What inspired you to get into wildlife photography in the first place?
I went to a lecture by the photographer Laurie Campbell. His first slide was a robin on a spade – a cliched shot, but on that huge screen, it blew me away.
If not Scotland, where would you live?
Somewhere cold and snowy. Maybe Norway.
Red squirrel or lynx?
You’ve got to love a red squirrel. But we’re one of just a handful of European countries refusing to live with large predators. There’s an ecological, economic and moral case for bringing back the lynx.
- Red squirrel vs grey squirrel: Think you know how they differ? Think again as the differences between these two squirrels will surprise you
- Red squirrel guide: where they're found, what they eat, and the threats they face
- Reintroducing lynx to the UK: How do we do it?
What shot is most important to you?
A simple silhouette of a whooper swan standing on a frozen loch at dawn in winter.
I can still remember the sun burning through the mist. Photography delivers both great images and lasting memories.
What’s been your closest shave?
I was once charged by a musk ox – and they can shift. Fortunately, I could shift faster than the photographer I was with.
What’s the poorest investment of your time on a shoot?
I spent three months trying to capture a golden eagle on a camera trap. It was 150km away and an hour’s trek across open hill ground. I made around 40 trips only to find that rain or snow had fogged the lens, mice had chewed the cable or the light was too low. I ended up with one image.
What’s your most useless piece of kit?
Just before drones were mass produced, I paid £6,000 for a bespoke rig. I flew it three times and then couldn’t even give it away.
Have you lost much gear in the field?
Yes. Note to self: don’t leave a camera bag on a beach when the tide is coming in.
Do you have any advice to budding wildlife photographers?
Trends come and go, but tell powerful visual stories and you will always have
an audience.
Pete Cairns is a conservation photographer and founder of Scotland: The Big Picture.
- “I ripped off my trousers and stood there screaming.” Wildlife photographer on being accosted by driver ants in Rwanda
- “I was setting up a camera trap when we heard a trumpet. An elephant was charging, flattening every tree in its path.”
- “I’ve been frozen like an ice block, overheated to the point of melting and immersed in water for hours.”
Main image: Getty