Swings and roundabouts…

I had quite a quiet 2022 in terms of trips, but I’d like to go on a few more this year. Visiting Muchenje a couple of times was very enjoyable, but I’m looking for a bit more variety. I already have two trips planned, one to Kerkini in Greece to see the Dalmation pelicans and one to Bandhavgarh in India to see the tigers, and there might be more on the way. We shall see.

Sadly, though, Michael Potter’s photography workshops in Kenya and South Africa fell through, but I hope to be able to help out next year. I was also supposed to visit Alex Walker’s Serian camps in Kenya, but I couldn’t get confirmation, so I had to cancel.

Trips I’ve Booked

You can find out what I’m up to at any stage by visiting the Events page. I keep that updated in real time, so you’ll always be able to see my latest trips as well as all my workshops and exhibitions. Feel free to drop me a line at nick@nickdalephotography.com or on +44 7942 800921 if you fancy getting involved…!

Bandhavgarh

I’ve been on quite a few Exodus trips with Paul Goldstein, including one to see the tigers of Tadoba, and this is his latest tiger safari. I actually went to Bandhavgarh a few years ago on a G Adventures trip, but we didn’t see a single tiger! Let’s hope Paul can find a few for us this time.

Possible Resident Photographer Jobs

Wildlife photography can be an expensive business, so I’ve been very grateful for the opportunity to barter my pictures for free accommodation at various African safari lodges. However, not every planned trip works out, and once I’ve given the lodges thousands of pictures, they don’t need me any more! Funny, that…

I still have a few contacts at various camps in Namibia and Botswana, though, so I’ll try to follow up and arrange something for this summer if I can.

I also tried to arrange a trip to South America on a similar basis, and I made some progress with some people at Peuma Hue, Huechahue and the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica. However, I don’t think that’s every going to happen.

Other Ideas

Africa

Kicheche

I specialise in African wildlife photography, especially shots of predators such as lions, leopards and cheetahs. That means I’m always keen to go back there if the opportunity presents itself. I once saw five cheetah kills in a week with Paul Goldstein (!), so I’m hoping I might be able to visit one of his Kicheche camps in Kenya. If I get the chance, I’ll be keen to photograph cheetah hunts with my new mirrorless cameras. Let’s hope they improve my miserable hit rate…!

Botswana

My aunt Rachel would like to go to Botswana at some point if she can afford it, and I’ve tried to help her out by arranging a ‘Friends & Family’ deal with Muchenje. If she decides to go and can’t find anyone to go with her, I might go along for the ride. It would be great to visit the lodge again. Toff and Kiddy treated me like royalty, and they were unfailingly helpful and fun to be around—as were all the guests.

‘Hosting’ my aunt might also be a good way of dipping my toe in the water if I decide to run a trip to Botswana at some point, including stays at Muchenje and one of the Belmond lodges. I had a coffee with wildlife photographer Andy Skillen the other day, and he gave me some good advice on how to get started. It would involve spending a few grand on a booth at Destinations or The Photography Show, but I can afford to do that these days, so I’ll have a think about it. I’d like a new challenge, and leading trips would be a great way of spending more time in Africa and possibly beyond.

South Africa

I’ve never been on safari in South Africa, and that’s the one major country I’d like to visit, maybe in August or September. It would’ve been nice to go there with Miriam between my African workshops, but that plan soon fell apart! I also received an email out of the blue from ex-golfer Mark McNulty about going to Leopard Hills, but that trail went cold.

