5 Reasons You Don’t Need to Travel to be a Great Wildlife Photographer
Have you ever been scrolling on Instagram and seeing an endless stream of wildlife in faraway lands? Have you ever felt as if you are missing out on life-changing experiences?
This happens to me every day. Sometimes it’s Marsel van Oosten’s lions in Botswana. Others it’s Emilie Reid’s reddish egrets on Hilton Head Island. Or Jean-Simon Bégin’s common loons in Quebec’s backcountry. All of these locations are a minimum of 8 hours from me, if not further.
I used to let this fear of missing out (FOMO) take over and make me feel down about myself. However, as I’ve grown, I’ve learned you can only do the best you can with what you have, be it your gear, location, or subject. Just because where you shoot is familiar to you does not mean that you cannot capture breathtaking moments.
Being a talented wildlife photographer is not decided by where or what you shoot. It is decided by how you shoot.
That’s why I decided to write this blog. To explain why you don’t need to travel for wildlife photography. Travel is a privilege that not everyone has access to due to any number of barriers. The best opportunities can be right across the street. The essentials are a camera, lens, and your feet to walk outside. If you have those, all you’re missing is some creativity, knowing your subject and environment, and a little bit of luck to nail those awe-inspiring shots!
In this blog post, I will give you 5 reasons why you don’t need to travel to capture great photographs of wildlife. In fact, you don’t even have to leave your neighbourhood. If I can do it, I know that you can, too!
Ring-billed gull | Nikon D850 + 200-500mm f/5.6 | ISO 3600, 1/250, f/5.6
#1 Great wildlife subjects are right outside your door
Wildlife photography is not always about shooting rare species. This art is about capturing moments that evoke emotion in the viewer. The subject can be an animal as rare as a snow leopard in the Himalayas or as common as a gull in your neighbourhood pond.
Over the past several decades, we have noticed that nature has been gravely affected by humanity’s increasing demands. We have displaced several species from their habitat, which we have altered or destroyed. Some animals have become extinct or extirpated from an area, while we have forced others to adapt to human-made landscapes.
For example, our buildings and backyards in urban areas have become hot spots for several birds and small mammals. These species have learned to live with us, which is lucky news if you’re looking to get award-winning wildlife shots.
Near my home in Canada’s capital, mallards, sparrows, raccoons, coyotes, rabbits, white-tailed deer, turkey vultures, and red-tailed hawks can all be found just by walking outside. When I lived in Europe in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, wood pigeons, European starlings, red foxes, Eurasian jays, roe deer, and red kites were frequent sights.
These are all common species that can often be overlooked and considered boring, despite making wonderful subjects. This is fantastic for you if you want to photograph wildlife without having to travel far. You just need to walk outside!
Raccoon | Nikon D4 + 300mm f/2.8 VR II | ISO 8000, 1/200, f/2.8
#2 Finding species while travelling is much harder
Knowing your subject and its environment are keys to getting excellent photos in wildlife photography. However, this is extremely difficult if you travel somewhere new. Why? Because you have not spent enough time in that location.
You will be unfamiliar with the area and might not even find the animals you are after. Unless you are with a guide or spending an extended period there, your chance of getting great shots is generally lower than it would be in a familiar place.
Even if you go on safari in Botswana, improving your shots requires spending hours, days, weeks, and even years with a particular species or location. On a brief trip (a few days to weeks) where you will likely travel to different places, staying this long in one spot is generally impossible.
I’ll give you an example. When I was on vacation in Faro, Portugal, I took this photo of some sanderlings (which, for the record, I love). However, I know that if I had not been worried about time or boring my travel partner, I would have been able to think about the creative process more and probably produce better photos.
Sanderlings | Nikon D7100 + 70-300mm AF-S | ISO 6400, 1/500, f/5.6
In contrast, this is a great blue heron that lives in my neighbourhood that I have shot for years. Because I understand this animal, its habitat, and I have no time limits, I can practice over and over until I get the photos I want.
Thankfully, you can do the same with the wildlife in your city.
Great blue heron | Nikon D500 + 300mm f/4 AF-S + Nikon 1.4 TC-14E II | ISO 500, 1/250, f/5.6
#3 Travel is expensive
Regardless of who you are, travelling to photograph wildlife will always be more expensive than staying local. If you spend your time or money, it will cost you more than if you shoot the robins at your local park.
Consider travel expenses other than your plane ticket or gas for your car. For example, food, lodging, and tickets to national parks. By its nature, wildlife photography is already very expensive compared to other hobbies. Therefore, travel adds yet another cost that can make it even more unaffordable for many people.
It is crucial to understand that wildlife photographers that travel across the world on assignments, such as Konsta Punkka and Marsel van Oosten, are often compensated for their time and costs. Currently, this is not my reality, and if you are early in your career, I doubt it is yours either. (But hey, if it is, congratulations!)
Stock dove | Nikon Z6 + 300mm PF + Nikon 1.4x TC-14E II | ISO 800, 1/2000, f/5.6
#4 You could save your money and buy new camera gear
In many cases, it can make more financial sense to rethink your next trip. Instead, consider putting that money towards something else that will improve your wildlife photography. Unless you are moving cities, travelling for wildlife photography is a short-lived experience. That’s why sometimes I’ve preferred to invest my money and time towards camera gear. This equipment can last years, if not a lifetime if you choose correctly.
