I’ve just come back from a week in Arviat, Canada, for the polar bear migration. I had a very good trip—apart from all the waiting around and BA losing my rucksack! - and I was particularly pleased with my new camera, the Sony ⍺1. Here's a complete set-up guide.
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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Polar bear heaven
The blue hour
The blue hour is less well-known than the golden hour, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its advantages. The phrase simply refers to the hour just before sunrise or just after sunset when the colour of the light is generally ‘cooler’. In this article, I’ll show you a few of the benefits of this time of day and give you some ideas for the kinds of shots to take.
Read MoreThe golden hour
The quality of light is crucial in creating a great photograph.
The word photography, after all, means ‘writing with light’, so it’s no surprise that a lot of photographers spend most of their time shooting during the ‘golden hour’ either just after sunrise or just before sunset.
Read MoreTwelve secrets to winning wildlife photography competitions
If you’re a wildlife photographer, but you’ve never won a wildlife photography competition, here are a few trade secrets to help you break your duck!
Read MoreHead-to-head: Bear Gills v Bear Necessities
This is the first of a series of head-to-head photo critiques that compare two similar wildlife shots I’ve taken in the last few years.
The idea is to show you first of all that nobody’s perfect (!) and also to help you identify problems in your own shots that you can then fix - either in camera or during post-processing.
Read MoreLow key portraits
Wildlife shots are ten a penny these days, so how do you make yours stand out from the herd? Well, one thing you can experiment with is low key portraits. All you need to do is underexpose the shot (either in camera or in Lightroom – see sections below), and you’ll create a whole new atmosphere, something that’s either moody, mysterious or threatening – whatever works best.
Read MoreAfrican buffalo facts
The African buffalo is so dangerous that it’s been called ‘Black Death’, and it’s responsible for killing around 200 people a year in Africa. The fact that it’s so dangerous is one of the reasons why trophy hunters added it to the list of the Big Five, alongside the lion, leopard, elephant and rhino.
Read MoreExtreme photography
In the quest to help people improve their photography, I’ve written various blog posts, including one on the rules of composition and another on how to stand out from the herd.
Today, I’m going to try a different approach - what I call ‘extreme photography’.
Read MoreZoo photography
If you’re a wildlife photographer, zoos and safari parks can be a cheap and cheerful alternative to going on a long-haul destination such as the Masai Mara.
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 MoreNikon D880 or Nikon Z9?
I bet against England winning Euro 2020, and I won enough money to buy a new camera - but which one?
Up until recently, I just assumed it would be the latest DSLR in Nikon’s range, which is likely to be named the D880, but now I’m not so sure.
Read MoreI hate photography exhibitions!
Why do photographers do what we do? I guess the same motivation applies with any profession: we want to make money, win recognition and do something we enjoy. Every now and again, though, I’m taken by surprise when someone has a very different idea of what it’s all about.
Read MoreFree Lightroom presets
Presets save you an awful lot of work in Lightroom. You can do what I do and create them yourself for your most common edits, or you can download them from the internet.
Some are free, and some you have to pay for. Here is a list of various websites offering free Lightroom presets.
Read MoreHow to improve your photography
When it comes to golf and photography, I’m largely self-taught.
Photography is quite a lonely profession, so I thought I should write down how I’ve learned and improved as a photographer in order to help anyone out there who wants to do the same.
Read MoreExit, pursued by a bear
‘Exit, pursued by a bear’ is the most famous stage direction in theatrical history. It comes in Act III of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and I know exactly how Antigonus felt…!
I had my very own close encounter with a bear when I went to Brooks Falls in Alaska in July 2015.
Read MoreWhat to do with your photos
So you’ve taken thousands of photos, and they’re all sitting on your hard drive, but what are you going to do with them?
That’s the question I’m going to try and answer in this article.
Read MorePhotography competitions
I’ve now won enough competitions to be able to call myself an ‘international award-winning photographer’, but it’s a bit of a fool’s errand. The only one anyone ever seems to have heard of is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition run by the Natural History Museum, but it receives 50,000 entries a year from over 100 countries and only displays the top 100 images in its annual exhibition.
Read MoreHow to choose a photographic trip
I’ve been on plenty of photographic trips, but I’m quite picky about the companies I use.
In this article, I’ll provide a few different perspectives on how to choose a photographic trip that’s right for you.
Read MoreTips for setting up your Nikon DSLR
I see a lot of ‘unboxing’ videos on social media - as if taking something out of a box required some sort of special skill…!
This article doesn’t involve any cardboard boxes, but it does tell you a few neat tricks to customise your Nikon camera.
Read More