Exposure: Gerry Pearce

Biography
Gerry Pearce is an internationally successful wildlife photographer whose work has appeared in books, magazines and advertising campaigns worldwide. He works around the world but has a special love for the wildlife of his adopted country, Australia.He also runs a website www.australian-wildlife.com which has a strong environmental leaning aimed at promoting a better appreciation and understanding of Australian wildlife. He spends an average of one week per month on shoots with the rest of his time spent in post-processing and managing his website sales. He is 42 and, since moving from the UK in 2004 has lived in Sydney.

Equipment
All images were taken with Canon equipment; mostly the 40D with the 100-400 IS zoom. Post-processing was on Photoshop CS.

Koala
This captive koala resides at the Australian Reptile Park north of Sydney. Proof that koalas are, just occasionally, active.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos
These eastern grey kangaroos were showing signs of irritation with each other for a little while and thankfully when they finally decided to spar they were so absorbed with themselves that I could get within shooting distance.

Fairy Wren
The superb blue wren is a striking bird, and with a certain amount of 'pishing' can be encouraged to emerge from the undergrowth to investigate.

Cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a common sight around Sydney. However, finding a location where it is possible to get to eye-level with a nest hole and then to get a shot with the crest raised takes a little more effort.

Tasmanian Devil
I like this shot of a captive Tasmanian devil. It was taken at a distance of about 30cm with the camera at the end of a monopod and fired with a cable release. This allowed me to get unusually close to a potentially dangerous subject.

Green Turtle
Getting a 'different' shot of this green turtle out of water took a little imagination but fortunately they move so slowly that I had plenty of time to get it right.

Sea Lion
I love the way this Australian fur seal was completely oblivious to the howling gale that was sweeping across the South Australian beach, even to the point where it started to become buried.

Pelicans
Getting something different here meant getting up well before dawn and artificially illuminating the birds as they glided past. 1/30 second, f5.0, ISO 1600.

Dingoes
Dingoes are my favourite Australian animals. They are full of personality and, given patience and understanding, tolerant of human attention. These two sub-adults are play-fighting over ownership of a stick.

Regent Honeyeater
The regent bowerbird is a stunner. People travel a long way and expend a lot of effort to get a good look at it but sometimes you get lucky and one comes right up to you.

Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby
The endangered yellow-footed rock wallaby is, to my mind, the most beautiful of the macropods. A lot of patience was needed to get this female to come so close with her joey.

Pacific Black Duck
This image of a pacific black duck may be a bit of a cliché but I like it nonetheless. After a few days of heavy rain a local weir had flooded, giving me the opportunity to get right down to water level, essential for a quality shot. 1/250 second at f5.6, ISO 500.

White-faced Heron
This white-faced heron image tries to give an impression of just how fast they strike when fishing. 0.5 seconds at f5.6, ISO 100.

Rainbow Lorikeet
As a relative newcomer to Australia it still amazes me that birds as beautiful as these rainbow lorikeets can be tempted to the garden feeder. As a photographer I'm grateful.

Echidna
Short-beaked echidnas are so focused when searching for food that, as on this occasion, they may walk over the feet of a motionless photographer.

Reef Heron
These reef herons fought with a viciousness that surprised me and only stopped when one was pinned to the ground, bloodied and bowed.

Western Grey Kangaroo
This western grey kangaroo paused momentarily when it saw me crouched in the long grass, just long enough for me to get a couple of shots before it raced away after its mother.

Red Kangaroo
The largest living marsupial in the classic 'Qantas' pose.

Striated Thornbill
Striated thornbill. This image was taken from a hide which I had set up to photograph lyrebirds, a happy accident.

Laughing Kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra, an easy subject but none the less appealing for that.

Common Wombat
It took me a while to get this image just as I wanted it — the right depth of snow, the right lighting, angle etc, and of course the snow on the nose.