Hugh started specializing in photographing plants when Nan and he established Terania Rainforest Nursery in the 1970s. A large part of Hugh’s input to the nursery was collection of seed. He always had his camera with him as he drove the by-ways of the New South Wales Northern Rivers keeping an eye on the intermittent flowering and fruiting of rainforest plants.

Hugh became a professional photographer with the publication in 1985 of the first book in their series, Australian Rainforest Plants I – VI. Gathering photographs for these books involved working in rainforests from the temperate forests of Tasmania and southern Victoria to the tropical jungles of Cape York, and the monsoonal scrubs in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley in WA. He has also supplied photographs to Australian and International magazines, books and for National Parks and tourist information displays.

A fascination with Gondwana and its links between Australian rainforest and other southern forests has inspired visits to New Zealand, New Caledonia, Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands and to South America where much time was spent in the southern temperate forests in Chile.

In 2006 Hugh was appointed as the Federal Government conservation representative on the Community Advisory Committee for the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area.