Lessons from the winners of Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

[@erik1836]

All I can say is that it's nice and fun to see someone with such enormous talent as yourself being genuinely humble and respectful. "Not that I'm comparing..."

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

That's very kind of you to say that Erik.

[@erik1836]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide You are most welcome! "It's not flattery if it's fact!" lol Back around 1970 there was a Western on American TV called The Guns of Will Sonnett. It's starred a famous actor of his time, who appeared in countless westerns and other things, called Walter Brennan. It was a story of an older man say around 70, who was a gunfighter - one of THE best, most renowned in the West - aren't they all? He was with his grandson, who was about 25 or 30 because his father had been killed or, I think, maybe took off or something like that for reasons that weren't disclosed. The stories revolved around them going around the West, as usually is the case with gunfighters in westerns like this, and running into situations where they were called upon to right wrongs against evil Cattle Baron's and such. I used to enjoy it very much. The famous line that Will Sonnett always trot out before they shot the guns out of the hands of or, shot the people they were going into a gunfight with, that they should just stop - because "... this is not going to end well for you. No brag just fact." en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guns_of_Will_Sonnett Or as Dizzy Dean, the famous baseball pitcher, from the 1920s said, when he predicted he would make 24 strikeouts in a season and someone said, "Aren't you bragging?" Dizzy replied. "It ain't bragging if you can do it." I think he actually got 25 strikeouts. But, memory fails me, as I was only 10 years old at the time and it was quite a long time ago. I thought you might enjoy those stories. www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-dizzy-dean

[@stephenedmunds207]

Thought provoking and helpful video ,great stuff.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Stephen. I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching.

[@patrikfrohlich8344]

The balance between information density and depth in your videos is absolutely perfect! This is another great example. I only recently discovered your channel but really learned a lot in just a few videos and subscribed immediately. Thank you so much for all the advice, insight and recommendations you present so well and personably. I really appreciate the work you put into this!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Patrik. That's great feedback to read, much appreciated. Thanks for being and subscriber and for watching.

[@911Dox]

I finished watching one of your tutorials which lead me to watching another tutorial which again caused me to watch another tutorial.....long story shortened for editorial purposes, let's just say I'll be back again and again and again. Call it binge watching if you will, however I just found my new home away from home, while I'm at home. Your tutorials are bang on and I've learned more from you in one video than | have anywhere else. A guy can never know too much about photography and how people acquire their award winning images.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Welcome to the channel. I'm please it's helpful. Thank you for your lovely comment and for watching.

[@captinktm]

What a great video! I found it very useful. What warms my heart is that the best out there are not worried a " The rules" or "Perfect exposure" no they are taking original photos that most will have never seen before. As others are saying, we/I appreciate the work that must have gone into this. Many Thanks.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Chris. I completely agree with you and glad the video was interesting. Thanks for watching.

[@yonglintan6209]

Interesting analysis! I was lucky enough to be one of the highly commended entries for this year's competition, and hope you liked the photo 'smooth mover'.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Well done Yong. It wasn't about luck at all - you made a lovely image. Hopefully this video might dispel a few myths and encourage people to get out taking photos with whatever gear they're got. Congratulations on your commendation.

[@kapilesh14]

Ohh my goodness I only just saw your first video ever and what a video! Instantly subscribed and I am glad you shoot Sony too so I would be able to extract a lot of info on wildlife from you as a beginner.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Awesome, I'm pleased it's helpful. Thanks for subscribing and watching.

[@SafariwithUsha]

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. Its crisp with factual details and analysis. If you could also find out with statistics on how much editing has been done on the competition winning or commendable images, would be great.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I don't think we'll ever know that because competitions don't let us see the raw files. However, each competition has different rules about how much editing is allowed - so from this you can learn how much editing possibly happened. (ie, by how much people were allowed to edit). Thanks for watching.

[@moviebod]

Scott, those are amazing dipper photographs man. Well done. I live near the river Taw in Devon and have yet to see one. I think they may be here? Very interesting anaysis of WPOTY. You certainly gavre a great deal of analysis.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thank you. Dippers are very particular about the types of river. Usually fast-flowing, not too wide, often not very deep, lots of rocks in the water and surrounded by trees. I don't know if you have any on the Taw but I would look for them way upstream from the mouth of the river, in areas that suit the conditions I've described here.

[@moviebod]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide Well, the river is as you describe sometimes, although as it is filled by Dartmoor, the water level can vary immensely, from like a trickling stream to a raging torrent touching the underside of the road bridge. The river is featured in my Le Jog 2021 video, which is mainly about a clasic car race.

[@keithnisbet]

Your videos are such incredibly good quality…informative, very helpful full of beautiful work. Thanks. Keep at it. Your subscriber base will begin to grow exponentially.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Keith. Thank you for your lovely comment and for watching.

