Rebecca’s journey to studying Wildlife Media at the University of Cumbria has been shaped by a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and a passion for visual storytelling. Below, Rebecca tells us why she chose this unique course, and how her experiences at the University of Cumbria are helping develop her skills and prepare her for a future in wildlife filmmaking.
Why did you choose to study your course - what or who inspired you?
I am a first year studying Wildlife Media at the University of Cumbria.
All of my life I have been fascinated by the natural world, and I grew up watching programmes like ‘Deadly 60’ with Steve Backshall, and ‘Blue Planet’ with David Attenborough, and I was always particularly fascinated with the behind-the-scenes sections at the end of them, showing how they filmed certain aspects of the programmes.
For my 15th birthday, my parents bought me my first DSLR camera, and my passion for photography began. I loved going out on hikes and exploring new places where I could practise my photography, and this continued into college, where I studied photography A-level. I knew that I wanted to go into wildlife photography, however I didn’t know that a course like Wildlife Media existed, and so I began searching for documentary / photojournalism courses, and it was when I was looking at those that I found out about the University of Cumbria.
Why did you choose the University of Cumbria?
When I found out about the Wildlife Media course at the University of Cumbria, I was immediately interested in it and began researching more about the course and the university as a whole. This unique course fascinated me, and it sounded like a perfect choice for me – it wasn’t a hard decision to apply for it!
The more I learned about the area of Carlisle, the more perfect it seemed – not only is it a beautiful area with the river Eden flowing right through the campus, but the proximity to the Lake District and Scotland makes it easy for day trips or even a camping weekend. Since starting, I have been to the Lake District more times than I can count and even went up to the Scottish Highlands for the day to photograph the wildlife and scenery!
The staff also helped with my decision to choose this university – on each open day I went to, I got the opportunity to talk with the staff and attend sessions run by them, where they talked about their background in wildlife media and their career, and this greatly inspired me and also showed me what my future could be like studying this course.
What have been your favourite experiences at Cumbria?
I have enjoyed every moment of studying here, but some of my favourite parts of my journey so far have been making new friends, as I did not know anyone when I started, climbing Striding Edge with some of my new friends, and finally being able to access and use so much new, professional equipment.
Being on a course where everyone has the same interests is one of my favourite parts of studying at Cumbria, as not only did it make it easier to make friends as we all had similar interests, but it is also great for learning from each other and getting inspired by others. Often, we will meet up and explore different areas together to try to photograph a certain animal, and everyone’s different experiences help me to learn and grow as a photographer.
One of my favourite memories so far is when I climbed Striding Edge, Helvellyn in the Lake District with some of my new friends from the course. This helped me get closer with people from the course, and it was a great experience with the beautiful views and scenery.
While at first it seemed very overwhelming, now one of my favourite parts of my learning here is being able to access the professional equipment. I love borrowing a camera I haven’t used before and becoming more familiar with it by going out and shooting. My favourite experience with a borrowed camera is when I went to the Lake District National Park, where I photographed red pandas, ring-tailed lemurs, and my favourites, the birds of prey. I photographed a black kite and a Harris hawk!
What’s been the most difficult obstacle you’ve overcome in your student journey?
The biggest challenge that I have had to overcome is the fact that I was a lot less experienced then most of my peers – many of them had been practising wildlife photography their whole lives, and were extremely talented and knowledgeable, and this posed a mental challenge for me as I felt extremely underprepared and behind, even though the course hadn’t even fully started yet.
However, I overcame this struggle as I got to know my classmates more and felt more comfortable with everyone. Additionally, my tutors were very helpful – when I felt most out of my depth, I could go to speak with them, and they helped reassure me that I wasn’t behind.
What do you enjoy most about your course?
Currently, my favourite part of the course is the naturalist skills lecture that we have once a week. While this lecture isn’t photography related, I am really enjoying learning about the natural world – currently, we are learning about different habitats and what you would expect to find in them, which will be very useful for when I am going out to photograph animals as I will be able to predict what animals I am likely to find in different habitats. Aside from this, I am really enjoying learning about filming. Given that I had only come from a photography background, this was all new information to me, and I am really enjoying learning and practising my new skills.
How have your tutors supported you during your studies?
My tutors have been very helpful so far during my time at Cumbria – they are always available and willing to talk about anything I’m struggling with, and I always come out feeling reassured about any issue.
Thankfully, I haven’t had any big struggles so far, but they have been very understanding about my health issues – I have various long-term health conditions, and any time they have impacted my studies, my tutors have been understanding and helped in any way they could. For example, all the slides from the lectures are made available to us, and so if I miss a lecture or even if I am just struggling to concentrate in one, I can always go back and read over the information so that I don’t fall behind.
How is university life beyond your studies? What do you enjoy the most about student life?
Before starting university, the social aspect beyond my studies was something I was really looking forward to, and it is still one of my favourite parts of my university experience. Whether it’s just me and my housemates sitting and talking together in the living room, or lots of us going for a night out, we always have fun together and are good friends. We usually go out to the Football Society social once a week, which is held at a bar called Ularoo, which has pool tables and darts boards, and is always good fun.
I’m not a part of the football society; however, I am part of the Wildlife Society and the Kayaking Society. I really enjoy the Wildlife Society because it allows me to talk with the second and third years where I can learn more about what’s coming up for me. They also share tips that they’ve learned, such as which places to go to find certain species.
What would your top tips for people thinking of doing the same course as you be?
If you are debating whether to apply to study here, my advice for you is to go for it – I don’t regret my decision to come here at all, and I don’t know anyone who does! A concern I had before starting this course was that I wouldn’t learn a very broad skillset because the course is so niche, but I’m learning skills from all areas of photography and filmmaking. I’m even learning how to shoot and handle film on an SLR camera!
My advice for people who have just started the course is to take advantage of the equipment available to you. I have borrowed cameras often, which helped me to become familiar with them and take better photos, and practise the techniques I have been taught.
Additionally, I would say to remember that the lecturers are there to help you – they are extremely skilled in this field, and even if it’s something unrelated to the course, they will likely be able to help you with your concern or at least ease your mind.
What are your career plans, and how is the course preparing you for your future career?
At the moment, I’m keeping an open mind with what area of wildlife filmmaking I would like to go into, as I’m still learning so much about the field, but I would love to be a filmmaker in wildlife documentaries and programmes, specifically in helping to raise awareness about specific issues. This course is preparing me amazingly as I am learning about all aspects of filmmaking – not just how to film animals but how to film interviews, how to plan shoots and what to bring, and also learning about photography as a whole.