Even for an area I know well, I prepare a shooting list of subjects I need.

I carry a notebook full of sketches of pictures I want to take - they are really scruffy sketches, but at least I am going out there with a clear objective.

All I really wanted to do was wildlife photography.

My first serious project was photographing badgers - very, very difficult as they are shy and nocturnal.

So about twenty years ago I gave up on painting - and got into terrible debt after buying a load of camera gear!

A large wildlife book, start to finish, could take one to two years, but then I would expect to get several good (nature) magazine features off the back of this, plus of course a lot of stock.

Close encounters are bad. Bad for the animal, as it causes stress, and bad for me for exactly the same reason.

In The States I would have no edge, no advantage at all.

The Kalahari is brilliant - and easy to visit.

Photography started as a means of getting reference material for my paintings of nature subjects.

For the first few years we lived in a tiny rented cottage at the bottom of a friend's garden. We often joked that there was plenty of film in the fridge, but not too much food!

What did that say about me? Had I become one of the monsters I thought I was fighting?“Things didn’t have to be like this, ” I commented. “He could’ve made different choices.

Your clients are critical to your business. Don't lose touch with who they are and why they've chosen to do business with you.

I literally was famous before I knew my own name.

I don't think there is any philosophy that suggests having polio is a good thing.

If you don't have much going wrong in your life, then you don't have much going on in your life.

To me, the glass is half-empty some days and half-full on others. Sometimes it's bone-dry. Or overflowing.

I forget about the relationship between myself and any actress when working with her.

Revile those who flatter you.

If I could eat only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be rhubarb fool, which I make with ginger and a hint of elderflower cordial.

There's this sense of excitement because you invent and control the characters. You decide whether they live or die. I find this type of creative process tremendously stimulating.