[@keithnisbet]

You’re very welcome. Look forward to viewing everything you’ve done. Take care. Thanks again

[@georgesmith4509]

once again. Great presentation! Especially the very interesting stats tables.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi George. Much appreciated. Thanks for watching.

[@Dundeed]

Such an informational video, thank you for your detailed analysis!

[@QVL75]

Another great video! Thanks for sharing such a wealth of valuable insights.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@amitsalvi]

Glad i came across this video. Awesome points. Guess this has been more than any workshop that i have done till date! Very well explained. Subscribed.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Awesome, I'm pleased it's helpful. Thanks for subscribing and watching.

[@josearmandoalonsoarenas3005]

Loved this video! I am a scout instructure and got some kids interested in nature photography. I'll send it to them right away. It's very well explained and links were very useful to understand the key concepts.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks José. I hope they find it useful. Thanks for watching.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Really interesting video Scott. All the best, Steve.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Steve. Much appreciated. Thanks for watching.

[@maxwood2365]

A great and very insightful video, cheers Scott!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Max. Much appreciated. Thanks for watching.

[@ramprasadsambara]

Thanks for those insights. It will help me certainly to take better photos. I think i should see this video more often.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Ram. Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching.

[@markadams4426]

A really interesting new angle for wildlife photography vlog - great stuff

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Mark. Glad you like it. Thank you for watching.

[@raymondpenalver7095]

A very interesting video Scott with quite a few surprisesing facts too, thanks for sharing 👍

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Raymond, much appreciated. Thank you for watching.

[@gordroberts53]

Another video well worth watching. You did a great job of helping us understand why the various winners achieved their ranking without violating copyright ownership. I particularly enjoyed the categories that you had representative images to reinforce the points you’d been making. Very happy to have found your channel.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thank you very much Gord. I'm very happy you're here watching again.

[@gordroberts53]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide this is one of a very small group of subscriptions I have the bell set to ON for. Would hate to miss anything new. Winter storms are coming to the coastal area I call home and plan to be out way more often this winter than I have since pre-covid. Thanks for what you do here, excellent content 100% of which I find useful.

[@marvinspates924]

Thank you for the beautiful explanations and statistics!!!👍👍👍

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Marvin, thanks for watching.

[@Rob.1340]

Thank you. All the best. 👍📷😎

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Rob, thanks for watching.

[@smithasureshholisticnutrit6287]

Really brilliant analysis, very useful, saving to my photography playlist and subscribing 😊

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

I'm pleased you like it. Thanks for watching and subscribing.

[@thomasriera2030]

Great video and nice analysis! It is a useful exercise to dig into what makes successful images work so well. Your video added to that by looking beyond the image into how they were created as well. Nicely done.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Thomas. I'm glad you found it useful, thanks for watching.

[@williambolton5679]

"Ndakasi's Passing" is a very powerful photo. And very beautiful in terms of composition, lighting and detail. As soon as I saw it referred to in an online article I did a screen grab, something I don't often do. It's interesting, too, that some of these photos were taken with Chinese lenses.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi William. Definitely, a very moving photo. There were three Chinese lenses - all Laowa. Laowa are coming out with some very interesting lenses, particularly macro - I've got a couple of Laowas and I'm really happy with them. There was also a Rokinon in there (But I think they're South Korean, if I remember rightly). Thanks for watching.

[@gallivantingwithtomshirley2261]

Thank you!

[@danielatrujillopencheva3756]

I loved the video. Something interesting that was missing to introduce is how many photographs were used with flash. Thank you very much for the video and the good work you have done.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Daniela. Yes, there were a few other different stats I could have gone in to - but didn't want to make the video too much longer. In this case, 24% of the photos were taken using a flash or strobe. Which may seem surprisingly high. Thanks for watching

[@billpitt7751]

Please add your Sony creative style to photos, with ISO, shutter speed, etc. You are teaching me oh so much. Thank you

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Bill. I'm happy to hear you're finding the videos useful. Thanks for the suggestion and I will think about it - but no promises. I normally include the settings, but the graphics are, surprisingly, the most time consuming part of these videos. I sometimes think I'd get time to put more videos out if I stopped using the graphics. Thanks for watching and for being a subscriber.

[@davet3530]

Fascinating insight. Thank you.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Dave. My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@SkylarkFields]

Another superb video, made me stop and think about my own future (amateur) wildlife photography. Really enjoyed watching and listening, and it's very interesting how some of the cameras used were quite old. But no surprise that Canon and Nikon were the most popular, and Fuji (which I use) much less so. The photos from the entrants of the WPOTY 2022 were of an amazing standard - I can't begin to imagine how some of them were even obtained! Thank you for this very thought provoking video!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi. That's great to hear. It's a good habit to be in, we can all learn by looking at others' photos - especially ones of the quality on this competition. Thanks for watching.

