The first time I stayed at Kicheche Bush Camp in the Masai Mara, I saw five cheetah kills. This time, I didn’t see any in a whole week, so I had to make do with silhouettes, leopards, cubs, birds—and a few slow pans in honour of Paul Goldstein…!
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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Mana from Heaven
Most people who meet someone who works for the National Security Advisor would probably have a brief chat and then forget all about him. I didn’t. Toby impressed me so much with the ‘mystical, blue light’ at Mana Pools and the chance to walk right up to the animals with a guy called Stretch Ferreira that I booked a trip as soon as I got home!
Read MoreGetting Started on Bird Photography: 10 Essential Tips
Bird photography is a uniquely accessible pastime, particularly in the age of affordable high-performance cameras. However, it can be much more involved compared to other photography-related hobbies because of the technical know-how and personal discipline needed to capture human-shy bird species.
Read MoreDust, 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.
Read MoreEight 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 MorePros and Cons of Using Auto ISO
Most of the amateur photographers I meet don’t use manual mode. They think it’s just too intimidating. However, you can make it a lot less scary by using auto ISO to control the exposure.
Read MoreLake Kerkini
I’ve just come back from a five-day visit to Lake Kerkini in Greece to photograph the Dalmatian pelicans. I usually prefer the Big Five to birds, so it wasn’t my normal sort of trip, but it was good fun, and I was happy with my pictures—and that’s the main thing!
Read MoreFour Ways to Photograph African Birds in Flight
Most people prefer wildlife action shots to portraits, and I’m no different. I also spend a lot of time on safari, so I end up taking quite a few pictures of African birds in flight. Even the most beautiful bird looks better on the wing than on a stick, so it’s worth the wait! Here are a few tips to help you get the best possible results—depending on the size of the bird.
Read MoreAntarctica
It might’ve gone wrong in so many ways.
I might’ve failed one of my 12 (!) Covid tests, too many other people might’ve caught Covid, I might’ve had the wrong documents, the ship might’ve been impounded, we might’ve been weathered out, I might’ve lost my luggage (again!), we might’ve struggled to see any wildlife…and so on, and so on.
Read MoreHow I Photograph Birds
When people ask me if I take pictures of birds, I say, “Yes, I do – if there aren’t any animals around…!”
I’m only joking (mostly!), but it’s true that there are a lot of ‘birders’ out there, and getting good shots of birds – particularly birds in flight (BIF) – is not that easy.
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