NaturesLens is recruiting a freelance wildlife photography guide. This role involves leading small-group trips to established wildlife photography destinations worldwide, providing both photographic & logistical support to participants throughout each trip.
Are You The Photographer Everyone Asks For Help?
Could NaturesLens Have a Guide Role for You?
We’re looking for a wildlife photographer who enjoys helping others capture great images & would like to guide trips to some notable wildlife destinations.
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed most about running NaturesLens is the people.
The wildlife & photography are obviously a huge part of what we do, but the atmosphere on our trips is created by the photographers who join us & the guides who help make those trips work.
Because of that, we are currently looking for a new wildlife photography guide to join the NaturesLens team.
This isn’t a typical tour leader job advert.
In fact, guiding experience is not the most important thing we are looking for.
What Is The Kind Of Photographer We Are Looking For?
Many people assume that a wildlife photography guide needs to be the most technically advanced photographer in the group.
In reality, that isn’t what makes a great guide.
The best guides are photographers who:
- enjoy helping others improve their photography
- are patient & encouraging
- understand how different photographers approach wildlife subjects
- like sharing knowledge in a relaxed, supportive way
Our trips attract photographers with a wide range of experience. Some guests are developing their wildlife photography skills, while others are very experienced photographers.
A great guide helps everyone get the most from the trip.
If you are the kind of person who naturally ends up helping other photographers in the field – showing them a setting, suggesting a composition, or celebrating when they get the shot – you are exactly the kind of person we are looking for.
You do not need to be a professional wildlife photographer to guide with NaturesLens.
The most important qualities are enthusiasm, patience & a genuine enjoyment of helping other photographers succeed.
You Don’t Need Guiding Experience
To be clear, you do not need to have guided photography trips before.
Many excellent guides started out simply as enthusiastic photographers who enjoy working with people.
Experience helping photographers in camera clubs, workshops, or local photography groups can be just as valuable as formal guiding experience.
What matters far more than credentials is:
- enthusiasm
- people skills
- patience
- & a genuine enjoyment of helping others succeed
What Is The Reality Of The Role?
It’s important to be open about what this opportunity is – & what it isn’t.
Over the years we have occasionally had applicants ask whether the role pays £200-£300 per day, which is sometimes mentioned in guiding adverts elsewhere.
That isn’t the model we operate. As a small specialist company we simply can’t sustain those kinds of fixed daily rates.
What We Cover?
When you guide a NaturesLens trip your flights, accommodation & travel are covered, & guides are paid in ways that reflect the role they play on the trip & the experience they bring.
How Guides Contribute?
Different guides contribute to trips in different ways. Some bring deep photographic experience, some are exceptional at supporting guests in the field, & others help by introducing photographers from their own networks or actively promoting trips.
When guides consistently help introduce new photographers to NaturesLens or contribute to filling trips through their own contacts, that is absolutely something we notice & take into account.
Guiding for NaturesLens tends to suit photographers who enjoy spending time in wildlife destinations, working with people, & helping others improve their photography.
Destinations You Could Be Guiding
Guiding wildlife photography trips means spending time in some notable places.
Over the years NaturesLens trips have taken photographers to destinations such as:
- Japan for red-crowned cranes & Steller’s sea eagles
- Lake Kerkini in Greece for Dalmatian pelicans
- Costa Rica for rainforest wildlife
- Finland for brown bears
- Bulgaria for butterfly macro photography
We are also currently planning a NaturesLens trip to Iceland, which at the moment does not yet have a guide assigned.
From time to time we also rotate guides on trips that have been running for several years. This helps keep trips fresh for returning guests & gives new guides the opportunity to lead destinations.
A Day In The Life Of A NaturesLens Guide
No two days guiding a wildlife photography trip are ever quite the same, but many begin early.
You might find yourself out before sunrise watching the first light appear while photographers prepare their cameras. Perhaps cranes are calling across a snowy field in Japan, pelicans are lifting off the water at Lake Kerkini, or rainforest wildlife is beginning to stir in Costa Rica.
As a guide, your role isn’t just to photograph wildlife yourself – it’s to help the group make the most of the opportunity.
That might mean helping someone adjust their shutter speed for birds in flight, suggesting a better position for the light, or pointing out behaviour that could lead to a strong photograph.
Guiding wildlife photography trips is about much more than logistics.
It’s about helping people experience those moments where everything comes together – the wildlife, the light & the settings – & they capture a photograph they are genuinely proud of.
Experience Levels
Some of the photographers who guide with us have been photographing wildlife for decades. Others came to guiding after years of photographing purely for enjoyment.
Both can work extremely well.
What matters most is how you share that experience with others.
A photographer who enjoys helping people understand light, behaviour & camera settings can often be a far better guide than someone with a huge portfolio but little interest in supporting others.
A Note For Past NaturesLens Guests
Some of our best guides have come from within the NaturesLens community itself.
If you have previously travelled with us & found yourself helping other photographers, sharing ideas in the field, or simply enjoying the atmosphere of our trips, you may already have a good sense of how NaturesLens trips work.
Several of our current guides originally travelled with us as guests before later joining the team – so if that sounds like you, we would particularly love to hear from you.
Interested?
If you are a wildlife photographer who enjoys helping others succeed & likes the idea of spending time in notable wildlife destinations, we would love to hear from you.
You don’t need to send a long CV or a list of guiding credentials.
Instead, tell us a little about:
- your wildlife photography experience
- your experience working with people
- & why you think you might be a good fit for the NaturesLens team
Your next wildlife photography adventure might involve helping other photographers capture theirs.
