P7uen

There is a huge distrust of charities, especially large global ones, and I believe some of it is justified in terms of where donations go and what they actually do. I only work with charities that I really trust in terms of their welfare/conservation policies and where the money goes, so the easy answer would be you can check my website for a list of worthy charities.

For me though, I would recommend donating (or helping out or simply helping spread the word) for a good charity close to you that needs help. There are so many dog and cat or urban wildlife charities around the world that need help so 'think globally, act locally', and all that jazz!

I think it's the same as anything: mostly just hard work and really caring for it. I started out by contacting everyone I could that could help me take photos of animals, got rejected many, many times, and worked on it in every free moment I had for many years. Whatever your skill or passion, I think you can't help but keep working at it regardless of anything else.

For me the most important aspect is caring about the work you do (and the animals in my case). Many photographers believe "getting the shot" is the most important thing. I will happily miss the shot if it interferes with a veterinary procedure, if it means causing any stress to the animal, or anything like that. You might miss the shot, but you gain a lot of trust and that's more valuable in the long run.

I'll take 2 DSLRs in case one breaks and to avoid lens changes (Canon 1DmkIV and 70D at the moment) and a variety of lenses. I never use flash on animals and rarely need a tripod, but take torches and a head lamp, plus tonnes of SD/CF cards (I never overwrite until they're all backed up), at least 2 hard drives for backup (one for baggage, one for hand luggage) and a laptop for sorting/processing in the field. My shoulders are usually destroyed after a few days of carrying it all around...

The most difficult shoots where probably involving pangolins. Last time around I waited around 6 hours for the little critters to wake up around 3am, and then set about shooting them with faint head lamps so as not to disturb them. One sound and they disappear into their burrows. Totally worth it though!

I also photograph a lot of cruelty for various charities, which is always very difficult in a different way, especially when you have to pretend not to be upset about what you're seeing.

I can't actually talk about some of the most memorable ones as there are always lots of work going on behind the scenes that might be compromised if people know that they have been documented at the moment (that sounds a bit more glamorous than it is).

Before I started this I don't think I cried at all, but I now regularly cry like a little baby girl at some of the things I see, but usually happy ones.

An elephant rescued by Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary cried after we got her back to the sanctuary after driving her 12 hours from her camp where she had worked for all 65 years of her life. I never believed the stories about crying elephants before that, but it really did happen (http://www.peteryuenphotography.com/Blog/Naamfon-Goes-Home)

There are so many others as it's very emotional when you have a lot of hard-working and dedicated people together working for days with little rest to rescue these animals. The other one that comes to mind is my favourite little bear Blue, who is in my FB page profile pic. He had a deformed back when he was rescued as a cub, and it was recommended to have him euthanised. Free the Bears refused to give up on him as long as he wasn't in pain and there was a chance he would survive. He gradually learned how to walk is now very healthy. On top of that, the video of his story reached nearly a million people which was a huge success for Free the Bears and myself!

Hi! I think the biggest misconception would be that rescuing the animals is the hardest part of the job. It can be tough with the veterinary or logistical requirements of rescuing animals from weird locations but really that's the easy part.

The Animals Asia rescue earlier this year was using 2 boats of people and a fishing boat for the 2 caged bears on a remote island in Vietnam with a team of 5-10 people including vets, driving many hours cross-country while keeping these bears alive and happy for these 2 or 3 days, with staff working around the clock in heat, humidity, rainstorms, all sorts.

It's easy to think that's difficult, but compared to the months of work that went on behind the scenes before hand, that is the easy part! Dealing with governments or government departments, getting enough money for the whole operation, getting official permissions or dealing with private owners in some countries, or law enforcment, getting permits to cross borders, all this stuff is so, so difficult, it's incredible to see the amount of work they do behind the scenes that isn't glamorous or much appreciated.

EDIT: Forgot to mention one other tiny item: looking after the bears for the next 20-30 years!