Capture 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.

Note: Some blog posts contain affiliate links to Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Every picture tells a story: Fly Bee

I’m a wildlife photographer, and this is one in an occasional series of posts about my favourite photographs. I’ll tell you how I took them and break down the shot into the idea, the location, the equipment, the settings, the technique and any post-processing.

Kicheche Bush Camp

I’ve just come back from 10 days at Kicheche Bush Camp with Paul Goldstein. It was meant to be a week-long Exodus trip, but when that was cancelled due to the new Covid restrictions, I booked privately with Paul, and I’m so glad I did!

2020: A Journal of the Plague Year

The year 2019 was a stand-out year for me when it comes to my photography career: being able to spend four months on safari in Tanzania and Kenya was a spectacular result - and all because I happened to read an online article about a photographer who’d managed to spend a whole year staying at lodges in Africa in exchange for taking pictures. Who knew it was even possible?!

Namibia

Until recently, the longest journey I’d ever had to make was 36 hours. That was how long it took to get to Brooks Falls in Alaska to see the bears catching salmon. My trip to Namibia ended up taking seven months!

Guest post: Seven tips that will turn your hobby into a profession

Can you turn your photography hobby into a profession? The fact is that professional photography is in high demand. It’s an exciting time for hobbyists, but before you take the plunge into the professional world, have a look at a few professional photography tips to help kick start your career.

Fun facts on safari

Here’s what I learned about the bush from my guides over the last four months…

Facts and figures from my Africa trip

My trip to Africa came about when I happened to read an online article about a guy who’d managed to wangle himself 365 nights of accommodation in exchange for taking pictures. I thought to myself, “I could do that!”, so I Googled ‘safari lodges in Kenya and Tanzania’, sent off 50 emails and waited to see what happened. After only a couple of weeks, I had 17 invitations!

Cottar's 1920s Safari Camp

Cold, grey and wet. The weather at Cottar’s when I arrived on 28 May wasn’t great, and it didn’t get much better until a few days before I left on 30 June.

Wildlife sightings

The only question that really matters when you’re on safari is “Will we see X?” Now, ‘X’ may be a lion, a cheetah, a kill or a wildebeest crossing, but the frustrating bit is that you never get a straight answer.

Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp

My time at Grumeti started off with a few frustrations and disappointments, but it all came right in the end…!

Don't poke the bear!

Twenty years ago, I was staying with my best friend Mark in Golders Green and found myself chatting with his mother. She was in her seventies, but I politely asked if she'd been anywhere nice recently.

"Yes," she said, "I've just come back from watching the bears catching salmon in Alaska."

That'll teach me...!

Athens

I just spent two weeks in Greece preparing a Greek boy and his twin sisters for 10+ and 12+ entrance examinations at a school in England.

Every picture tells a story: Red Xmas tree star with bokeh lights

I live in an Art Deco mansion block in Putney, and every year the porters put a Christmas tree in the entrance hall.

Every picture tells a story: Close-up of golden eagle head with catchlight

I’m a photographer (among other things), and this is the first of a series of posts about my favourite photographs. I’ll tell you how I took them and break down the shot into the idea, the location, the equipment, the settings, the technique and any post-processing.

Cold Turkey

Pool, beach or hammock? Hammock, beach or pool? Hmm…

And then it all went bear-shaped…

Beautiful girls are like polar bears: they’re hard to find, and you try to get as close as you possibly can before they turn their backs and walk away.

Hong Kong? Phooey!

When they built Hong Kong, they put the sun in the wrong place. It’s always either behind a building, hidden by a cloud or on the wrong side of the island to see a decent sunset.

Lost in translation

My best experience in Moscow could easily have been my worst.

Back in the USSR

Before I went to Belarus, I was warned it would be like going back to the Soviet Union: brutalist architecture, statues of Karl Marx and a hankering after the Communist era.

A photographer’s bucket list

I make lists. I make lots of lists. Even when people tell me not to, I still make lists.