It is not easy to be a wildlife photographer. While Will Burrard-Lucas is quite good at it, thanks to his ingenious use of camera traps to photograph animals in Africa. Over the past two years, he’s spent a significant amount of time at Kenya’s Shomphole Wilderness Camp. During that time, he has gotten to know the grounds quite well, including how the land really comes alive at night.
Due to the natural environment (dry and dusty), it is difficult to find wildlife to photograph during daytime. But soon, Burrard-Lucas is aware that a small watering hole can support an incredible variety of life and attract many rare spiences.
After checking with the owner of the Shomphole Wilderness Camp, they decide to offer a new experience to their visitors while also giving animals another source of water. The Shomphole Hide is a manmade watering hole far from other sources of water. Along with the watering hole, the team—under the guidance of Burrard-Lucas—built a hide where people could observe and photograph the animals as they came to drink. Not long after the watering hole took shape, Burrard-Lucas set up a camera trap to see what the animals thought of their new source of water.
Shomphole Hide proved to be a success just after a few days. Lions, hyenas, leopards, baboons, and many different species of birds were just some of the animals you can observe there. Below are some of Burrard-Lucas’s photography of animal drinking water. And if you want to experience yourself, you can visit that camp and book your own session in the hide which has a large observation windows with a 270-degree view, as well as a toilet and fold-down beds.
