Top 20 tips for...Wildlife photography

From essential preparations to key techniques and creative options, wildlife pro Laurie Campbell has 20 ways you can enhance your animal and bird photography with your Nikon

- Laurie Campbell

It was the brilliant nature photographer Danny Green who first coined the phrase that wildlife photography had become “the new golf”. I feel sure that Danny was referring to the massive surge in the popularity in photographing wildlife that seemed to begin when the advent of digital capture coincided with the time when technologies such as autofocus lenses were starting to get serious.

When I started out in the mid1970s – and at the risk of trotting out the old “When I were a lad” sentiment, akin to the ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch from Monty Python – any genre that involved photographing action was a craft. Imagine, for example, using manual-focus lenses and ISO64 slide film, then having to wait until processed film came back from the lab to see if that once-in-a-lifetime shot was even in focus. Nowadays with digital capture, we may be able to fast-track much of the above, but there still remains a far more important requirement – and that is having knowledge of your subject. Become a better naturalist and you become a better nature photographer.

Above all, take your time and be patient. Nature runs at a slower pace than our busy modern lives, and it’s a fact that spending time outdoors is good for our wellbeing. No wonder so many people are enjoying photographing nature and sharing the results with others. In fact, that’s exactly why I became a nature photographer.

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Before you even pick up your Nikon, here are four ways to make sure you know what you want to shoot and that you're keeping wildlife safe