About Richard

I grew up on a farm in South Africa, and as a young boy was fascinated with wildlife and birds. I found bird nests, read Gerald Durrell books, and dreamed of becoming a naturalist.

Such was my enthusiasm that I ended up studying Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pietermaritzburg for 4 years!

An interest in photography became a major hobby when I worked in the Kruger Park for several years.

I started the hard way with Kodachrome 64 and manual focus lenses. In the 1995 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition I won first place in the Mammal Behavior category with a photograph of two fighting leopards.

In the years thereafter a love of nature and photography evolved into a professional career that has kept me happy and busy since 1995.

I spend much of the year traveling to wild places in southern Africa, often on long roads trips. I love the Kalahari and Karoo and am a keen birder.

My photographs have appeared in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife and Nature's Best magazines. In the 2007 Nature’s Best Photography competition I won the overall Grand Prize with my aerial image of Zebra in the Makgadikgadi.

I have written and photographed 5 books on African wildlife and one book of aerial photography - Bird’s Eye View.

I have used Canon cameras and Canon L lenses for 25 years. In all that time, and over hundreds of trips, not a single piece of Canon gear has ever let me down, nor even needed repairing.

For bird-watching I always have my old pair of Zeiss 7 x 42 binoculars at hand.

Please feel free to send me a message using the contact link above, or just email me at rdutoit@iafrica.com.

My mobile number + 27 76 904 8834, and for WhatsApp too.

I will answer all messages!