Eagles are one of the most difficult animals to photograph: they’re fast, agile and elusive. So when world-renowned wildlife photographer, David Tipling, shared the latest book he’d been working on – one that presents all sixty-eight currently recognised eagle species – we had to find out more. Flicking through the book itself with wide-eyed wonderment, we quickly became enamoured by the beautiful imagery (all taken or curated by David) accompanied with the poetic flow of Mike Unwin’s words. In a Q&A with 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß, David talks about his path to wildlife photography, the conception of , and the challenge of capturing these majestic birds.
Hi David. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming a wildlife photographer?
I got interested in birds at the age of nine and photography came along in my early teenage years. By my late-teens I knew I wanted to be a wildlife photographer. But in the early 1980s, there were only a few professional photographers doing this and, at that stage, I couldn’t see a way to start. So as soon as I left school, I had a variety of jobs all the time including photographing and supplying an agent who, at that time, was Oxford Scientific Films.
During this time, I joined the Telegraph Colour Library who published Stock Photo Catalogues regularly, which in those days before the internet, was the main sales tool for the big agents. In one of these catalogues, I had a picture of a leopard selected and in its first month of distribution, it earned me more than my month’s salary at the building society and so I realised then I could make a decent living. How times have changed!
When working as an auditor for a building society, I got offered voluntary redundancy which gave me the opportunity to make the break. This was in 1992 and I soon realised it wasn’t going to be quite so easy; I needed to earn a substantial amount of money to travel. Two things then happened. I got spotted by the Tony Stone Agency and I started a photo agency myself, called Windrush, Photos specialising in birds. With the latter, I recruited some of the best bird photographers at that time from around the world and we were really successful. When the internet and selling through websites started to emerge in the early 2000s I closed the agency to concentrate on my own work and free up time to get out and shoot more.
During the mid-1990s, I had my first book published called Top Birding Spots in Britain & Ireland. However, the publisher lost all my transparencies. The resulting compensation pay-out allowed me to join an expedition to Antarctica camping next to an Emperor Penguin colony. At that stage, hardly any other photographers had ever had access like this and when I returned, the resulting pictures and story of the expedition catapulted me into the spotlight and really helped launch my career on to the world stage.
So from the disaster of losing what were some precious pictures to me came the catalyst that gave me the opportunity to go on and do so many more things. Those pictures still sell well today and have been used in diverse ways from publication in National Geographic to adverts for Walmart and British Airways.
How did The Empire of the Eagle come about? What was the catalyst for producing it?
This title came off the back of a previous book called The Enigma of the Owl (US edition) and A Parliament of Owls (UK edition). Published in 2017, this was also a collaboration between myself and Mike Unwin and it proved to be a big hit, particularly in the USA, but was also co-published in Japan, France and Germany. We realised we had hit a winning formula combining Mike’s writing and beautiful imagery showcased in a beautiful large format book – something natural history publishers are wary of doing these days with the associated costs and diminishing book sales, but this book bucked that trend.
So to follow up on this success, Yale University Press commissioned The Empire of the Eagle. Unlike with owls where we could not be completely comprehensive in our species coverage; with eagles, as there are far fewer species, we could include every species. With changing taxonomy and the advances in our knowledge in recent years and the fact no monograph had been written covering every species for decades, there was the opportunity to present an up-to-date book to fill a gap in the market.
How does one begin to photograph birds that are not only elusive but also fast and agile?
Bird photography is all about planning, perseverance and patience. I call it the three Ps. Knowing where to go and when is obviously important and there is no substitute for having the right gear. A long telephoto reach is often a must.
There’s such a great variety of images in the book. There’s everything from vicious drama to serene beauty. Was there a philosophy behind the images used and how were they chosen?
Yes, one of the benefits of hiring someone like me to both contribute my own images and curate the rest is that you get a trained eye. As a photographer and someone who has extensive subject knowledge, I can curate for visual impact and to show interesting behaviour. I have always been very conscious of using the best images I can find.
I particularly like the page about the Kinabalu Serpent-Eagle and the fact that the two images you used are distant (p45). Is this a sign of just how elusive that eagle is?
Finding pictures of the Kinabalu Serpent Eagle was my biggest challenge. I did find a guy in Indonesia who has the best shots, but he refused to let us use them for anything less than $2000 per picture! Clearly out of touch, I did my best to talk him round but failed so these pictures were the only ones of publishable quality I could find. I suppose it reflects the fact few people venture up Mt Kinabalu in an attempt to photograph the eagle. And they’re rare anyway.
What was it like working with Mike Unwin? I’m sure you two had a lot to talk about!
We work really well together. Mike is a talented writer, but he also has a good eye for a picture, so we often discuss which images would work well together and the merits of including or discarding individual pictures. Mike has a huge amount of experience in publishing too having worked for some of our best known natural history publishers as an editor, so he brings with him a multitude of skills.
