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.
Read MoreCapture 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.
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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!
Read MoreMara River Crossing
Beautiful women, power cuts, cold water, wildebeest, rain, laughter, one business class seat and 78,000 photos. That’s what I got when I went to see the Mara river crossing in the Serengeti National Park!
Read MoreCreate a Shot List
I have to confess that I very rarely make a shot list. The problem is that I’m a freelance wildlife photographer, so I don’t have clients to satisfy, and I’m happy to take pictures of whatever I happen to see. As Matt Kloskowski is fond of saying, I ‘embrace the chaos’!
Read MoreEmbrace the Chaos or Plan Ahead?
“Embrace the chaos!” That’s the advice from Matt Kloskowski, a wildlife photographer in the States. On the other hand, David Yarrow and others seem to plan every single detail of a shoot in advance. So where does that leave us?
Read MoreHow to Become a Resident Photographer
A few years ago, I asked Andy Skillen how to win clients as a wildlife photographer. He didn’t tell me, but he did tell me a story of the ‘dream scenario’. He had an enquiry from a group of managers who wanted to buy a retirement present for their departing chairman. They wanted it to be a picture of a row of five hippos in the water, all looking towards the camera.
Read MorePhoto trip history
From Alaska to Australia, from Svalbard to Antarctica, I’ve taken pictures in 26 countries on all seven continents. Phew…!
I thought it might be fun to show you this map and give you a potted history of my photographic trips since I turned professional in 2013, together with my favourite images from each one.
Read MoreMy top 10 birds
I’ve taken pictures of well over 200 birds around the world, so it’s been very tricky narrowing down the list to just ten. In the end, I had to cheat by broadening the definition of ‘bird’ from species to something like ‘genus’ or ‘family’.
Read MoreSafari destination guide
I’ve visited Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe on safari and worked as the Resident Photographer for four months at various camps in Tanzania and Kenya.
Read MoreMy top 10 animals
The hippo is not one of my favourite animals. I just want to get that out of the way right at the start. They spend most of their time submerged up to their snouts in water, and it’s very difficult to get a decent picture of any of them.
Read More2019
If you’d like to know a little bit more about what I’ve been up to as a photographer in the last 12 months, I’ve put together this summary.
Read MoreGrumeti Serengeti Tented Camp
Klein's Camp: Part 2
“There’s a lion fighting with a buffalo!” cried our driver, holding his binoculars and looking round in my direction. “Okay, let’s go!”
Read MoreKlein's Camp
If I told you I had to ask a guy with a spear to walk me home every night for the last month, you’d probably ask where on Earth I was staying. The answer is Klein’s Camp in the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Read More2018
Rather than annoy everyone on my mailing list by sending them an American-style Christmas newsletter telling them all the wonderful things I’d been up to, I thought I’d write this post instead!
Read MoreThe ones that got away
I get nervous before I go on photography trips. Part of that is just worrying about travel arrangements, visas and packing everything I need, but another part of it is worrying that I won't get the shots I want. Here are a few examples of 'the ones that got away'.
Read MoreFantastic beasts and where to find them
When God painted Tanzania, he did so with a very limited palette of green and brown. There's not much variety in the landscape either, and some of the grassy plains are so flat you could lie on your back and see for a hundred miles! The only relief is the occasional kopje, or rock formation, but that's more like the artist's signature on a blank canvas.
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