Capture the Moment!

Since 2013, I’ve published hundreds of blog posts on all aspects of photography. Some are aimed at helping photographers with their technique, settings, and equipment, but others describe my exhibitions, workshops, and adventures in Africa, Antarctica, and beyond.

Feel free to browse chronologically or click on any category heading for specific content, such as Equipment, Trips or Hints and Tips.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, please drop me a line at nick@nickdalephotography.com or on +44 7942 800921.

Life List
Wildlife Nick Dale Wildlife Nick Dale

Life List

Every now and again, I see an animal or bird for the very first time. They’re nice moments, I suppose, but I’ve never worked out how often it happens or tried to write down a ‘life list’ of species—until now!

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Photographic Trips
Photography Nick Dale Photography Nick Dale

Photographic Trips

I’ve been a professional wildlife photographer since 2013, so I often lose track of all my photographic trips! For my own reference and for yours, here’s a list of everywhere I’ve been with my favourite photos from each place.

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Kings and Rollers
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

Kings and Rollers

I’ve just spent a week as the resident photographer for Imvelo Safaris at Bomani Tented Lodge near Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. I didn’t have any dramatic encounters and mostly saw lions and birds—which was a little disappointing as I’d heard that Hwange was a good place to see the Big Five. However, it was still very enjoyable—especially as I got free accommodation as part of the deal!

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Favourite Photos: The Big Five
Wildlife Nick Dale Wildlife Nick Dale

Favourite Photos: The Big Five

I have a problem. My problem is that I rarely like wildlife photographs by anyone else. The first time I went round the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum, I only liked 12 out of 150 photos!

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How to Look After your Photo Gear
Equipment Nick Dale Equipment Nick Dale

How to Look After your Photo Gear

It’s ironic that the hobbies that require the most expensive equipment are often those that require the fewest precautions. If you go skiing, you might leave a very expensive pair of skis outside a restaurant while you have lunch. If you play golf, you might leave a very expensive set of clubs outside the pro shop while you have a drink. And if you’re a photographer, you might leave a very expensive camera in a tent for a week! Crazy, right?

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Learn by Limiting Yourself!
Hints and tips Nick Dale Hints and tips Nick Dale

Learn by Limiting Yourself!

Gerry van der Walt recently mentioned a couple of interesting concepts. The first is ‘the Rut of Competence’. The second is that you can improve your creativity by limiting your options. These ideas are obviously related, but can you actually learn by limiting yourself…?

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Sales and Marketing Tips for Wildlife Photographers
Hints and tips Nick Dale Hints and tips Nick Dale

Sales and Marketing Tips for Wildlife Photographers

Let me just say right up front that I’ve never been very good at sales and marketing. I’ve had to learn on the job, but it’s been a frustrating experience—and very hard to measure success.

Here are various tools I’ve used myself over the last couple of years. I can’t guarantee they’ll work, but at least you’ll have a few ideas…!

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How to Photograph Cheetahs
Hints and tips Nick Dale Hints and tips Nick Dale

How to Photograph Cheetahs

I’ve taken more photos of cheetahs than any other animal, so I thought it was about time I wrote about how to do it! Whether you favour portraits or action shots, here’s an expert guide to improving your cheetah photography…

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Wildlife Photography with an iPhone
Equipment Nick Dale Equipment Nick Dale

Wildlife Photography with an iPhone

Wildlife photographers are often seen as ‘big men with big guns’—ie expensive cameras with long lenses. And I’m probably one of them! When guests on safari see my 600mm lens, they often come over to talk to me about it before admitting they ‘only’ have an iPhone—sometimes blushing in embarrassment!

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Silhouette City
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

Silhouette City

I spent my second week in the Masai Mara at Kicheche Valley Camp, and you can probably sum it up in three words: cats, birds and silhouettes! I managed to see my ‘traditional’ cheetah kill, photographed many birds in flight and started and finished most days by taking sunrise and sunset silhouettes.

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2024: I Had a Year in Africa...
Photography Nick Dale Photography Nick Dale

2024: I Had a Year in Africa...

I didn’t quite spend a whole year in Africa (only 12 weeks!), but with a little help from a successful remortgage and a hefty bank loan, I managed to pay three visits to my favourite safari destinations (Kicheche and Muchenje) and stay in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe for the very first time.

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Where to See the Big Five
Hints and tips Nick Dale Hints and tips Nick Dale

Where to See the Big Five

For most people who go on safari in Africa, it’s all about the Big Five: lions, leopards, African bush elephants, black and white rhinoceroses and African (or Cape) buffaloes. Back in the days of big game hunting, those were the five most dangerous beasts, so hunters prized them as trophies to take back home and put on their walls.

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Mana from Heaven
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

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!

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How to use Pre-release Capture
Hints and tips Nick Dale Hints and tips Nick Dale

How to use Pre-release Capture

OM System has had Pro Capture Mode for years, the Canon R1 now has Pre-burst Capture and the Nikon Z8 and Z9 have Pre-release Capture. However, Sony doesn’t have any equivalent, and that used to be very frustrating. My two ⍺1s were probably the best on the market for wildlife photography, but they couldn’t ‘turn back time’. So what did I do? I exchanged one of them for a Nikon Z8!

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Feast or Famine
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

Feast or Famine

After Kapamba, I stayed at Zungulila in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, from 1 to 5 August. This was the last stop on my tour and, according to the website, it was supposed to be ‘a remote, classic tented safari camp that delivers an authentic safari experience in eminently peaceful surrounds’.

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Birds, Dogs and Pukus
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

Birds, Dogs and Pukus

After Bilimungwe, I visited Kapamba in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, from 29 July to 1 August. According to the website, it was supposed to be ‘A remote and romantic camp situated in a prime location on the Kapamba River, and one of only two Bushcamps to be open from April to January’.

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The Dog Whisperer
Trips Nick Dale Trips Nick Dale

The Dog Whisperer

After Kuyenda, I spent four nights at Bilimungwe in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. According to the website, it’s ‘beautiful’, ‘warm and welcoming’, ‘blends seamlessly with its surroundings and offers unrivalled wildlife viewings’. That wasn’t entirely true, but it did allow me to meet Manda, The Dog Whisperer…!

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