MPB Meets: Marine Wildlife Photographer Charlie Phillips

Award-winning professional wildlife photographer Charlie Phillips has been creating photographs of dolphins in Scotland for over 25 years. He has worked as an Adopt a Dolphin Field Officer for Whale and Dolphin Conservation uk.whales.org (WDC)—the leading international charity dedicated to protecting whales and dolphins—for the last decade. In 2015, Charlie published his acclaimed photobook On a Rising Tide, a photographic celebration of Britain’s Bottlenose dolphins. This week, we heard from Charlie about his experiences, why the right kit is so important for him, and his advice for aspiring wildlife photographers.

All photos by WDC, uk.whales.org / Charlie Phillips

MPB: Can you tell us about your experience in photography and background?

CP: I have been a professional wildlife photographer for more than 25 years, spending most of my working life studying, filming and photographing the resident Bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth, Scotland. For over a decade, I have provided high-quality images and behavioural observations to the WDC. You can even adopt a wild Scottish dolphin.

MPB: How important is your kit for you?

CP: I pick my equipment carefully, as I am partially disabled—unable to use my right arm. So, getting the best out of any camera equipment—and myself—can be a matter of trial and error. Sometimes, as a photographer, you have to buy equipment for specific jobs or long-term projects. And, in the distant past, I needed a long focal length lens. As I was already using Canon equipment, I searched for a used Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS USM. They can be hard to come by, and by good luck, MPB had a well-looked-after one in stock. Although it was used, it was still a large investment. But I needn’t have worried, the lens had been fully checked out by the MPB team and it landed at my studio door up here in the Highlands in great condition and the company was a great help. It takes time to get used to working with these big and heavy super-telephoto lenses, they are not easy to work with. But, thankfully, I had used an 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM for a long time which has a similar bulk and weight to the 600mm to contend with. Coupled with a Canon EOS 1D-series body, it’s quite a setup.

MPB: What’s your go-to setup now?

CP: These days I have much lighter, less weighty gear in the shape of the remarkable Canon EOS R5 mirrorless body. Coupled through an Canon EF-EOS R adapter, allowing me to use a lens that deserves to go down in history as one of the very best lenses made by any company—the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM. What a fantastic hunk of technology! If you are starting to get serious with wildlife photography, and you are looking for a top-notch long telephoto zoom, then look no further. It even works beautifully with extenders.

MPB: Can you tell us about your images? 

CP: These dolphin photos are from my working stock. All these dolphins were photographed using my Canon EF 600mm IS lens, which I bought from MPB a decade ago. This lens now belongs to a friend, who loves it just as much as I did. My usual camera settings for these fast-moving dolphins are manual mode, 1/1600 shutter speed, f/6.3 aperture and auto ISO. I normally shoot in RAW format.

MPB: Having the chance to capture dolphins in the wild must be exciting. What advice would you give to people who want to follow in your footsteps?

CP: My advice for taking up wildlife, or any other branch of photography is to do your homework. Study the subjects that you want to photograph, and get to know your camera gear inside-out. Know what the switches and buttons do blindfolded. Sometimes, you can be working in cramped, dim conditions and it can be a godsend to change settings and adjust things without moving about and possibly scaring away the subject. 

Buy what you can afford, and trade up when you can. Before you know it, you can use a camera and/or lens that makes the images you take clearer and sharper than ever before and that you can enjoy using.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Photographers are generally helpful, as are the companies we use to buy our camera gear, like MPB. You are their future customers, and they will be more than willing to help you as many of the staff in these companies are experienced photographers and technicians in their own right. Last but not least—practice, practice, practice.

Looking for more wildlife content?

This article is part of the MPB Guide to Wildlife Photography and Videography, our comprehensive look at how to create wildlife imagery, with camera recommendations, advice and interviews with experts.