Best Wildlife Holidays for Aspiring Photographers

1. New Forest Deer Photography Workshop 

Starting off in the UK may be the perfect way to refine your skills as a photographer. This particular workshops is just one day and take place in the picturesque New Forest National Park in Hampshire. Run by myself; this is the perfect opportunity to get brilliant images of wild red deer and maybe some of the more elusive fallow deer that call this area their home. If you want to get a feel for what it means to implement proper fieldcraft in order to get images of your subjects, then this is the perfect workshop for you. Not only can you learn how to use your camera on the fly, but you also learn how to track deer, read signs, and identify each species we come across.

2. Hampshire Bird Photography 

If you prefer a more relaxed approach to learning, then our bird photography workshops are a great option to sharpen your skills whether you're a beginner or intermediate photographer. This 2-day workshop allows you to get images of kingfishers and woodland birds that you would rarely be able to get elsewhere. Being hide-based, this workshop provides a relaxed and simple learning environment for those who are perhaps slightly newer to photography or have just got a new camera and want to spend time getting used to their new piece of kit. 

3. Macro Photography Workshop

It’s not always about the big stuff. We like to appreciate both the big crowd bringing animals and the smaller, perhaps more forgotten about creatures. This Surrey-based workshop led by bug enthusiast and macro addict Emma Healey is a great opportunity for those wanting to learn how to capture brilliant images of the more under-appreciated species that frequent our wild flower meadows and heaths. 

4. Scotland Winter Wildlife Photography

The Cairngorms National Park is widely known as one of the most beautiful locations in the UK and has quite the reputation for great wildlife viewing opportunities. On this 8-day trip, Kevin Morgans, takes you to the best locations in the park allowing for incredible photographic opportunities of mountain hare, red squirrel, red deer and crested tits. Snow bunting and other winter visitors may also be seen. With a mix of hide photography and fieldcraft involved, this is a great trip for any budding wildlife photographer. 

5. Skomer’s Perfect Puffins

Skomer Island is a small island off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales and is home to over 40 thousand Atlantic puffins. With the colonies elsewhere in the UK, currently, this seems to be the only place in the UK where these characterful little birds are increasing.

Many of you may have already been on day trips to this hub of seabird activity, but did you know you can stay over on the island? This is what we do on this trip. Staying two nights on the island allows you to not only get up close with the fantastic puffins during the golden hours, but it also gives you opportunities to see another pelagic bird species, the Manx shearwater. Skomer holds around half of the world's population of these birds. As these birds are coming onto the island at night, photographic opportunities are limited, but it is definitely something you have to experience at least once in your life. Led by myself and Kevin Morgans, this is an incredible place and one I look forward to every year. 

6. Red Kite and Night Sky Photography

Another of our trips based in Wales is our Red Kite and Night Sky Photography workshop. This is a 4-day workshop in the remote and secluded Elan Valley. Weather permitting, you can not only get some great images of red kites but also incredible chances to photograph dolphins, the Milky Way and various constellations. 

7. Finland’s Boreal Predators

There are many places around Europe where you can see bears, but perhaps the best place for them all is Finland. On this trip, you could enjoy sightings of European brown bear, European wolf, and wolverine. We've run this trip in the summer for many years, allowing photographers to make use of the 24-hour sunlight, but now we've also launched this trip in the Autumn for the first time. Due to depart in October, you can expect a beautiful orange and yellow background as the foliage starts to turn in addition to the wolves beginning to moult into their winter coats. Both trips provide great opportunities to photograph the best of Europe’s predators. 

8. Wildlife Photography in Hungary

Under the expert tuition of Mark Carwardine, we're running a series of trips to visit multi-award winning photographer Bence Mate’s hides. These hides are specially designed to allow photographers to get up close with some of the more timid bird species. Everything from waders and water birds to woodland birds and raptors, this trip offer some exceptional opportunities to any photographer. 

9. Lake Kerkini in Spring and Winter

Lake Kerkini in northern Greece is perhaps one of our most popular destinations in Europe, especially in the winter months. Between December and February, hundreds of Dalmatian pelicans meet to breed in full breeding plumage. However, due to many factors the birds would struggle to survive throughout the winter months, so they've built a relationship with the local fisherman that allows them to survive and for photographers to get unique and brilliant images of them. 

Then, during the spring, this once cold landscape completely changes to the haven of green as migratory birds such as European bee-eaters, Eurasian spoonbill and black-crowned night heron flock to the shores of this mighty lake. With opportunities to photograph not only the brilliant and exciting birdlife but also reptiles and mammals such as coypu, this tour offers a great range of wildlife to photograph. Both trips are under the tuition of Sean Weekly.

10. South Luangwa Photo Safari

For those wishing to travel further afield, our photographic safari in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park is the perfect option. Offering superb opportunities for species such as leopard, lion, African wild dog and carmine bee-eater in addition to so much more, this is the perfect trip for photographers who want to get the most out of their equipment, whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced photographer, this trip offers something for all abilities. Led by many of our experienced, expert photography guides, they're there as much or as little as you need them to ensure you come away with a portfolio of images you can be proud of. 

Discover more of our wildlife photography holidays or contact our helpful team today.