Go Wild For Winter

Our 20 top tips and tricks for capturing spectacular seasonal wildlife images.

- Marcus Hawkins

When it comes to wildlife photography, no other season offers quite the same potential for capturing dramatic, atmospheric, wonderfully lit images as winter does. On a clear day, the low sun provides a beautiful quality of lighting that’s a world away from the bare bulb of summer, but it’s when the snow, frost and mist arrive that something magical happens.

Some of nature’s most spectacular gatherings of birds happen at this time of year, while it’s also easier to track and spot individual animals in the bare landscape, and to coax them closer with food. Many animals and birds look their most interesting too, with mammals growing thicker coats and birds sporting their most striking seasonal plumage. 

Whether you’re a beginner, an enthusiast or a seasoned photographer there’s plenty out there to inspire you right now – and we’ve got plenty of tips to turn that inspiration into action. 

GETTING STARTED

You don’t have to trudge through the wilderness to take great wildlife shots. Start off close to home, in your back garden…

1 GET DOWN TO EYE LEVEL

Shooting from a low angle produces more intimate, eye-level portraits of ground-feeding birds and mammals. Looking through the viewfinder can be awkward or impossible at ground level, but if you have a DSLR or CSC with a vari-angle LCD, you’re laughing. Or, if your camera has a compatible smartphone app you can use this to fire the shutter remotely. If you have neither, simply raise the camera off the deck a little using a beanbag, your camera bag or a low-level tripod.

2 SET UP A FEEDING STATION