He began photographing birds from an early age, has won numerous awards in international exhibitions, and was made an Artiste of the Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique in 1964.
He has produced several natural history books and field guides, often in collaboration with his wife Pat or his son Raoul.
[2] In her 2001 book Feather and Brush, a historical survey of Australian bird painting, Penny Olsen says: ”Naturalist, artist and writer, Peter Slater could be said to be the most modern equivalent of Neville Cayley Jr.
Both have published enormously successful field guides to Australian birds, reprinted many times, and both have written on and illustrated butterflies.
However, this was not yet evident in his early artwork, which includes the plates in Australian Flycatchers and their Allies, among the first of a new wave of bird identification books.