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.

Experiment with Different Styles

Have you ever taken a slow pan shot or used focus stacking? Have you taken macro shots of the insects in your garden or stayed up all night to photograph star trails? If you haven’t, maybe you need to experiment a little bit more!

Coping with the Cold

When I went to Sweden, the cold broke my tripod. When I went to Canada, the cold broke my lens. When I went to Antarctica, the cold broke my camera. I could go on…!

Extremely low temperatures can wreak havoc with your photography gear, so here are a few lessons I’ve learned in the past few years to help you cope with the cold.

Blur the Foreground With 'Look-overs'

Wildlife photographer Andy Rouse is a big fan of doing ‘look-throughs’—pointing his camera through a hole in the foliage to create a blurred foreground.

In Africa and the polar regions, you don’t get many chances to do that, so I prefer the ‘look-over’. This involves filling the bottom third of the frame with a blurred foreground.

10 Best Places in the World for Wildlife Photography

I’ve been a wildlife photographer for 10 years now, and I’ve been on over 30 trips. I’ve set foot on all seven continents, but most of my expeditions have been to Africa. If you want to learn from my experience, here are my top 10 locations for wildlife photography. There are a few good places I haven’t been to, such as South Africa, but these are my favourites.

What Your Driver can do for you

As John F Kennedy almost said, “Ask what you can do for your driver - and ask what your driver can do for you!”

Drivers and guides are there to help you on safari, and it’s worth getting to know them so that you can benefit from their knowledge and experience—but it’s important to try and give something back.

How to Pack Light!

In March 2021, I wrote a post on my packing list to let people know what I took with me on my photography trips, and you can see an updated version of the list below. However, I thought it was worth revisiting the topic to try to help people pack light.

What are Male, Female and Baby Animals Called on Safari?

I spend a lot of time on safari in Africa, but even I don’t know the right names for some of the male and female animals! I’m sure some of you are in the same boat, so here’s a quick guide to the major species. If you have any other suggestions, please add them in the comments section below…

Adventure Photography: How To Capture Action And Excitement In The Great Outdoors

Adventure photography focuses on outdoor shots such as stunning landscapes and heart-pounding situations. This photography also includes capturing extreme sports, including skiing, mountain climbing, and kayaking photography, hence a fun way to mix adventure with your passion for photography.

How to Photograph Birds Fishing from a Perch

We’ve all seen dramatic images of a kingfisher or bird of prey grabbing a fish while flying across a river or lake, but how do you get those shots? Bird in flight photography is hard enough without having to worry about the fish, too!

Tiger, Tiger...!

Hurry up and wait. That just about sums up any tiger safari. You wait to enter the park, you wait to see a tiger and you wait for it to do something interesting!

New Lightroom AI Denoise

Have you ever thought you’d taken a great photo only to find out the ISO was so high that it was too noisy? We’ve all been there, but don’t despair. I’ve been using Topaz Labs for the past few years, and it’s worked pretty well. Now Adobe has introduced its own noise reduction tool for Lightroom and ACR—and it’s even better!

How to Shoot in Bad Weather

In the words of Alfred Wainwright, “There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Well, in photography terms, it’s not the clothing that’s the problem but the type of shot. Here’s a quick guide to the right types of shots in different kinds of weather.

Embrace the Chaos or Plan Ahead?

“Embrace the chaos!” That’s the advice from Matt Kloskowski, a wildlife photographer in the States. On the other hand, David Yarrow and others seem to plan every single detail of a shoot in advance. So where does that leave us?

What do all the Letters and Numbers Mean on Lenses?

Like cars, lenses tend to have a lot of letters and numbers printed on them, but what do they all mean? If you’re feeling discombobulated, here’s a quick guide to the markings on Canon, Nikon and Sony lenses.

Mirrorless Head-to-head: Canon R3 v Nikon Z9 v Sony ⍺1

Now that mirrorless cameras are wiping the floor with DSLRs—at least at the professional end!—let’s take a look at the three main contenders for the best mirrorless wildlife camera on the market: the Canon R3 (unless you prefer the R5’s higher resolution!), Nikon Z9 and Sony a1.

Pros 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.

What Style of Photographer are you?

Every now and then, people tell me they recognise my photographic ‘style’, but I’m never sure what that means. I guess I just do what comes naturally, so it seems strange to think of myself as having a particular ‘style’, but I guess I do.

What Lenses do you Need for Wildlife Photography?

Size isn’t everything, as they say, but there’s nothing like the power, reach and feel of a long lens. It gets you where the action is and lets you take close-ups of skittish and possibly dangerous wild animals. You still need other types of lenses, of course, but they’re far less glamorous!

What Camera do you Need for Wildlife Photography?

“Hello, my name’s Nick, and I’m a cameraholic.”

There’s something very addictive about buying a new camera. You get obsessed with the idea of owning something that has the latest features, and you simply have to have it…!

Quiz: Never Have I Ever...

What level of wildlife photographer are you? Are you a beginner, intermediate, enthusiast, prosumer, professional—or something else entirely…?!

Here’s a fun quiz to see where you fit. It’s out of 100. Score a point for everything you’ve ever done, add up your points and check the table at the end to see what kind of photographer you really are!