Tonight, Andy will focus (no pun intended!) on the how and why of what it’s like to work on specialist commissions and, where appropriate, build a relationship with an individual animal. From the slopes of the Himalayas to the Patagonian steppe, with a few stops in between, this talk will wend its way through a number of high-octane assignments, face-to-face encounters and close calls. From the wild dogs and hyenas of Dynasties to camera trapping for snow leopards; bumping into – and running from – forest elephants, to being winched up into trees to look at eagle nests - it’s been a varied career for sure!

Andy Skillen has been a wildlife photographer, photojournalist and film footage provider for more than 25 years Working for all the industry's major media, Andy's work is used globally and sees him supply stills, articles and video stings as well as consult for a number of major series, from Nat Geo and Smithsonian through Discovery to the BBC.

Whilst continuing to focus much of his time on feeding these organisations and companies with images, articles and footage, he also supplies a number of publishing houses for specially-commissioned book titles and has also active sets of fine art limited editions which have been sold through galleries in the UK and overseas for more than 12 years. He also continues to undertake private commissions for collectors both corporate and individual.

Having consulted for a number of UK-based tour companies on the construction and execution of photographic safaris, Andy has - in the last few years - led some of his own as well to a few of his most favourite of places to give a real "industry-eye" view on what it takes to work in the field.

Read more about Andy on his website.