Landscape photography from the field

Wildlife Photography

When the Location Fights Back: Wildlife and Landscape Photography on a Coastal Nature Reserve
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When the Location Fights Back: Wildlife and Landscape Photography on a Coastal Nature Reserve

There’s a particular kind of shoot I’ve done dozens of times over twenty years: the one where everything you planned evaporates within the first hour. Wrong season, wrong access, wrong light. You either pack up and sulk, or you adapt and find something better than what you came for. The photographers who last in this work are the ones who’ve made peace with that second path. That’s why I keep coming back to Thomas Heaton’s work.

Beyond the Carrion: Capturing Vultures Through the Lens of Conservation
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Beyond the Carrion: Capturing Vultures Through the Lens of Conservation

The Vulture’s Image Problem When I first heard about International Vulture Awareness Day’s recent photography competition, I found myself confronting my own biases. Like most people, I’d grown up viewing vultures as little more than scavengers—those dark silhouettes circling overhead that seemed to signal something ominous. But stepping into the field with this project changed my perspective entirely. The truth is, vultures are among nature’s most critical janitors, and yet they remain perhaps our most underappreciated wildlife subjects.

Chasing Light and Lightning: Field Lessons from a Day of Seabird and Coastal Landscape Photography
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Chasing Light and Lightning: Field Lessons from a Day of Seabird and Coastal Landscape Photography

There’s a particular kind of day in field photography that teaches you more than any workshop ever could. It’s the day where you start with a plan, the weather dismantles it piece by piece, and you either adapt or you go home empty. I’ve had hundreds of those days over the past twenty years. They’re the ones I remember most. In this First Man Photography tutorial, Watch the full tutorial on YouTube, the photographer sets out for a full day along the Yorkshire coast, starting with seabird photography at Bempton Cliffs and ending with a coastal sunset attempt at Flamborough Head that gets interrupted by a full-on lightning storm.

What a Landscape Photographer Learns When They Stop Controlling the Frame
Video Tutorials

What a Landscape Photographer Learns When They Stop Controlling the Frame

There’s a particular kind of humility that comes from stepping outside your own genre. I’ve spent two decades composing landscapes, reading light, waiting for clouds to cooperate. I know my tools cold, and I know my instincts. But every so often something pulls me sideways into unfamiliar territory, and that’s usually where the real learning happens. In this Nigel Danson tutorial, the British landscape photographer trades his wide-angle compositions for a telephoto lens and spends a morning in a photography blind in a Danish forest with wildlife photographer Morten Hilmer.

Four Decades of Devotion: What Tom Murphy's Yellowstone Bison Photography Teaches Us About Deep Work
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Four Decades of Devotion: What Tom Murphy's Yellowstone Bison Photography Teaches Us About Deep Work

The Power of Staying Put There’s a quiet revolution happening in nature photography, one that contradicts the Instagram-driven impulse to chase every location, every season, every trending landscape. Tom Murphy embodies this countermovement. Over four decades, Murphy has made Yellowstone National Park not just a destination, but a permanent studio—a place where intimacy with subject matter has yielded work that transcends typical wildlife documentation. Having established roots in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem over five decades ago, Murphy transformed what could have been a passing interest into a lifelong artistic investigation.

The Pre-Dawn Ritual: Why Your Camera Settings Matter More Than You Think
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The Pre-Dawn Ritual: Why Your Camera Settings Matter More Than You Think

The Power of Preparation There’s something almost meditative about the moments before dawn breaks over a landscape. You’re standing in the dark, coffee in hand, checking your gear one final time. Your camera feels heavy with possibility. But here’s what separates the photographers who capture magic from those who miss it: preparation. I’ve spent enough mornings in the field to understand that the best shot often comes without warning. A bird takes flight.

When Nature Photography Meets the Digital Age: A Cautionary Tale
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When Nature Photography Meets the Digital Age: A Cautionary Tale

The Question That Won’t Go Away I’ve been photographing wildlife for nearly two decades, and I’ve watched the landscape of our craft transform dramatically. But recently, I witnessed something that crystallized a tension I’ve felt building in our community for years: the growing uncertainty about what constitutes a legitimate nature photograph in an age of AI and advanced compositing. The National Wildlife Federation’s recent Garden for Wildlife Photo Contest became ground zero for this debate when their winning owl image was stripped of its prize following widespread community scrutiny.

When Wildlife Photography Captures the Perfectly Imperfect Moment
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When Wildlife Photography Captures the Perfectly Imperfect Moment

The Beauty of Unscripted Wildlife Moments I’ve spent countless hours in the field chasing the “perfect” shot—the golden-hour light, the ideal composition, the subject in full majesty. But there’s something profoundly refreshing about Alison Tuck’s winning entry in the 2025 Sterna People’s Choice Award: a gannet with its dignified composure completely undone by a face full of grass and weeds. This image reminds us why I fell in love with nature photography in the first place.

Why We Must Photograph the Creatures Others Overlook
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Why We Must Photograph the Creatures Others Overlook

The Power of the Lens in Conservation I’ve spent countless hours in marshes, forests, and rocky outcrops seeking subjects that most people would rather avoid. Snakes, salamanders, frogs, and lizards rarely make it onto calendar covers or trending social media feeds. Yet these creatures deserve our attention—and our compassion—more than ever before. Photography has emerged as one of our most potent conservation tools. When we capture these animals in their natural habitats, we’re not just creating images; we’re building a case for their survival.

When the Wild Chooses: What This Year's People's Choice Wildlife Winner Reveals About Nature Photography
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When the Wild Chooses: What This Year's People's Choice Wildlife Winner Reveals About Nature Photography

A Moment That Transcends Technical Mastery I’ve spent enough time in the field to know that the most memorable photographs often aren’t the ones that check every technical box. This year’s Nuveen People’s Choice Award winner—a captivating image of a lynx in Spain, caught mid-play with its prey—is a perfect example of why audiences connect with certain wildlife moments above all others. The public has spoken, and they’ve chosen something raw, unscripted, and genuinely alive.

The Thrill of the Unknown: Why Risk-Taking Defines Wildlife Photography
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The Thrill of the Unknown: Why Risk-Taking Defines Wildlife Photography

The Moment Everything Changes There’s a particular electricity that courses through you when you realize you’re about to witness something utterly unprecedented. In wildlife photography, this feeling is rare—and absolutely intoxicating. After years of studying animal behavior, scouting locations, and reviewing countless reference images, nothing quite compares to the adrenaline of encountering a subject that’s never graced another photographer’s lens. This understanding has fundamentally shaped how I approach my work in the field.

Beyond the Gear: Finding Your Voice When Technology Does the Heavy Lifting
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Beyond the Gear: Finding Your Voice When Technology Does the Heavy Lifting

There’s a moment I experience regularly now, standing in the pre-dawn stillness waiting for light to touch a distant ridge. My camera’s autofocus system is so sophisticated it could track a hummingbird through a thicket. My sensor reads light better than my eyes ever could. And yet, I find myself wondering: what separates a technically perfect image from one that actually moves someone? The Technological Leap Forward We’re living through a remarkable inflection point in wildlife and nature photography.