One of the beautiful things about the world as seen through a creative photographer’s eye is that opportunities for visual wonder can be found nearly anywhere.
A case in point of this would be the fascinating nature photography of Lawrence Hylton, who captures the wild creatures of the night right inside the crowded urban enclave of Hong Kong.
Though most people normally associate Hong Kong with mega-dense urban and skyscrapers nearly piled atop skyscrapers, in reality its famous urban parts only occupy a bit over 12% of Hong Kong’s total territory. On the other hand, a full 56% of the region’s landscape is covered in thick forest.
In other words, for wildlife photography, Hong Kong makes for a surprisingly good location, with its deep forests being right beside its urban parts, and easily reachable.
With all this in mind, Hylton has less trouble than you’d think finding the snakes, frogs, birds, moths, spiders, small mammals and turtles that share existence with Hong Kong’s 7.5 million inhabitants.
In an interview with PetaPixel, he explains how he started, “I started properly photographing wildlife during Covid-19 when I was out on a hike and encountered a snake,”
According to Hylton, his entire adventure started after he ran into the snake. The encounter prompted him to investigate further the wildlife of the Hong Kong territory and from there his interest was sparked.
In the same interview, Hylton adds that the wildlife that most fascinates him is mainly nocturnal, stating,
“The diversity of species that can be found during the hours of darkness outcompetes the diurnal species by orders of magnitude.”
This is in fact normal for many tropical and subtropical regions, and Hong Kong happens to be in a subtropical zone.
The advantages of working at night are also about more than just the chance of finding more wildlife. Hylton, who often has to hike extensively in the steep hills around the city, can enjoy cooler weather than the fierce daytime heat of the city.
This has made him always include water, along with extra batteries for his adventures.
He also explains that for capturing his rather stunning photos of secret nocturnal worlds, he still loves DSLR, especially Nikon’s D850 camera, which he combines with a NIKKOR 60mm lens and a Raynox diopter for close magnification of shots.
Another lens he uses is a Laowa 15mm wide angle optic for larger animals with their surrounding habitat included in the shot.
For lighting, the nature photographer uses a Godox V1 flashgun and custom diffusers from Cygnustech.
Besides all these tools and others, his biggest assets are simple persistence and of course, patience.
As he explains, these creatures prefer to avoid humans and will actively evade their presence. He calls this “a challenge”.
“The animals go about their business and it’s my role to position myself to get a shot representing the subject whilst not disturbing them too much.”
That patience pays off though, with some truly fascinating shots, as these samples of his work showcase:
All images ©Lawrence Hylton
Hylton also emphasizes the educational aspect of his work, explaining that he wants to “debunk generational myths about wildlife and to bring in curiosity and wonder to life on Earth.”
“If it weren’t for all the life forms out there, we wouldn’t be here. Our lives are so entwined to just humanity we forget that there’s a whole food chain,” he adds to PetaPixel.
Regardless of his motives, the photos themselves are spectacular compositions.
They’re also a wonderful example of how possible it is to obtain remarkable images of entirely unique, hidden life and worlds, right in the landscapes the surround us and often get completely overlooked by most people, living their everyday lives.
This alone should inspire any photographer looking for a niche of their own to explore, even if they can’t travel far.
You can enjoy much more of Lawrence Hylton’s impressive work on his Instagram page and on his website.
Images credit: Lawrence Hylton