Zambia

South Luangwa is one of the few places on my bucket list, and it might be fun to photograph the leopards and/or the flocks of carmine bee-eaters in November. I have a contact at Sparrow Safaris, and Andy Skillen knows a few people over there, so we’ll see…

North America

Visiting Brooks Falls was one of the highlights of my career in wildlife photography. I had a great time, took home exactly the shots I wanted and had a couple of my favourite near-death experiences with brown bears! It’s always dangerous to go back to your favourite places, which are always likely to be disappointing the second time, but I did ask Naturetrek to investigate the possibility of going last year. Sadly, there’s now a lottery for accommodation at Brooks Camp, so it’s almost impossible to arrange the kind of week-long trip I went on in 2015. One day, maybe…

I did at least manage to see the polar bears at Arviat on the Hudson Bay with Andy Skillen last year, and there are a few other possible bear locations in North America:

• Barter Island, Alaska, in September

• Barrow, Alaska 

• Wapusk National Park, Canada

• Seal River Lodge, Canada 

• Baffin Island, Canada

• North Carolina for black bears

Central America

I follow Steve Perry at Backcountry Gallery, and I’ve occasionally been tempted to go on one of his Costa Rica workshops on the Osa Peninsula. He certainly knows his stuff, and he might be a fun guide. However, there aren’t many predators there, and I think he might’ve stopped doing them now…

South America

For the last few years, I’ve been toying with the idea of visiting the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile to see the local pumas. Andy Skillen tried to help me, but that didn’t work out, and I’ve received a sample itinerary from Quasar Expeditions. Unfortunately, it’s very expensive—especially if I add on a week in the Pampas with Miriam…!

Antarctica

The first time I went to Antarctica in 2016, I thought it was going to be the trip of a lifetime. It was so expensive that I thought I’d never be able to afford another visit. However, all that changed when my friend Jodie invited me to go along on the Young Pioneer Tours cruise last year. It’s probably too early for me to go again this year, but I am tempted by Paul Goldstein’s Shackleton’s Footsteps trips to the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. I once drank a glass of whisky beside Shackleton’s grave on South Georgia, and it left a big impression…

Europe

Apart from a trip to the Cabárceno safari park in Spain and my upcoming visit to Kerkini, I don’t really go on any photographic trips to Europe. The only possible location I have in mind is Flatanger, Norway, to see white-tailed eagles in the summer months.

Britain

I always feel a bit guilty that I don’t take ANY photographic trips in Britain. There are obviously plenty of places I could go, but a combination of laziness and the lack of predators holds me back.

I did meet wildlife photographer Kevin Pigney at The Societies Convention last year, and he even invited me to go on a shoot with him at Lakenheath Fen or the Lackford Lakes hide near Cambridge. However, that was always a little bit optimistic on my part…!

I also discovered a few other possible British locations for wildlife photography at that event:

• Gigrin or Bwlch Nant Yr Arian in Wales for red kite feeding stations

• Seal colony on Norfolk coast

• Loch Marie, Westeros for rutting deer in September/October 

• Aviemore Ospreys or Aviemore Osprey Centre for ospreys in June or July

Asia

I’m looking forward to seeing the tigers in India, but I also have a short list of other places to go in Asia:

• Wrangel Island (a favourite destination of Mark Carwardine)

• Tigers, leopards and panthers in Nagarhole National Park, India

• Tigers at Pench or Kanha National Park, India

• Clouded leopards on Deramakot Forest, Sabah, Borneo

• Snow leopards in Ladakh or Mongolia

Verdict

I hardly ever ‘look forward’ to my photography trips because I truly hate travelling. All the fuss and bureaucracy gets in the way, and I’m constantly afraid of being thrown off the plane for getting my documentation wrong or having an oversized bag.

That’s a shame, of course, and I begin to enjoy my trips as soon as I get my feet back on dry land, but I sometimes think it holds me back. The idea of NOT booking something appeals to my lazy side, and one of the main reasons I’ve ended up going to Kerkini and Bandhavgarh is that they were all laid on a plate for me!

Budget is obviously another issue, and I still haven’t quite cracked how to spend as much time as possible in wildlife-rich locations while spending as little as possible!

Still, the search goes on, and I hope I’ll manage to get away to some more good places this year and take photographs I can be proud of.

Fingers crossed…!

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