I will always advocate that it is the person behind the camera that makes a stunning image. But it’s no secret that more advanced gear can help you get shots that you could not before. If you have to choose between travelling and buying new gear, there’s an excellent case for the latter.
You might want to get a lens with a wider aperture and longer focal length, like the Nikon 300mm AF-S (which I wrote about in a recent blog). Perhaps you want a fast camera with more frames per second (FPS), like the trusty Nikon D500. Or maybe you want an all-in-one camera with incredible low light performance, like the Nikon D850. You might even want to buy camouflage or waterproof pants, which can improve your comfort and ability to get closer to wildlife.
No matter what you choose, there is a lot of wildlife photography gear that can help improve your experience in the field and get shots that might have been impossible before. More than travel ever could.
To dive deeper into the travel vs. gear debate, let’s take a look at two scenarios.
Scenario 1
You just started wildlife photography within the last year. You saved up $3000 for your next 7-day trip to Alaska to photograph grizzly bears, caribou, and everything in between. You’re incredibly excited about filling your memory cards with action-packed photos. You book your trip and spend a week in Alaska. You have a great experience seeing lots of wildlife but come away with few strong photographs because you haven’t had time to learn about wildlife photography.
Wild turkey | Nikon D850 + 200-500mm | ISO 900, 1/500, f/5.6
Scenario 2
Consider this alternative. You have just started wildlife photography in the last year. You’ve saved up $3000 to spend on improving your craft. You understand that, as a beginner wildlife photographer, an expensive trip is probably not the best use of your money. Instead of going to Alaska, you realize that advancing as a wildlife photographer depends on your skill (and gear, to a lesser extent).
You decide to buy a high-quality lens, such as a Nikon 300 PF (about $2000). With the remaining funds, you decide to get a reliable, discounted body, like the Nikon D700 (less than $500 used). You also know you love to shoot the waterfowl at your local pond, so you buy a pair of waterproof pants and still have $500 left.
Mallard drake | Nikon Z6 + 300mm PF + Nikon 1.4x TC-14E II | ISO 2200, 1/1000, f/5.6
You spend the next year improving, getting stunning shots of mallards and Canada geese, and continue to save. A year later, you are a better photographer because you kept shooting your local wildlife and invested your money to improve your craft. Now, you feel as if your skills are up to the task of travelling for wildlife photography. You book the trip to Alaska and get many more keepers than you would have with less experience and worse gear.
Now that you’ve had a chance to weigh both scenarios, which would you choose? I would prefer option 2. Just like in the field, patience is the key when deciding when to travel. For that reason, I wouldn’t mind waiting (and saving money) while I continue to improve as a wildlife photographer as much as I want because I am close to home and can return to the same spots time after time.
Note: If you are ever deciding between spending money on a lens or a camera, consider getting a lens. Not only does it affect the final image more, but it also lasts and holds its value much longer than a camera. I have a 70-210mm lens from 1986 that I can use on current Nikon bodies without a problem. In addition, as Anabel DFlux from Digital Photography School puts it, “in regards to the artistic look of a shot, the lens will be in far more control than the camera body. This is because aperture, focal length, and sharpness are all dictated by the lens.”
Female white-tailed deer | Nikon D500 + 200-500mm | ISO 3600, 1/250, f/5.6
#5 Travel has a negative impact on the environment
Regardless if you take a car, plane, or another form of transportation, your decision to travel will inevitably release more greenhouse gases and pollution into the atmosphere. In turn, this further exacerbates the global climate crisis. That’s why your decision to stay close to home could be a fantastic way for you to do your part for the planet. After all, there’s only one!
That said, I am not telling you not to travel. Instead, make decisions you agree with morally. For example, during a regular work week, I make a conscious effort to shoot wildlife in and around my neighbourhood. I often walk or drive a maximum of 15-20 minutes. On the odd weekend, I will make a trip farther out. Furthermore, a few times throughout the year, I will try to go somewhere several hours away.
By limiting my travel, I can control how much I pollute the environment and make decisions that work for me. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach, so I encourage you to consider what makes sense to you ethically.
Eastern coyote | Nikon D500 + 200-500mm | ISO 1000, 1/60, f/5.6
Conclusion
Travel can be a fantastic way to see new places and wildlife. However, there are many factors to consider before you book that trip to that exotic location. Among these are the expense, finding species in a foreign environment, the environmental impact, and buying new camera gear as an alternative.
Let me be clear. I will never tell you not to travel. But I think it’s important to ask yourself whether the trip you have planned is worth it to you. If it is, go for it! If not, see what you could put that time and money towards to help make you a better wildlife photographer.
Before you get caught up in the travel FOMO on Instagram, remember one thing. As long as you have a decent camera and lens, you can take epic wildlife photographs just by walking outside. The pigeons, ducks, sparrows, and even rats in your neighbourhood might surprise you, helping you realize that you don’t need to visit the Serengeti or the Amazon to capture incredible moments in nature.
Weigh the option of improving your skills first before considering spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars to go on wildlife photography trips. That way, when the time comes to take that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska, you’ll be ready for the shot.
Canada goose gosling | Nikon D4 + 300mm f/2.8 VR II + Nikon 1.4x TC-14E III | ISO 180, 1/1000, f/4
Where to buy
If you are interested in purchasing any of the gear I used to shoot these photos, check out the links below:
If you live in Canada, Kijiji is a great place to get even cheaper gear if you are willing to buy cameras and lenses without an intermediary service, such as Amazon or eBay.