These absolutely gorgeous wildlife photos will inspire you to get outside with your camera for the joy of it
By: Jessica Miller (Amateur Photographer)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
After being given a DSLR camera for a milestone birthday, Mhairi Boustead attended college to obtain a Higher National Diploma (HND) in photography at the same time as her son enrolled for college, as encouragement. Combined with a life in the countryside, wildlife photography has become her passion and reinforced the fact there's nothing better than being outside. Mhairi shares more about her journey into photography.
Our emerging photographer series aims to shed a light on up-and-coming talent. Photographers are offered a platform to share their work with a wider audience through the AP channels, with the scope of furthering their careers. We also get an insight into their inspirations, the camera gear used and future aspirations, as well as the journey taken into photography - which doesn't have to be the most traditional route!
We'll be sharing the work of photographers on our website and social media and even in the magazine. If you have recently started your photography journey or are a student / graduate, share your work with us at [email protected]
Image: Mhairi Boustead
When and why did you start taking photographs?
I suppose I have always taken photographs, like most people do, documenting their lives and the important people and times in them. I took up scrapbooking just after my daughter was born, and that really started me on this journey, being given my first DSLR camera for my 40 th birthday and trying to work out how to achieve all these interesting photographs of my children and their friends. Years later, whilst holidaying in the highlands of Scotland, I took a photograph of a large bird soaring in the sky about our holiday home. I was amazed to see the detail of this beautiful red kite and researched this breed to find out more about them, becoming hooked on taking better photographs of them at every opportunity I could get.
Which genre do you tend to work mostly in and what draws you to it?
Wildlife photography. Growing up and currently living surrounded by fields, woodlands, streams and rivers, I discovered a plentiful supply of wildlife on my doorstep, from garden birds and bugs to hedgehogs, foxes, badgers, rabbits, hares and lots of other feathered and non-feathered animals. There's something wonderful about sitting in silence in a field next to a stream and waiting for something to happen….
Image: Mhairi Boustead
Tell us a little bit more about your photographic training?
Fast forward to 2022, when my son left high school, with no idea of what he was going to do. His last 2 years of education was during the pandemic, and, as Gavin attended an additional support needs high school, his education had been very sporadic due to the compromised immune systems of so many of the pupils. To encourage him to attend college, I said I would also enroll, so, I did, deciding to further my interest in photography with an entry level 5 course at Glasgow Kelvin.
This was brilliant, increasing my limited knowledge and giving me the grounding to research other photographers and styles and encouraging me in my hobby and wildlife interest. Level 6 followed, finishing with a visit to Simon Murphy's Govanhill exhibition. Simon in the main lecturer at Glasgow Kelvin College and teaches HND photography. His exhibition portraits, enthusiasm and knowledge captivated me completely, and, although I felt I did not have the skill or the capability to undertake the HND, I enrolled and was delighted when my application was successful.
An HND in Photography covers many genres and consists of 2 years split into 3 blocks with 4 subjects in each block. Subjects include stock, fashion, portraiture, documentary, environmental, corporate, architectural, image editing, dark room processing and developing.
Most of these genres I had never really heard of before, and some of these I really struggled to undertake, but I did, learning all the settings and configurations, studio lighting techniques and Photoshop editing to improve what I had produced. All the skills I learnt completing all these different genres have transferred into my wildlife photography and made my finished images stronger, more appealing and different from other wildlife photographers.
Image: Mhairi Boustead
What kind of reaction has your work had?
To my amazement, all my graded unit exhibition prints sold, so I had to produce more prints, which I currently use in my wildlife talks to schools, clubs, women's groups and camera clubs, or anyone interested in wildlife. I have been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming response and support shown to me by friends, clubs and groups that have approached me wither directly or through my social media channels. I also plan to produce a wildlife calendar this year for people to purchase as gifts or to keep for themselves.
What equipment do you use?
I've upgraded my DSLR to a mirrorless Nikon Z6 II and added a few lenses to camera bag contents including a wide angled lens, a 70-200mm and a 160-600mm lens. I have a portable stool that accompanies me on my wildlife field trips, a pop-up hide with several viewing windows and a built-in seat, and a monopod, tripod and gimble head that I absolutely love and would recommend any wildlife photographer to have.
Image: Mhairi Boustead
What are your hopes for your photography career in the future?
I hope to continue on with my wildlife photography for the pleasure and enjoyment that this brings to me. I'd also liked to keep taking my photographs with me, displaying them and talking to people from all walks of life about the wildlife that surrounds us and how we can live in harmony with it. But, I have always wanted to, and now hope to work, on a documentary project that is just now in the early planning and development stages, so I don't want to reveal too much on that, although it is more lifestyle than wildlife based. This would be a dream assignment for me and something that I have longed to be involved with since I started on my photography journey.
What piece of advice would you give to other aspiring photographers?
Never give up, don't think a genre of photography is not for you or your not good at it, just bend it towards something that you are interested in and you may well be surprised at the results you achieve. I never liked photographing people or taking portraits either in the studio, on location or street styled, but, give me a badger in the woods, or a bird flying overhead or a bee gathering nectar from a flower in the local park… its all portraiture skills that come into play.
Success stories
At the 2026 AP Awards, Nick Teo was announced as our Emerging Talent winner for this documentary-fashion work. Previous emerging photographer award winners include Ethan Parker, Aliz Kovacs-Zoldi and Tariq Sadu. Si Jubb and Ethan Parker spoke at our Festival of Photography: Documentary event in 2025.
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It's not necessary to travel to exotic locations to capture great images. The only requirement is to always carry a camera.
Fantastic photography.