{"id":550415,"date":"2026-04-25T18:39:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550415\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:39:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:39:43","slug":"this-is-going-to-sound-strange-but-wildlife-photography-isnt-about-the-photos-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550415\/","title":{"rendered":"This is going to sound strange, but wildlife photography isn\u2019t about the photos for me"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was hiking through a wildlife refuge, camera with a telephoto slung around my neck, the spring sun warming my skin, when I realized something: I don\u2019t head out on a wildlife photography hike for the photos.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a professional portrait and wedding photographer and these shoots are all about the photos. I want portraits of my family to hang on my walls, and so do my clients.<\/p>\n

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But when I head out on a hike with my camera and a wildlife lens, sometimes, the photos will sit on a memory card for weeks, untouched. Do I like having wildlife photos? Absolutely. Do I hang some of them on my walls? Also yes.<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

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But while I love wildlife photos<\/a>, the photos are secondary to the experience of taking those photos.<\/p>\n

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Gear used: OM System OM-1 Mark II<\/a> and OM System 150-600mm f\/5.0-6.3 lens<\/a> (Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)<\/p>\n

For me, wildlife photography is self-care. When my stress levels are reaching their peak, taking a walk through nature with a camera is like hitting an instant reset button. The sun is on my face, the wind is in my hair, and I finally feel like I can fully exhale.<\/p>\n

Getting outside has always been my biggest way to de-stress, but there\u2019s something about bringing a camera with me that brings this experience up another level. I\u2019m not just in nature, I\u2019m part of nature, a quiet observer. I\u2019m watching a mink emerge from the water with a fresh meal; I\u2019m admiring the tree swallows flitting around building their nests.<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)<\/p>\n

The camera gives me permission to slow down. When there\u2019s a camera in my hand, the only one annoyed that it has taken me 45 minutes to walk a mile is my Apple<\/a> Watch. (Hey, Apple, could you please add a \u201cwildlife photography hike\u201d mode?)<\/p>\n

The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Wildlife photography is a photography genre that\u2019s all about observation. I can\u2019t ask the subject to pose<\/a> for me. I can\u2019t drag out creative off-camera lighting<\/a>. I\u2019m fully present in the moment, watching it unfold, my only control over what happens is left to the settings on my camera, the framing that I choose, and when I press the shutter button.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 4<\/p>\n

\"A(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)\"A(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)\"A(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)\"Two(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)<\/p>\n

I love wildlife photos. They serve as a record of the things I have witnessed in nature. They decorate my walls. With the photos, I can share the quiet moments that I had, and hope that those who are viewing them can have a small quiet moment too.<\/p>\n

But for me, the photographs are secondary to the experience of taking the photos. The modern world is full of bad news and hectic schedules, and wildlife photography is the slow down that my soul craves.<\/p>\n

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April 25 is National Go Birding Day! Browse the best cameras for wildlife photography<\/a> or the best lenses for bird photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was hiking through a wildlife refuge, camera with a telephoto slung around my neck, the spring sun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-550415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}