded via a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign which raised $13,705. The photographers spent more than a month documenting the lives of the wolves and the work of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme. The project culminated in a book titled ''The Ethiopian Wolf: Hope at the Edge of Extinction.''

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

to photograph F_MU1, a female elephant with extremely long tusks. The project resulted in a book, titled ''Land of Giants'', which was published in 2019.

Melanistic African Leopard

In February 2019, Burrard-Lucas captured the first high-quality camera trap photographs of a

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of ...

, also known as a

black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been ...

, in

Laikipia Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki ...

Wilderness Camp in Kenya. Previously, only one such leopard had been photographed in Africa, in 1909 in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, Ethiopia. The project resulted in a book, titled ''The Black Leopard'', published in 2021.

Awards

* 1st Place, Living Planet Category,

Travel Photographer of the Year Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) is an international travel photography award, founded by professional photographer Chris Coe and his partner Karen Coe in 2003. The competition runs annually and is open to entries from photographers of all ...

, 2021 * 1st Place, Animal Portraits Category, Nature Photographer of the Year, 2021 * Highly Commended, Animal Portraits Category, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2021 * Grand Title Winner, MontPhoto Awards, 2021 * 1st Place, Dusk to Dawn Category,

, 2019 * 1st Place, Animals in their Environment Category, Siena International Photo Awards, 2019 * Highly Commended, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2016, 2017 & 2018 * 1st Place, Natural World Category, Professional Competition,

, 2017 * Highly Commended, TIMElapse Award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2014

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. .

References

External links

Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrard-Lucas, Will 1983 births Living people Photographers from Kent Nature photographers