Ederic Slater

From Heather Angel, Farnham, Surrey, England

Ed and I shared the same profession as wildlife photographers and instantly clicked but I cannot recall when and where we met.

I often think about the great times I had photographing with Ed in Australia in 1978. He enthusiastically showed me aestivating (summer hibernation) bogong moths and the black and yellow corroboree frog.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Antarctic rainforest within New England National Park where southern beech trees festooned with epiphytic mosses and lichens tower above the tree ferns. After a prolonged period of rain, we arrived at a bridgeless river after sundown where the water was still rising. I hopped out, only to be greeted by a cacophony of frog calls; so, I grabbed a flash and wrapped my camera in a towel. We cat napped in the car until morning when we were able to cross the river.

When Ed came to England, he paid us a short visit. The night before he had camped on the outskirts of London and whilst eating supper virtually all his camera gear was stolen. At our house, Ed emptied his pockets and laid out his sole possessions a lens cap, filter and cable release. The next day I lent him a camera for a visit to Gilbert White's house in Selborne.

Faced with a photographic problem Ed relished creating a gadget to solve it. He gave me a twin macro flash shaped like a boomerang, which he designed for photographing insects on flowers, long before Nikon produced their wireless controlled macro flash. Ed was way ahead of his time using light trip beams to gain images that proved nocturnal native mammals pollinated banksias as they sipped nectar at night.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and knowledge you so freely imparted Ed. I shall always treasure the brief time we spent together in the field.

Fond love
Heather

Ed's photography was an inspiration to all those wanting to understand and record the natural world.As an 18 years old he did that for me, particularly in reference to the smaller and less obvious fauna in the world. Vale Ed.

Tony Healy

I worked in Ed's garden on and off when he lived in Hughes to help keep his garden jungle under control.

I remember coming in for a drink and looking at his collection of butterflies or other interesting insects carefully pinned in glass boxes. Ed always had interesting things in the house and loved to talk.

Ed was a genius, an engineer a scientist when it came to his approach to his work as a photographer.

He was the ilk of Attenborough, before we had heard of sound and movement activated cameras Ed was developing and using both to capture insects in flight.

Ed was the first to film the birth of a kangaroo and follow its path to the pouch of its mother. I remember that film being shown in the late 60's early 70's. It was brilliant!

Ed engineered and developed a tiny portrait set up to capture insects isolated on black backgrounds, frozen in time with flash and the smallest of apertures for maximum detail.....Yes, he was a genius.

No ego, just dedication and enthusiasm.

Thank you Ed for inspiring me as a 17 year old photographer.

Rest in peace

Love from Lynn Russell

Ed was a genius, an engineer, a scientist in his approach to photography.

He developed movement sensors to capture insects in flight in the early 70's.

He was the first to capture the birth of a baby kangaroo crawling towards its mothers pouch

Ed developed and built a brilliant mini portrait set up to photograph insects with a black background

As a 17 year old photographer in the late 60's I was in awe of him.

I only know of a few things he did I'm sure there's a lot more. Ed was the ilk of Attenborough.

Thank you Ed for your inspiration, enthusiasm and humility.

I've been lucky enough to be given your Pelican case with your name on it. I will treasure it always.

Rest in peace dear Ed

Love from Lynn Russell

I remember Ed,He made films with my father Mervyn Griffiths,Ed was a great filmmaker .Condolences to all the family,Andrew Griffiths