Photography, wildlife & travel talks
An experienced speaker, Will Gray has given talks and been a panelist at events like Destinations, the Luxury Travel Fair and Adventure Travel Show. He was also a presenter on the BBC Holiday programme and produced a series of family travel diaries for BBC Radio Oxford. If you'd like to book Will for a talk, please browse his current list of talks below, and complete the booking form.
Photographing Britain
For his latest book, Photography Weekends Britain, Will spent two years travelling the length and breadth of Britain researching 25 stunning photographic locations, from the far west of Cornwall to the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. This talk goes behind the scenes of some of his favourite photographs and most memorable shoots, revealing how they were taken; the challenges and the joys of capturing Britain's wonderfully diverse landscapes.
"Britain has such a wonderful diversity of landscapes to photograph – from the rocky coast of North Devon to big sandy beaches in Pembrokeshire; reedbeds in the Norfolk broads, bluebell woods in Oxfordshire, pine forest in the Cairngorms; waterfalls and haymeadows in the Yorkshire Dales…
Add to that, the seasons… winter mist over Loch Lomond, spring thrift flowering on the headlands of Dorset, autumn colours in the forests of the Peak District… and you really do have a year-round feast of photographic opportunities. To condense all of that into an intensive two years of research and photography was one of the best projects I’ve ever worked on, anywhere in the world.
I’d like to share with you some of the things I learned during those two years, some of my favourite locations and hopefully offer you some tips that will help you develop as a photographer – whether you’re a beginner or an enthusiast.
We'll sharpen our photographer’s eye, build our creative toolkit, and work through a few real-life examples together. Think of this as a field workshop… minus the mud!"
Or how about a talk on wildlife and landscape photography in Africa...
The African Safari Photography Workshop
Will has been exploring Africa on writing and photography assignments for newspapers and magazines for his entire working life – and more recently launched his popular photography tours in Namibia. A former editor of Travel Africa magazine, he has visited much of southern and East Africa, as well as Gabon. In this talk, he shares some of his experiences photographing wildlife and landscapes in some of Africa's most spectacular locations.
"Let’s delve into some real-life photography scenarios… and explore them in detail…
A typical moment on an afternoon game drive in Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa. You come across a pride of lions. They’ve been sleeping all day, but now it’s cooler and they’re on the move. Your driver stops. The lions are walking straight towards you. You’ve got maybe a minute to get that head-on shot before it’s too late and they’ve move past you. You grab your camera… what next?
Do you start blazing away, using the settings that you last used on your camera? Or do you take a moment to pause, select the settings that will work best in this situation, and then pick your moment to shoot? Most of us will do the former. We get carried away in the moment… the multi-sensory experience, the thrill of seeing lions, the buzz of being on a game drive… you’re convinced that every photograph you’re taking is amazing… only to get home etc. The photographer’s mindset.
So, let’s break this down – almost into slow motion if you like – and think like photographers."
Other talks by Will Gray...
It's a wild, wild world...
After nearly 35 years of travelling the globe researching wildlife adventure articles for newspapers and magazines, Will has amassed a vast range of fascinating – sometimes funny – anecdotes about encountering 'the wild, weird and wonderful'. In this talk, he shares some favourites (accompanied by his photography). Join Will as he wades into the floodwaters of the Okavango, photographs penguins negotiating minefields in the Falklands, tracks forest elephants and lowland gorillas through the jungles of Gabon, kayaks with manatees, orcas and grey whales, joins a quest for a quetzal, keeps an eye out for an aye-aye and much, much more! From otters on the Isle of Skye to spotted dolphins in the Bahamas, it's a wild, wild world...
Shooting Namibia
Will Gray embarks on a journey through Namibia – one of the world's most spectacular photographic destinations – presenting an audio-visual feast of photographs, video and drone footage to reveal the country's extraordinary diversity and rugged beauty. Explore the vast dunes and hidden vleis of the Namib, track desert elephants through Damaraland, kayak with thousands of seals at Walvis Bay, visit the eerie diamond-mining ghost town of Kolmanskop, marvel at the Milky Way arching above the quiver tree forests of the Kalahari, walk with traditional San Bushman, stake out a waterhole in Etosha, fly along the Skeleton Coast... Will has visited Namibia numerous times and now leads photography tours there. This talk is a must for anyone with a love of photography, travel and wild places.
ABOUT MY TALKS
Fee for each talk: normal rate £150; charity rate £100
Each talk lasts 90 minutes, divided into two halves of 45 minutes to allow for an interval – but this can be adapted to suit your programme. I'm always happy to take questions after the talk and chat with your group before and after the presentation.
All talks are accompanied by my images. I have my own digital projector, stand, laptop and speaker etc. If possible, a suitable screen is required at your venue, otherwise I will bring my own.
Based in Oxfordshire (near Banbury), I am happy to travel free of charge to nearby locations, but will need to add travel expenses for longer distances.
Please contact me using the form below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.