If you want better wildlife photos, it’s rarely about buying new gear. The biggest improvements come from building better habits in the field. In this video, I break down 10 habits that instantly improve wildlife photography, whether you’re photographing birds, mammals, or anything in between. These aren’t tricks, presets, or camera hacks. They’re field-proven wildlife photography habits that raise your baseline and make you more consistent every time you lift the camera.
We’ll cover things like:
• A habit you should do with your settings every time • Leveraging the rear LCD for more impact • How to get more emotional wildlife photos • What to look for and avoid in backgrounds before pressing the shutter • How to catch peak moments • When to shoot environmental wildlife images - and when not to • Using backlight and rim light for dramatic wildlife photos • Moving beyond field-guide style images • Leveraging underused camera features for wildlife photography • Spending more time in the field to build real photographic skill
These are the same habits I use in real wildlife photography situations and teach in my workshops. You don’t need to master all ten at once. If you commit to even a few of these wildlife photography field habits, you’ll start seeing better results almost immediately.
Whether you’re looking to jumpstart your wildlife photography this year or you just feel like you’ve hit a plateau, these habits will help you shoot more intentionally, anticipate better moments, and come home with stronger images.
New to wildlife photography or looking to improve bird photography, animal photography, or nature photography? These habits apply across all genres of wildlife work.
