Capture the Moment!

Here are all my posts on photography, covering techniques, trips, research, exhibitions, talks and workshops. Watch out for my latest article every Saturday.

I’ve also written dozens of articles for Expert Photography and Camera Reviews.

If you’d like to contribute a guest post on any aspect of photography, please email me at nick@nickdalephotography.com. My standard fee is £50 plus £10 for each dofollow link.

Note: Some blog posts contain affiliate links to Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

How do you Judge a Wildlife Photo?

People sometimes show me a wildlife photo and ask me what I think, but I always turn the question around. “What do you think of it yourself?” Aesthetics are subjective, so there’s no right or wrong answer, and my view is no more ‘valid’ just because I’m a professional wildlife photographer. However, if you ask me what makes a good photo, that requires a much longer answer…!

What Accessories Do You Need For Wildlife Photography?

Wildlife photography can be an expensive hobby—and it gets even worse if you end up buying lots of accessories, including memory cards, spare batteries, filters, battery grips, flashguns, drones, tripods and camera bags. And what about a computer? Editing images and video on the go demands a top-of-the-range laptop that might set you back thousands…!

I'd Rather be Lucky than Good!

In a sense, every wildlife photograph is a matter of luck. These are wild birds and animals we’re talking about, not fashion models working in a studio! You can’t tell wildlife subjects to pose, and bears and big cats are too dangerous to get close to.

Stills or Video?

If you’re a wildlife photographer who also shoots video, when should you take pictures and when should you film? Tricky one. I’m in the same boat, and I’m never sure of the answer. I see myself as a photographer first and foremost, so that’s my priority, but there are times when video is the right way to go.

How to Become a Professional Wildlife Photographer

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin…

Once upon a time, a boy bought a camera and decided to become a professional photographer. He took hundreds of pictures and told his mum he wanted to go to the London College of Printing.

“Well,” she said, “you can always take it up later as a hobby…”

And that was that for 30 years!

My Camera History

The Sunday Times used to ask celebrities what cars they’d owned and what their dream car would be. In my case, it would’ve been the same answer: an E-Type Jaguar! When it comes to cameras, the list would be a bit longer.

Top 100 Photos: Strengths and Weaknesses

I’m going to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) exhibition at the Natural History Museum in a couple of weeks to see the top 100 wildlife photographs in the world. Unfortunately, I know in advance that I’ll like hardly any of them!

10 Classic Safari Shots

To my knowledge, not many photographers who go on safari put together a shot list in advance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s worth considering so that you can make the most of your experience. The last thing you want to do is come home kicking yourself you didn’t get a shot of a leopard or a cheetah hunt.

Wet and Wild!

I’ve just come back from a couple of weeks at Kicheche in the Masai Mara. There was so much rain that it sometimes felt like I was in a remake of Waterworld, starring Paul Goldstein!

2024: My New Year's Resolutions

I don’t normally make New Year’s resolutions, but I thought I should share some of the things I’d like to be able to do in 2024. Unfortunately, most of them are outside my control and rely on various businesses getting their act together, but here’s hoping…!

2023: From Grendel to Pumas

This is my last post of 2023, so I thought I'd write a quick review of the year.

Types of Light for Wildlife Photography

Light is light, right? Wrong! Light varies in colour, direction, brightness and softness throughout the day, and each type makes different demands on the photographer. You need to know how to guarantee good light and how to cope with bad light by using the right camera settings and editing techniques.

Calibration can Make Your Images Pop!

Calibration might be the last panel in the Lightroom Develop module, but it’s by no means the least useful. I often use the Blue Primary Saturation slider to make my images ‘pop’', and you can do the same!

How to Shoot Handheld

The first photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using a shutter speed of eight hours! He had to keep the camera still for so long that he needed a tripod. However, modern cameras and smartphones have brought shutter speeds down so far that most people shoot handheld. So what’s the best way to do it?

Dust, Air and Spume!

According to Paul Goldstein, dust, air and spume are the “Holy Trinity of wildlife photography”. The idea is to show energy and movement by showing the dust thrown up by galloping hooves, animals and birds ‘getting air’ and the spume created by action shots in water.

How to Photograph the Big Cats

One of the most popular subjects in wildlife photography is the big cats—including the tiger, lion, jaguar, puma and cheetah. I’ve photographed all of them in the wild, and here are a few tips I picked up along the way…

Dress for Success!

Wherever you go in the world to take pictures, it’s important to wear the right clothing. I’ve worked as a photographer in 26 countries on all seven continents, so I thought I’d give you the lowdown on what I usually wear in different places and in different conditions.

Accessorise!

If you want to buy a camera or lens for wildlife photography, there are probably millions of online articles to give you all the advice you need, but what about accessories? Tripods, filters and cleaning kits might not be as sexy, but when you need them, you really need them!

Eight Ways to Photograph Crowd Scenes

As a wildlife photographer, I find crowd scenes very difficult. I’ve just looked through my Top 100 shots of all time, and only one of them had more than four subjects!

Blur the Foreground With 'Look-overs'

Wildlife photographer Andy Rouse is a big fan of doing ‘look-throughs’—pointing his camera through a hole in the foliage to create a blurred foreground.

In Africa and the polar regions, you don’t get many chances to do that, so I prefer the ‘look-over’. This involves filling the bottom third of the frame with a blurred foreground.