IF YOU can stare into the eyes of a wild jungle cat without flinching, you’re probably able to handle most things life has to throw at you.

So it is for fearless wildlife photographer David Plummer, who has travelled the globe snapping creatures big and small, endangered and deadly – all while suffering from Parkinson’s.

The 49 year-old, who lives in Small Dole, near Henfield, was diagnosed with the disease in 2009.

His new book, Seven Years of Camera Shake: One Man’s Passion for Photographing Wildlife, hit shops late last week and briefly became the best-selling release in Amazon’s “hot new releases” category.

It brings together all the – often stunning – photos taken by Plummer in the last seven years.

The photographer, who has shot for The Guardian and Observer among others, will be giving a talk and signing books from 4pm tomorrow at Vinyl Revolution record store in Brighton.

It was never Plummer’s plan to release a collection of his work in this way but the public demand for his work and inspirational story has been high (as was evidenced by recent appearances on The One Show on BBC Breakfast).

As Plummer reflects on the last seven years, he admits to feeling overwhelming despair upon first being diagnosed.

He thought Parkinson’s would put an end to his photography career and, more generally, his livelihood.

“There was a time when I thought it was all over,” he says.

“I thought that was it. Obviously when you’re told, you go to Google and research as much as possible about it.

“The imagery around it is very depressing. Most people think of Parkinson’s as an old person’s disease and something that is a near-death situation.

“I was looking at these websites and thinking, ‘how long have I got?’ I went through some dark days.”

According to the NHS, most people with Parkinson’s now have a normal or near-normal life expectancy, but it goes without saying that the effects of the disease have a severely limiting impact on the everyday life of the sufferer.

The involuntary shaking that comes with Parkinson’s is referenced in the title of Plummer’s book; the photographer has had to learn to live with it.

“My view is that we can’t control what happens to us,” he says.

“Anything could happen to us. You can be miserable about it, thinking it’s unfair, but does that help you? No. You can learn to control your reactions with practice.”

Plummer links his management of Parkinson’s to his work as a photographer, claiming there are parallels between the two.

“To be a good photographer, you’ve got to solve problems.

“You don’t just sneak up and take a shot of it. There are lots of factors to account for.

“With my work now, there limitations. I have to make sure I’m fully stocked up on medication and I limit the amount of gear I have.

“I do a lot of my shots from the water in a dry suit, for instance, and now there’s a slight risk to it. It just means I have to do more planning.”

You might think that entering the habitats of potentially life-threatening animals would be a risky business, but, according to Plummer, it’s just a matter of understanding the animal you’re approaching.

He is often asked about the most dangerous creature he’s ever photographed and every time replies “humans”.

Plummer is also a passionate conservationist who can’t stand to see big cats in cages in zoos.

He sounds almost nonchalant about dealing with wild beasts but, then again, he’s had plenty of practice.

“Animals are predictable. I’m fairly comfortable with being around them. The first jaguar I found was in Brazil. She was 20 metres away from me, just staring at me.

“I was thinking ‘woah, she could close the distance between us in half a second’.

“But she just started grooming herself. I stayed with her about an hour while the sun set.”

It sounds a cliche to say that such animals are “more scared of us than we are of them”, but Plummer says that theory is very much true.

The only time that they would attack is if their offspring were at threat or you wandered into a “kill scene” (when a prey has already been mauled).

“How do I hold my nerve? I don’t feel threatened,” says Plummer. “I understand their behaviour.”

Plummer’s most dangerous encounter involved an alligator who went for the photographer’s hand, before launching itself over his equipment.

“But even then I never thought, ‘it’s going to kill me’,” says Plummer, confidently. It didn’t want to eat me.”

The snapper has lived in Small Dole since the turn of the 2010s, having previously lived in Hove.

He was raised in Kent and worked as a police officer in East London for eight years.

With such abundant nature in Sussex, Plummer gets his photography fill even when he’s not travelling the world.

“I get as much of a thrill from shooting a tawny owl as a jaguar,” he says.

While Plummer has his own physical and mental strategies to cope with this Parkinson’s, he doesn’t believe he’s been helped in this by the NHS.

It took him going to the extreme of lodging a complaint for him finally to receive specialist treatment.

The problem isn’t so much a lack of specialists, he says, but a lack of support on the behalf of the health service.

“I think the NHS is a big animal which lumbers along but you have to kick it to get it to do what you want it to do,” he says.

One of the main sources of his anger is the unavailability of the drug Exenatide, which has up to now only been used to treat diabetes patients.

Plummer recently took part in a trial to see how, and if, the drug could help Parkinson’s sufferers.

“There is evidence that it is beneficial to people with Parkinson’s because it flatlines regeneration,” says Plummer.

“But the NHS are refusing to prescribe it to us. It’s been refused to me by them.”

The official line from the health service, according to Plummer, is that the trial sample wasn’t big enough and they need to do further research. Plummer believes this could take up to 12 years.

Parkinson’s UK have started a campaign called We Won’t Wait and Plummer thinks the issue needs to be raised in Parliament.

“It’s too slow for people who are suffering,” he says.

“I’m a bit of a belligerent sod, to be honest, and I push for these things. I think the NHS needs to be kicked now and then.”

As that dispute rumbles on, Plummer is looking ahead to future projects.

He intends to visit Hungary, Africa and Brazil soon and he’s been commissioned by his publishers to write two more books.

The first will be a collection of his thoughts on the natural world.

Plummer is unable to type for long periods so he is talking aloud into his phone.

Plummer is wary of raising his Parkinson’s in his work because he wants people to buy it on its own merit.

It was only his publishers who printed the charity Parkinson’s UK on the cover of his recent book.

Nonetheless, the dogged determination that has characterised his last seven years will motivate him with future endeavours.

As he says, “I’m producing the best work of my life at the moment.”

lDavid Plummer’s Seven Years of Camera Shake: One Man’s Passion for Photographing Wildlife is available to buy now.

He will be giving a talk at Vinyl Revolution, Duke Street, Brighton at 4pm tomorrow.