Being able to collaborate with someone who shares your ideas on what makes a good picture is a big bonus and it means we have a major influence on the resulting design of the book. Anyone who has worked on a book and especially a highly illustrated one will know how time-consuming pulling everything together is. It’s literally months of work so it’s hugely important to work with someone you can not only laugh with but whom you know has the same vision.
One of my favourite eagle stories is one I saw on David Attenborough’s Human Planet series about Kazakh eagle hunters (hunting with eagles, not for). It was an amazing showcase of how effective eagles are at hunting but also the beautiful bond that humans can forge with their furry or feathered friends. Is there an intriguing eagle story you’d like to share with our readers?
A number of years ago, I visited the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, in the hopes of photographing one of the biggest and rarest eagles in the world, the Philippine Eagle. While waiting on the edge of a cliff up a hillside, I was suddenly surrounded by men carrying Kalashnikovs. They were Maoist Guerrillas; part of an insurgency against the government and hiding out in the forest.
I was initially alarmed, but they seemed relaxed at my presence. And after finding out what I was doing, they took me to a better lookout where after drinking tea with them I managed to get one shot of the Philippine Eagle as it appeared, circling over the forest. The resulting picture is reproduced on page 173 (also below).
The highly elusive Philippine Eagle
What challenges must you deal with to photograph eagles compared to other animals but also other birds?
Eagles are rare. They live in some of the remotest places on our planet and they are some of the shyest and most secretive birds. Generally, most eagle photography requires long waits in hides, typically entering and leaving the hide in the dark. But obviously, you have to remain alert. So you can’t decide to look at your phone or read a book as if you’re not ready; you may miss a fleeting opportunity never to be repeated.
I have made some amazing journeys to photograph them, whether visiting Western Mongolia to photograph the Kazakhs hunting with their eagles or journeying into the Panamanian jungles to photograph Harpy Eagles.
Why do you think we’re so fascinated by eagles compared to other birds?
Well, the easiest way to summarise this is to highlight their attributes and the responses they evoke in us. They symbolise power, freedom, independence and it’s no coincidence the United States has made the Bald Eagle its emblem. They are very symbolic. They are emblematic in many aspects of culture from the eagle lecterns in churches symbolising the spread of Christianity to the association of power they have with so many countries. We can score an eagle in golf, we can listen to songs sung by The Eagles and we can watch films such as Where Eagles Dare. In short, they’re enshrined in cultures across the world.
Wildlife conservation is a hugely important topic for photography. As a wildlife photographer yourself, what do you think the role of a wildlife photographer is?
I can’t speak for others but for me, I set out to make a living photographing wildlife because I wanted to be outdoors. I also had a passion for art and so wanted to feed my artistic side yet could not draw or paint but realised at an early age, I had a natural ability to compose and design pictures. Above all, I’ve always had a passion for wildlife and especially birds.
If my work helps in conserving what we are sadly rapidly losing, then great. I have worked on many conservation campaigns, particularly on the illegal slaughter of migrant birds in the Mediterranean. But ultimately, as photographers we are a conduit to the wider public who see our pictures, hopefully appreciate them and either have an interest in wildlife ignited or are moved enough to want to try and change things.
The ultimate responsibility lies with politicians: too many of which have little or no knowledge or simply are not motivated enough to help the world’s wildlife. The declines I see here in North Norfolk of insects and once common birds are shocking. Much of this is down to modern farming practices, intense spraying regimes, continually cutting back hedgerows when there is no need, ‘tidying’ up dead trees and wood in forests…I could go on!
I love that the book is organised by habitat. For me, it feels like a reminder that the habitats of species are more important than the animals themselves and that we should do everything we can to protect them. Is there something small that anyone can do to ensure we’re not damaging the habitats of eagles?
Politicians around the world need to take a lot more responsibility for preserving what is left and as we elect them we should be asking them, wherever we live, what it is they’re doing for wildlife. As individuals, you can try to not buy anything that has palm oil in it, though that is now becoming very difficult indeed, but palm oil plantations are decimating forests and therefore eagle habitats in Asia.
Do you have a favourite eagle and why?
I like the Steller’s Eagle for their cartoonish-like appearance. They are very photogenic.
Have you had any close encounters with an animal while out in the field?
Plenty but I never put myself at risk intentionally. The worst encounters have been with rats. I hate rats. Most recently, while travelling in the South Pacific, there was a rat in the place I was staying that would appear at dinner every night. It puts you off your food! I’ve also had a rat climb out the toilet in India once too; not the nicest experience!
What’s next on the horizon for you?
Mike and I have just started a third book in this series which is exciting, and we hope will be published next spring. Otherwise, I am keeping very busy guiding photographers here in North Norfolk on my popular . I can also be followed on Instagram at @davidtiplingphotography for any other updates.