My favourite wildlife photography youtuber for some time is Duade Paton. He provides useful information but on top of that he appears very sincere, enthusiastic and just radiates the joy of life. I am not very picky about the photos RU-vid photographers show. If they are good examples of the technique they are explaining it's fine. I strongly agree with the point that RU-vidrs should not show perfect world. That would lead to a disappointment of many begginers.

My wife is not a photographer, in fact it bores her, however she loves watching Gavin Hardcastle, aka foto tripper. Because of his gags, jokes, and his humour !

I can't imagine not using BBF.

Which AF area selection mode do you use for this kind of photography? (I have a Canon 1Dx M2). Thank you

Hi Paul I follow a fair few photographers on here and SM. Apart from yourself I would say my favourites are in second place Mark (Camilla and I) Cooper and in First Place Trond Westby Good job you weren't on a workshop when you forgot that card and had to borrow one from the client...... Take care my friend I'm STILL working towards those workshops!!!

I find filming or finding the subject most challenging 😂

Can't say I have a real favourite but what I can say the ones I go back to other ones that explain things in a simple manner not over complicating things and not rambling on about nothing and explaining things so even an idiot can understand them so you can probably safely say I have visited you on several occasions over the years so keep a good work up

For me, my favourite RU-vid photographer is Mike Lane. He is a fantastic photographer and his videos are well produced, eductionally, and a pleasure to watch.

My favourite RU-vidr for wildlife photography is Tobias Gjerde. The effort he puts into his work and quality of his video and images for such a young man is remarkable. For the technical stuff I turn to Simon d'Entremont these days (always learning something new). Others I like are Duade Paton (what a nice bloke, great tutor with great tips and images), Simon Eardley (story telling), and Dan Willis (happy chap and always fun to watch). Richard Birchett and Stefano Ianiroa are also must watch youtubers. And your channel, as I really enjoy watching the down to earth practical approach you install in your videos.

Thanks for the back lighting tips, very useful.

So true, missed lots of shots when I’m fumbling with vlogging camera and filming!

Firstly another fantastic video Paul. I’m a fan of Thomas Heaton also. As a wildlife photographer myself I have a couple of key RU-vidrs I follow such as yourself, Essen Hellend and Simon Booth. As you know I don’t currently do RU-vid but i want to in time.

Thank you so much for all these comments! I promise to reply to everyone. Might just take me a bit of time.

Very well said, Paul.

Yourself and Thomas Heaton are the people that inspired me to have a go at a few vlog style videos, they are still very much in the back ground at the moment though.

The information and experience examples by the photographer are important. Also for the photographer too be honest aboiut the shots and how difficult it is tio get a really good shot. It becomes discouraging if the photographer shows extensively planned phtos as something easily obtained. TRhe difficul;ty and the not so good photos are important to gain the respect of the viewer. Alex

Hi Paul, nice video mate and a really good point for us Vloggers to look at. For me it's never always about the shot and more about being out in nature and just enjoying it, pictures do come eventually and when they do it's a massive bonus. If I do nail some pretty decent shots I always keep the very best for competitions or for prints, but I'll always try to put some of the better ones in the Vlog, but if not I try and put out what I have regardless of how I think it will be seen.. At the end of the day that's the reality of it, you can never get out and achieve award winners every time. As you well know its hard when you have to get out, find locations and do your fieldcraft and faff about with the vlogging camera, and sometimes you miss the shots and concentrate too much on getting the video done and forget why we are here doing what we love. We all have our unique styles of delivery and people who watch this type of genre are quite spoilt for choice as everyone is different, many people don't like certain vloggers for their own reasons but that's always a personal choice, also not everyone appreciates how much time and effort we put in to get a video out. It's not as if we get paid loads of money and if you look at business sense it's not worth it. For me, I love to share my enjoyment for the Natural World, impart some of my knowledge and just enjoy getting to know people from all corners of the world, we aren't ever the font of all knowledge and for me every days a School day and I'm always learning especially in the natural world. You videos are always true to life, factual, interesting and you've been around a lot longer than most of us Wildlife Vloggers, may you continue doing what you do and I for one will always support your work along the way. Cheers Rich 🙂

You don’t have to take the best photos, but hints and tips on how to get them is useful. I’ve unsubscribed to quite a few vloggers recently who just either seem to love their own commentary/face too much, or just want to get paid for plugging kit they get sent. Simon Eardley stands out as one to watch, Mike Lane has great knowledge on his subjects. Ashley at Wildlife Photographer UK is good and for non technical, all about the wildlife A Shot of Wildlife is good too

