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 the category heading above any post for specific content, such as Equipment, Trips or Hints and Tips.
If you’d like to write a guest post, please drop me a line at nick@nickdalephotography.com or on +44 7942 800921.
Every picture tells a story: Bear Gills
I’m a wildlife photographer, and this is one in an occasional series of posts about my best 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 necessary.
Brown bear facts
Watching brown bears fish for salmon on Brooks Falls is one of the all-time highlights of the natural world, and it’s a must for any wildlife photographer.
Photography software
Photographers rely on a lot of software in order to do their job, so I thought it might be useful for me to list all the programs I use (both on my laptop and my phone) in order to edit my images and manage my business.
Depth of field
To blur or not to blur. That is the question.
In this article, I’ll tell you how to control depth of field (or DOF) and try to show you when you don’t want it, when you do want it and what to do when it all goes horribly wrong!
Lion facts
Lions like to sleep. And they do it a LOT - around 20 to 22 hours a day, in fact.
This can be a bit frustrating if you happen to be a wildlife photographer, but it’s worth the effort!
Photography earnings
I’ve been working as a professional photographer since 2013, and I just thought I’d provide you with some insight into how I make money.
Lightroom shortcuts
I’ve just taken part in the Lightroom Virtual Summit, hosted by Matt Kloskowski and Dave Cross, and it inspired me to write a post about Lightroom shortcuts. I learned a couple of new ones while watching their series of videos, and I’m happy to share them all with you.
Back button focus
Back button focus (or BBF) is an important tool in wildlife, sport and any other kind of action photography.
Four Things to Consider Before Buying a Drone
In recent years, becoming a professional photographer has never been easier as photography gear and education have become more accessible and affordable. For this reason, local photography markets have been overly saturated, and competition is stiff.
In order to get ahead of your competition, you should think innovatively and incorporate new tools that can boost your career and improve your portfolio. One such tool is a photography drone.
Cheetah facts
The cheetah is my favourite animal. It may not be the prettiest - most people prefer the leopard - but there’s nothing to beat the sight of a cheetah running at full speed. It never fails to make me smile…
And if you’re lucky enough to see a cheetah kill, that’s one of the most exciting moments you can ever get on safari!
Selective colour
The advent of digital cameras led to a number of changes in photography, and one of those was the chance to create pictures using selective colour.
The basic idea is to turn a photograph into black and white and then highlight the key area by colouring it in again.
What I have in my camera bag
I’ve taken pictures in 26 countries on all seven continents, but the only place I’ve visited regularly is Africa.
This list of what’s in my camera bag is therefore geared towards a safari trip, and it would obviously look a bit different if I was snorkelling in the Galápagos Islands or going white water rafting!
How to enlarge a photo
Gigapixel AI is the ‘ugly duckling’ of the Topaz Labs suite of software programs, but it can be just as useful as Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI if you need to enlarge an image, say for printing.
How to reduce noise
I’ve recently discovered the Topaz Labs suite of software products that includes Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI and DeNoise AI. This article discusses how best to use the last of these.
How to sharpen an image
I use Adobe Lightroom for editing all my images, and it’s a very good program, so generally I have no complaints.
However, there’s one thing I never do in Lightroom, and that’s sharpening.
The problem is that ‘sharpening’ in Lightroom is not really sharpening at all. It’s contrast. And there’s a big difference.
How to do low light photography
Every problem is a fact plus a judgment.
Low light might be regarded as a ‘problem’, but it depends how you look at it.
How to improve your black and white wildlife photography
I don’t take any shots in black and white. And nor does anyone else, for that matter, because modern DSLR RAW files are always in colour. If you want to create black and white images, then you simply have to convert them in Lightroom.
How to use exposure compensation
Whenever I teach people about exposure compensation, I always find myself using the example of a leopard in a tree: “The sky behind is bright, but the leopard is dark, so you have to use a stop or two of exposure compensation.”
The idea is to get the ‘right’ exposure for the subject when the camera is being ‘fooled’ by the bright background, but why does this happen?
Nine ways to make money from wildlife photography
The obvious question for a lot of amateur photographers is ‘How do I make money from wildlife photography?’ The answer is that I’m still trying to work it out! All I can do is tell you what I’ve done myself and give you a few ideas.