Paul is a fierce conservationist, award-winning photographer and guide who always gets the results for his clientele.
The Sunday Times described him as “preposterously vivacious, a guide of psychotic gusto” and The Independent remarked “think Gordon Ramsay with cameras, not pots and pans”. A trip with Paul is never dull.
What is your standout travel memory in Southeast Alaska or the Pantanal?
Alaska in July was preposterous. Bears doing what bears do with salmon certainly, but three and a half days of bubble net feeding from a quiet yacht was outstanding. However, the first afternoon where skipper Brian predicted precisely where one humpback would breach time after time takes a lot of beating. The Pantanal is always exciting, but I think the regularity of returning to the same tree, the most photogenic in the whole wetland, and seeing the same jaguar there each morning in perfect light takes little beating.
What excites you about the adventures you’re leading for Steppes?
I’ve been guiding in India since 1998, Alaska since 2015 and the Pantanal since 2012. The best local guides, the best boats or vehicles and the same remarkable species, there’s many reasons to return. But, mainly, we always deliver, which is job number one. Bengal tigers, humpback whales and bears, and the amphibious jaguars, what’s not to get excited about?
Is there anywhere still on your must-travel list?
I think I’ve found my various faunal nirvanas.
What advice would you give to budding wildlife photographers?
Be savagely critical of your own work, be prepared to make many sacrifices on sleep and try, desperately, to be original. The unholy trinity of ‘content creator, influencer or YouTube channel’ should have zero say in your work.