[@georgefrench1907]

Very useful. Thank you.👍

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks for watching.

[@andybaden9276]

Great video, really well put together, many thanks for producing it. Really enjoyed seeing your images, comparison being the thief of joy, think I would make a lousy judge

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Andy, I'm please to read that. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

[@ASCIAbsl]

Thank you, very interesting video 👍. I wonder wich pictures are JPEGs out of the box and wich have been post-treated in raw.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi. I would imagine that many are post processed. Most photographers post process their images. However most photography competitions rules say that there must only be light editing. And all major photography competitions require the raw file to be submitted along with the finished image so that the judges can see how much post processing has been done. Thanks for the question and for watching.

[@andyallard5990]

Very educational once again thank you ❤

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Cheers Andy, much appreciated. Thanks for watching another one.

[@jimfarrow3036]

Thanks for a very informative video 😊

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Jim. Happy to help. Thanks for watching.

[@DailyMyChildhood]

This is impressive video . Appreciate your video😊Thanks for Sharing👍

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

That's very nice of you to say. Thank you for your comment and for watching.

[@garyclode1257]

Great video and interesting analysis.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Gary. I'm pleased you like it. Thanks for watching.

[@cagecatchum3001]

Great video. Thank you.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks for watching.

[@Andy_Thomas]

You raise a good point: I wonder how many photos were taken without the photographer behind the camera looking through the viewfinder. How many were done with drones, remote releases, camera traps, etc?

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Andy. I have that info, I just didn’t want to make the video too long. 7 out of 87 with drones, (check out the ones of the polar bear), 7 with remote triggers and 5 with camera traps. So 58 of 87 had the photographer behind the camera. Good question and thanks for watching.

[@Andy_Thomas]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide So over 20% were taken remotely. Interesting. I guess I should not have been surprised by that figure. Thank you for your analysis.

[@scene247]

What a pleasant vid. Thanks 👍

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching.

[@Karkawry1970]

3rd party (except Canon) ;) - Another great thing about zooms is the minimum focussing distance is greatly reduced on many, meaning for closer subjects you can get more pixels on the subject and subjectively have as good a detail as a prime, or better, given the right conditions ..

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Great point, I completely agree. (Maybe apart from the Canon part 😏) Thanks for watching.

[@deborahhammond8576]

What a different video, but very interesting and informative

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

I'm glad you found it useful, thanks for watching.

[@erik1836]

Your observation that the age of the camera was not of any great import makes perfect sense. For instance, if I said to you, "I'm going to buy you the finest pair of running shoes that exists in the entire world, cost is No Object and upon the search for the object, we will spare no effort." And then, I bought you those shoes. And, once you put them on I said to you, "Okay now, I want you to break the record for the hundred yard dash." You would likely look at me, and say, "Are you out of your mind?" Because we would both know that no running shoe in the world could enable you or me - without the native ability and physicality needed to break such a record - to be able to break such a record! LOL And the same rule holds true for photography or any other realm of human endeavor; it's the TALENT, it's the creativity of the human being that's ALWAYS spells the difference - not a fancy-schmancy camera or running shoes they give you the capability to rise above and see beyond mediocrity and catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunlit seas of creativity.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Erik. Absolutely agree, well said. Thanks for watching.

[@DanBetty]

Well done and very interesting!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Cheers Dan, thanks for watching.

[@garyloader1416]

Your beard goes really well with the Autumnal foliage...

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

🤣😂 Thanks for watching.

[@tokkiphotography9340]

Great sharing..informative

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks for watching.

[@snap-n-shoot]

Thought the standard this year was a little bit down on previous years

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

I can see why you say that. So much in these competitions is about the subjectivity of the judges and their preference for styles of photos. But there were still quite a few great ones. My favourite was the Giant Sea Star photo that I mentioned. Thanks for the comment and for watching.

[@andyc7724]

I thought the same, though of course we've had a couple of years during which travel has been restricted and difficult, so photographers simply haven't had all the opportunities to get out and take pictures that they normally would have done. There's still some absolutely stunning images, though, and I do feel inspired to get out with my camera now that's once again possible.

[@johnbeattyphotos]

As far as lenses, I totally agree with the third-party lenses. I am a 40-year Canon user but have that in question now going forward with Canon's decision to not allow third-party manufacturers to make RF lenses. This is a huge deal breaker for me.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi John. Give it time, I think Canon will change its mind. All the other manufacturers are going in the other direction and it just makes good business sense at the moment. But if they don't, it will probably have a big impact on RF mount sales. Thanks for watching.

[@jimbird963]

I’m 7d2 user been wanting to upgrade to mirrorless but 7d2 is so rugged an weathersealed still makes great images, most cameras degrade with a telephoto px wise but the 7d2 remains 20 px throughout

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Jim. It's an old expression, but the best camera gear is the camera gear you already have. And I think the results here show that. Sometimes getting fancy new equipment makes us happy in many ways, but can cause problems in others as we have to get to know our new kit. If you're happy with your 7D2, and it's still working perfectly well - no reason to change it.

