Growing up with Australian Birds

Growing up with Birds is the personal journey of one of the country’s most respected birders, Raoul Slater. Raoul dedicated most of his life to the photography and study of Australian birds – capturing their incredible beauty on film, recording their unique behaviour in books and sharing here his experiences as a birder with unwavering honesty, compassion and humour.

This visually spectacular book takes the reader on a voyage through each stage of Raoul’s life – beginning with a childhood deeply immersed in avian mystique, then following the bourgeoning adventures of his teenage years and concluding with the deeper introspections of adulthood and parenthood. Raoul’s vivid and touching writing style immerses you perfectly in each moment – seeing the world through his own eyes and carefully considering the world observed by birds.

Complementing each passage of text is a stunning selection of photographs from Raoul’s extensive collection. A chapter on photographic technique and tips is included to help inspire budding bird photographers.

Join Raoul’s journey and discover the magical world inhabited by Australian birds.

Raoul Slater – Biography

Raoul began photographing birds at the age of twelve with his father, highly regarded bird artist, Peter Slater, and at eighteen became interested in large format landscape photography. He graduated from the University of Queensland as a physiotherapist in 1989.

Raoul is a regular columnist in Birds Australia’s “Wingspan” magazine and was the winner of the BBC Wildlife Magazine Travel Writer of the Year 2005. This year he won the prestigious Qld Premier’s Multicultural Photo Award and is a sought-after public speaker on the photography circuit.

His photos can be seen in many nature diaries, books and calendars. He is represented by Lochmann Transparencies in Australia and Woodfall Wild Images in Europe. Recently his photos have been used in large architectural projects by Queensland Health.

Full colour, 290 x 335 mm, 160 pages