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January 12, 2025

A Year as a Fulltime Professional Wildlife Photographer

Favourite Moments of 2024

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Muskox at Dovre, Norway

The year 2024 began in Dovre, Norway, where we went to photograph the muskox. We were fortunate to capture incredible views of the muskox with the iconic mountain, Snøhetta in the background. On another day, we experienced beautiful backlighting for the muskox, and I decided to create a dark image to highlight the last bit of sunlight and the rim lighting on the muskox.

Muskox at Dovre, Norway | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 150mm, f/4.5, 1/800s, ISO 800
Muskox at Dovre, Norway | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 150mm, f/4.5, 1/800s, ISO 800

Ptarmigan in the Cairngorms, Scotland

When I returned to Scotland, I photographed the ptarmigan for a video for OM System and also did a winter camp in the Cairngorms. I got to use my new winter down sleeping bag for a winter camp, in the morning I enjoyed some beautiful views with a coffee before I went searching for the ptarmigan.

The ptarmigan can be tricky to spot as they blend in so well with the habitat they live in. It took some time of walking around and scanning with binoculars before I saw some slight movement ahead of me.

Ptarmigan on Cairngorms | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 640

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Safari in the Serengeti, Africa

I then traveled to the Serengeti, where I was invited to the Singing Grass Camp in the heart of the Serengeti. I was blown away by the wildlife there, experiencing a level of biodiversity I had never seen before. I have so many images from this trip and I’ll only share a few of them here, including one of a hornbill, as in The Lion King!

I also captured a cheetah, which was my first encounter with a predator in the Serengeti, a mother with three cubs eating a gazelle. We spotted them just half an hour after I landed. Additionally, I photographed a colourful roller perched on a thorny shrub and decided to create a black and white image of an elephant taking a dust bath with its trunk.

Hornbill in Serengeti | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 400
Roller in Serengeti | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 213mm, f/4.5, 1/640s, ISO 320
Elephant in Serengeti | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 300mm, f/4.5, 1/1000s, ISO 400
Cheetah in Serengeti | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 220mm, f/4.5, 1/800s, ISO 500

This was an absolutely incredible experience, and I will be leading workshops in the Serengeti in August and November. Got my workshop page here for more info!


Black Grouse Lek in Perthshire, Scotland

The month of April was filled with black grouse photography, though I captured thousands of photos of them, I’ll only share a few here. The first image is from early April, before I started the workshops. I had one day with snow, so I got in my car early and drove up to the the lek. It was mild by my house, but only 100 meters higher up, it was minus 1 degree celsius, and snow was coming down sideways. It was an incredible experience to photograph these birds in these conditions, their dark feathered bodies stand out perfectly against the white snow.

Black grouse in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 178mm, f/4.5, 1/1600s, ISO 4000

One of my favourite image from the lek is of a black grouse jumping. The male black grouse tends to do this behaviour a lot more when females show up on the lek.

Black grouse in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8., 150mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s, ISO 500

Want to photograph black grouse on the lek in April? Join me for one of the year’s greatest wildlife spectacle in Perthshire, Scotland!


Golden plover on Hardangervidda, Norway

Back in Norway I went to Hardangervidda, which is Norways largest National Park on the mainland. It’s a mountain plateau, with a short breeding season for birds. A bird that’s perfectly adapted to this habitat is the heilo, or the golden plover in english. I had a magical moment with this bird on a hillside with the evening sun lighting up a mountain in the distance.

Golden plover on Hardangervidda, Norway| OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 200

After I’ve photographed a few portraits of a bird I often switch to Pro Capture in the hopes that I can get a good flight image. That’s exactly what I decided to do here with the golden plover, I must have sat for about 15 min with the bird as it was calling it’s sad sounding notes, before it flew off.

Golden plover on Hardangervidda, Norway | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 272mm, f/4.5, 1/2000s, ISO 1600 (Pro Capture Low)

Check out my course on the OM System for Wildlife Photography to learn how I setup my OM System/Olympus cameras and use them for wildlife photography.


Great spotted woodpecker in Perthshire, Scotland

Back in Scotland, I found a great spotted woodpecker nest, using Pro Capture on the OM System I photographed the adults as they flew to and from the nest. This was early in the morning, and I captured a beautiful sky background, and managed to photograph the woodpecker just before it landed with wings spread wide.

Great spotted woodpecker in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 325mm, f/4.5, 1/4000s, ISO 200 (Pro Capture High)

Puffins on Lunga, Scotland

In June I went to Lunga, an island outside of Mull to photograph puffins . The end of June is a great time to photograph these birds when they return to their nests with sand eels to feed their young. An image my pal Grant and I were both trying to get.

Puffin with sand eels on Lunga, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 263mm, f/4.5, 1/1600s, ISO 800

While on Mull, I randomly met wildlife photographer Andy Howard, who kindly showed us one of the sites where he tends to photograph adders. We stood looking for ages until, all of a sudden, Grant shouted out, as he spotted one right next to his foot. This is a species I have not photographed much, and I would really like to spend more time photographing them in the future.

Adder on Mull | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 200

Red Grouse in Perthshire, Scotland

In August, I had a client come in for a week, so I went out for a recce and scouted some places to photograph red grouse amongst the heather. In August the hillsides turn pink and purple as the heather is in bloom. I captured a sharp image of a red grouse, and I had another one pose right behind it in the same position. I slightly blurred the furthest back bird with a shallow depth of field, creating a repetitive pattern in the image.

Red grouse in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 400mm, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 500

Red Deer in Perthshire, Scotland

After a canoe trip to an island for a camp, I headed up the hills to photograph red deer during the rut. Although I didn’t get the iconic stag image I wanted, I had an incredible encounter with a female roe deer and managed to frame her against the red-orange bracken surrounding her, resulting in a lovely autumnal image.

Red deer in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 400

Red Squirrel in Perthshire, Scotland

Another memorable autumn encounter was with a red squirrel close to my home in the forest, where there are many beech trees. The squirrels come here to eat the beech masts, so I laid down on the ground waiting for a squirrel to come feed. The colourful beech leaves on the ground created a nice autumnal environment.

Red squirrel in Perthshire, Scotland | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 500mm, f/5.6, 1/40s, ISO 3200

Great Egret in Donana, Spain

On my last morning in Donana, I witnessed an absolutely incredible sunrise. I captured a great egret flying over, creating a silhouette against the colourful background of the rising sun.

Great egret in Donana, Spain | OM-1ii, 150-400mm f/4.5. (1.25x), 400mm, f/4.5, 1/3200s, ISO 250

Thanks for checking out some of my favourite moments of 2024.

Let me know in the comments what your best moments in nature was for 2024 🙂

  1. Doug M says:

    Thanks for the great pics and 2024 recap Espen! I always enjoy your posts. The highlight of our 2024 was photographing Andean Condors and puma in Chilean Patagonia! Absolutely spectacular!

    • Espen Helland says:

      Thanks a lot Doug.
      Andean Condor and puma sounds amazing, would love to visit that part of the world some day!

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