This is one of the very best channels that i always enjoy watching...the other ones are that of Morten Hilmer (always Fascinating) , Trond Westby (childlike Glee!) ...all these channels give importance to Vlogging and give an immersive experience to us watchers of the video and the joy of going along on a virtual trip with them...There are plenty of other Bird /Wildlife photographers who share their Gear/Techniques and Bird Photos that are excellent and useful in their way but most enjoyable are the Field visits through Vlogging and the joy of virtual going alongside that these offer.

This is a very interesting topic. I have shot quite a few wildlife photography vlog style videos which I have not posted because I had no film or photo to show at the end. So now I shoot films over several weeks. However this style also has challenges as you lose the narrative flow. I enjoy the relaxed feel of your videos.

I really appreciate the honest approach of your videos and to be honest I’m not fussed if you aren’t getting portfolio images each video - it’s not realistic and doesn’t add to the content you are providing. I tend to enjoy watching photographers of different genres who inspire me and that may be with a tip or technique, but more often it is their perspective or philosophy/approach - Sean Tucker is a favourite of mine as is Simon Baxter - not wildlife photographers, but I connect with their content more. Thank you for sharing your perspective and your honesty.

At this point, I think I show what goes wrong more than what goes right in my videos because that's my life, 😅🫠 It definitely weighs on me more than probably most people think or realize, in terms of me being super self conscious about what images I can get while out trying to make a video (if any at all) and tying that to how well I think the video will perform. I will say, you should get yourself a camera lady...it's the best thing I ever did for my channel! 😜😁 Seriously though, I definitely consider myself lucky to have someone filming for most of my stuff now, but despite that help, I still very much so struggle with feelings of inadequacy and imposter syndrome, mostly or especially with the wildlife photography aspect of my channel. I'm much more confident about my work when it comes to landscape or astro or sports or whatever, but not so much with wildlife because it's so much harder and I just never feel like I quite measure up to other wildlife photographers or the audience's expectations of what I should be putting out. Trying to film while doing wildlife, like you said, is definitely way harder, and a lot of times that stresses me out even more. Even so, of all the things I do on my channel, wildlife is usually the most exciting for me overall, so I guess I'll keep trying. And yeah, most of my best images don't come from filming days, and that stresses me out, and then I usually try to figure out how to make a video to showcase them. I have recently been trying (but mostly failing) to take more time for just me and my photography and not bring work into it, which is quite difficult for me to do, but it's a work in progress. Your content is always inspiring in some way and surprisingly relatable, so that's always nice to watch. ✌

Honesty is the most important and refreshing thing for me. As well as your vlogs, I rate Australian Duade Paton very highly. Like you, he is very honest and tells it warts and all and obviously gets as much out of the process and being in nature as the actual images. He does many vlogs about things that go wrong, soft shots, failed you tube shoots, etc. I would far sooner follow this type of channel than one that continually throws perfect images at you. Keep doing what you're doing - it's spot on.👌

I love your in the field videos and think you do a great job with the videos ❤. I think if you put in a few shots from your own, no video, work that is a good idea (like this one). 😮I like Morten Hilmer. His fieldcraft and storytelling is great. I love Thomas Heaton, particularly his B roll, lol! . I think a lot of it is down to personality - if you come across well, you can be successful. Just like yourself. 😊😊😊

Hi. I also watch Thomas channel, and take off the landscape and, for some time, wild nature. Tried to remove myself, to be more precise to remove how I remove. And it's very difficult, at least for me. Thomas Heathon is a great good man and I think he's many inspiring to go out sometimes from home with camera for shooting in any of the genres. In my filming vlog with wild nature is no longer predictable, you are right. In the landscape, you find a composition and can quietly speak on camera about expediency make frame precisely here and now. And with the wild nature of the last word remains behind the character you shoot. And he's not unpredictable, except. Hi you from Russia and success in work and in Utuba!

The wildlife RU-vidrs I come back to time and time again are you, Dan Willis, Mike Lane and Simon Eardley. I enjoy your honesty adn openness, Paul.

We started almost together but I went for an year's long break, my biggest mistake. I love your videos, Paul.

