My Best Photos of 2022

One of my favourite things to do at the end of the year is to go through my Lightroom collection and pick out my favourite images of the year. I started doing this in 2020 and settled on 21 photos, so now that’s been my standard number of images I pick out each year. I use b-roll I’ve captured through the year and make a video set to music with no talking.

It’s a great habit to get into and really helps me identify where my strengths and weaknesses lie and also helps me see what I want to focus on next year for my wildlife photography.

Give it a try!

At the beginning of the year I met up with Trond, Oddbjørn and Truls for an epic adventure photographing the muskox at Dovre in Norway. I made two video from the experience, one that covered the main experience and another with a bit more behind the scenes footage!

Muskox in the Snow - Dovre, Norway | February 12th

EM1X, 300mm f/4 + 1.4x, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO 800

2. Red Squirrel in the Snow - Perthshire, Scotland | February 24th

March is a fantastic time to photograph wildlife in Perthshire, the loch is starting to get active and we often get frosty mornings with mist over the loch. The red squirrels still have their distinctive ear tufts and occasionally we may even get lucky with some late snow. Check out the 3 day group workshop in March 2023 that I’m co-hosting with Paul Miguel!

3. Running on Water - Perthshire, Scotland | March 1st

OM-1, 300mm f/4 + 1.4x, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO 1250 (female goldeneye)

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4. Mallard in the Light - Perthshire, Scotland | March 20th

5. Tawny Owl at Twilight - Perthshire, Scotland | March 24th

OM-1 High Res, 300mm f/4 +1.4x, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/60s, ISO 16000

Check out my OM System for Wildlife Photography Course
Now includes updates for OM-1

In April 2022 I started holding black grouse workshops, really enjoyed meeting some fellow wildlife photographers and it gave me the opportunity to spend a lot of time with one species. I’m already looking forward to the lek in 2023. My workshops for the coming year sold out almost immediately, but I may be able to put on some more dates so get in touch if you fancy it: info@espenhelland.com

6. Jumping Grouse - Perthshire, Scotland | April 25th

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8 + 1.4x, 200mm, f/4, 1/1600s, ISO 8000

7. Curious Grouse - Perthshire, Scotland | April 19th

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8, 60mm, f/2.8, 1/640s, ISO 4000 (female black grouse)

8. Action on the Lek - Perthshire, Scotland | April 19th

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8, 150mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s, ISO 640 (black grouse on lek)

9. Black Grouse Breath - Perthshire, Scotland | April 19th

10. Puffin in the Grass - Northeast Scotland | April 21st

11. Dreamy Gannet - Troup Head, Scotland | April 23rd

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8, 142mm, f/3.5, 1/50s, ISO 80

12. Incoming Gannet - Troup Head, Scotland | April 23rd

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8, 85mm, f/2.8, 1/400s, ISO 400

13. Singing Redstart - Perthshire, Scotland | April 29th

OM-1, 300mm f/4 +1.4x, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO 800

14. Sandpiper in the Grass - Perthshire, Scotland | May 21st

OM-1, 300mm f/4, 1/500s, ISO 2500 (common sandpiper)

During spring I spent a lot of time in my local forest looking for bird nests. I remember finding 2 great spotted woodpecker nests, a redstart nest, a treecreeper nest and a blue tit nest in a birch tree. The blue tit nest had was positioned so that about 30 minutes after sunrise I would get some great light filtering through the trees. So naturally this was the nest I would spend the most time with and try to photograph the blue tits as they were flying back and forth with food for the young.

For this type of image I use Pro Capture as it’s the easiest way to capture the fast birds as they fly into and out of the nesting hole.

For 2023 I’d like to put on some workshops working specifically on naturally nesting birds using Pro Capture. If this sounds interesting, be sure to signup to my newsletter below, or better yet send me an email to let me know: info@espenhelland.com

15. Food Delivery - Perthshire, Scotland | May 28th

OM-1 Pro Capture, 300mm f/4, 1/2500s, ISO 8000 (blue tit)

For the image of the baby mallard I used the floating hide from Tragopan. Getting into the water with the birds is by far one of the best ways to get close to birds on the loch and such a fun way to photograph.

16. Baby Mallard - Perthshire, Scotland | June 1st

One of the highlights of 2022 was a trip to Costa Rica. The wildlife in Costa Rica is absolutely amazing and the colourful diversity of the birds is worth the trip alone for a wildlife photographer. Check out the YouTube Playlist from my visit to Costa Rica!

17. Squabbling Macaws - Costa Rica | July 17th

OM-1, 300mm f/4, 1/1600s, ISO 800 (scarlet macaws)

18. Fierce Walk of the Wood Stork - Costa Rica | July 20th

OM-1, 40-150mm f/2.8, 150mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s, ISO 500

19. Flight of the Shags - Dalmeny, Scotland | September 16th

Om System sent me a sample of the OM-5 to try out and I actually captured one of my favourite squirrel images with this camera! Check out my post on using the OM-5 for wildlife photography.

20. Red Squirrel in the Larch - Perthshire, Scotland | November 3rd

21. Hare in the Clouds - Glenshee, Scotland | December 13th

OM-1, 300mm f/4, 1/1600s, ISO 500 (mountain hare)

In Norway we say: Godt Nyttår og Takk for det Gamle!!

Happy New Year and Thanks for the Old 🎉

My Favourite 21 Wildlife Photos of 2022