This is going to sound strange, but wildlife photography isn’t about the photos for me

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’t head out on a wildlife photography hike for the photos.

I’m 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.

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.

But while I love wildlife photos, the photos are secondary to the experience of taking those photos.

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.

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

The camera gives me permission to slow down. When there’s a camera in my hand, the only one annoyed that it has taken me 45 minutes to walk a mile is my Apple Watch. (Hey, Apple, could you please add a “wildlife photography hike” mode?)

Wildlife photography is a photography genre that’s all about observation. I can’t ask the subject to pose for me. I can’t drag out creative off-camera lighting. I’m 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.

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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.

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.