Hi Paul, great video and thanks for discussing this topic. I've been following quite a few you tubers and the one I keep going back to is Steve Matthies. Reason is his enthusiasm and the way his love of photography and being with nature comes across on each of his videos. I have been photographing wildlife for a number of years and would too like to share my journey with others via you tube but don't know where to start in regards to uploading and editing everything for a RU-vid channel. Maybe could you do a video explaining this in the future. Or do you offer 121 classes that could cover this topic.

Really enjoy Simon d'Entremont, excellent photographs, learnings, and very inspiring/motovating to help you get better. I learn from many of the youtube photographers (Matt Shannon, Henry Turner, and fototripper) and their different styles. I do enjoy learning as well as the different approaches. Thanks for your insight in this video.

Paul you are the first photo RU-vidr that I started watching in 2020 during Covid. Your description of shooting in manual with auto ISO was a revelation to me. I got my BIF shooting perfected after watching you. I have since added Simon D’entremont, Steve Perry and some others that I can’t remember just now.

An interesting film Paul. I agree with you in regards to prioritising video over the stills and I think sound and video music are another really important aspect of successful RU-vid films. Like you say there's so much to consider, if we get a couple of keepers then its a massive bonus. If I made a film of all my balls ups in the field I could put a film out every day!!🤣🤣 Keep up the good work, ATB. Si 👊🏼👍🏼

I'm not great at writing comments but I have just liked/thumbs up all the ones below that I agree with! Lol!! Always enjoy your friendly commentary, and your footage and photos. Vids are just the right length for my attention span! Keep up the great work and I look forward to the next!!

There are a few photogs I follow and watch regularly. Scott Keys, Steve Perry, Jan Wagner, Duade Paton, Thomas Heaton, and you. I enjoy the openness and honesty of your videos Paul. We get to see it all. And I really enjoy the sense of humor you bring to each video. Keep doing what you're doing. It's a winning combo in my book.

I enjoy wildlife and learning tips on camera techniques and how to put them into practice 👍I also enjoy Simon Eardley .

I bumped into a chap at Bempton with a big 500 f4 who said bird photography had spoilt his birdwatching. I can understand how vlogging spoils your chance to snap. I watch your videos for what you say as much as what you show us. I find you inspiring entertaining and enthusiastic. You pass on lots of fieldcraft and other tips to help us do better. It's easy to see lots of stunning photos on the internet and it could be easy to get dispirited, but someone like yourself helps us to improve. I watch Duade in Australia as he is similarly enthusiastic in promoting "getting out there"

An idea for a future video - how about doing a video showcasing your some of your BEST stuff to show us what a professional image should look like, I know that's subjective depending on taste but it's just in your video you state you only show your 2nd best stuff in your videos, maybe a video that demonstrates the standard needed to be a professional photographer?

Couldn't agree more Paul! As someone with a (much smaller) RU-vid channel, I always find myself stressing that my photos aren't good enough to warrant a video. But with the RU-vidrs I watch (you included), I find myself not really caring about the quality of the photography, it's much more about the journey & their personality.

I must say you guys I've got to take my hat off to yous as I've been photography now for a number years now and it still takes me all my time just to edit a few photos so how yous guys do it and make a film when yous have got a family or work and even just a bit spare time ,credit where credits dew 😊👍📸

I have just been reviewing a 500mm f6.3 lens which cost only £300 for my channel . I am just going to have a look at the images I took today to show off the lens. Manual Focus, no stabilization this should make an interesting video 🤔Surely I have one in focus half decent shot !

the reason I go back to watch my favourite youtubers is variety of subjects, also must be out in the field.and not just focussing ( no pun intended ) on newest equipment. I also like to see a bit on fieldcraft and the environment the subjects are in.

I watch mainly wildlife, Mike Lane, Dan Willis, Trond Westby, Steve Mattheis and Jimmy Breitenstein. They all seem to put a lot of effort into their videos, mainly by travelling to their photo shoot. Their picture quality once they have found their subject is also superb.

I absolutely admire anyone who can combine taking good photos and making a video about it. Taking photos of wildlife is so demanding on its own I can't imagine filming myself while doing it. So hats off to you and all others wha can do it! ❤

Although I am mainly interested in wildlife photography and love watching your videos another person whom I watch is Lee Hall. He is always inventing new ways to present photos which are mainly abstract and done in his studio. No equipment is expensive and he explains very clearly how he has obtained his results.