[@peterlittle6651]

Hi Walks, might not seem an obvious question but where do you get your acoustic guitar music from? Secondly well done on the wonderful you tube videos I havem come to rely on these for info on my new hobby after retirement. Thirdly do you offer day tuition etc. Regards Peter.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Peter. Thank you for that. The music in the videos comes from Epidemic Sounds. Many of them are instrumental versions of songs you can find on streaming services like Spotify. Epidemic Sounds licenses them for use in videos. I'm glad you're finding the videos useful, and if you have any things you want some advice on, let me know. If it will make an interesting video, I will try to make it. On tuition, I'm planning to offer this from next year. If you're interested, you can subscribe to my mailing list where I will let people know about this. walksonthewildside.co.uk/subscribe Thanks for watching.

[@peterlittle6651]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide Thanks for replying, already on the mail list and off to Liss Forest (Hants and near home) to discover sites this coming week. By the way on your videos some of those surroundings remind me of the Bedford Ouse and water meadows, I used to live that way many years ago.... Regards Peter

[@peterb.7437]

Very nice presentation

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Cheers Peter, thanks for watching.

[@rlgenge]

An interesting breakdown of camera gear, subject and composition concepts. I was surprised to feel a little disappointed with many of the images, as they failed to stimulate my senses.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Bob. The competition images or mine? Either way, I'm grateful for you watching.

[@rlgenge]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide The competition images. Interesting to see the number of underwater photographs. Seems location is paramount.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Yes, so much is down to the preferences of the judges in that particular year But also there has been a lot of information about the state of the oceans in the media and public conscious over the last couple of years - so maybe it's not so surprising that these photos would do well. Art reflecting life and all that. It's always interesting to see what comes out on top.

[@ianbrowne9304]

You have some interesting thoughts to consider . However the best take away from this video may well be the various and varying lighting on your face throughout the video . ;) Bright sunshine is not always best and that is even more true here in Australia . I have been preaching this one liner for many years --- photography is about the light, the quality of the light , and the shadows from that light ---- gear makes very little difference .

[@christianpetersen1782]

Very interesting statistical analysis but sadly the stats don’t help us much to taking better photographs as they were selected by the photographer based on the requirements at the time. The take always for me were the ‘Characteristics of Successful Photographs’; thoroughly know your camera gear thoroughly research your subject for as long as it takes, have a specific photographic objective include the environment in wildlife shots, tell a story, convey emotion. Additionally I would add, know how to post process your photos. A great watch. Thanks so much for sharing. P.S. Your painterly photos of birds are no less than an inspiration.

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Christian, thanks. I completely agree. Settings are mostly meaningless unless you were there with the photographer in the same conditions at the same time. The point on settings was mainly about showing people you can create great pictures without shooting wide open. Something that lots of people seem to have the impression is a necessity. I agree with all your other points here too, and glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for your nice comments about my photos. Much appreciated. Thanks for watching again.

[@chadaztig07]

well what do you know. someone has now broken the typical photography tutorials from "learn from my experience" instead learn and analyze photos from the real experts. i have to refocus my way of visualizing better stories and stop hearing more reviews of a camera gear. time to take actions, and if by all means to unfollow those other photoG them so be it. ;) you got a notification bell from me, we need more planning, analytical and action driven videos. great stuff!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. There are always opportunities to learn from others, it doesn't just have to be from the presenter of the video. Thanks for watching and subscribing.

[@michaelmcphee2930]

There's no Subscription tab that I can see?

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Hi Michael. It might have been a problem with KZbin at the time, but it looks like it's there now. If not, you can always click on the logo in the bottom right corner of any video and it will take you to the option to subscribe. Thanks for watching.

[@michaelmcphee2930]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide your explanation on managing noise was simply amazing. I have never understood it until now . Thanks a million

[@littleman787]

3:47 that DJI 7 doesn't look like half the height of that Sony 14...

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

You're right, well spotted. The number is correct, but the height of the column isn't - my mistake. Thanks for watching.

[@littleman787]

@@WalksOnTheWildSide no worries - thanks for your work

[@ThePNWRiderWA]

Very interesting

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks for watching.

[@uditxd]

Wow if you need coworker you can own me 🤠

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Thanks Udit - I'll bear you in mind if I'm ever recruiting.

[@DeeDeeY1]

I also just recently discovered your channel (and subscribed). What great content! I echo everything that patrikfrohlich8344 said in an earlier comment. I'm looking forward to watching your other videos!

[@WalksOnTheWildSide]

Awesome, I'm pleased it's helpful. Thanks for subbing and watching.