The Wild Photographer

In this episode of The Wild Photographer, Court digs into one of the most practical, important, and occasionally nerve-wracking topics in travel photography: how to travel with camera gear safely and effectively.
If you’ve ever walked through an airport with thousands of dollars of camera equipment on your back, you know the feeling. You don’t want that bag leaving your side, you don’t want your lenses rattling around, and you definitely don’t want to arrive in Botswana, Alaska, Borneo, or anywhere else only to discover that you missed packing something or have something break in transit.
After 20-plus years of traveling the world as a professional photographer, wildlife guide, and expedition leader, Court has developed a very practical system for getting gear from home to the field and back again. This episode covers everything from choosing the right camera bag to navigating airline restrictions, packing lenses properly, dealing with lithium batteries, deciding whether to bring a laptop, evaluating tripods and monopods, and keeping gear clean in dusty, wet, muddy, salty, or otherwise gear-hostile environments.
The big theme throughout this episode is that traveling well with camera gear is not about bringing every accessory you own or treating your equipment like a museum artifact. It’s about building smart habits, reducing risk, staying organized, and protecting the gear enough that it can do what it’s meant to do--help you make great photos in wild places.
Products Mentioned + Links:
Shimoda Designs Action X40
Camera backpack mentioned by Court as one of his favorite travel and field bags.
https://shimodadesigns.com/action-x40-v2-backpack-black/
Peak Design
Camera bags, clips, straps, tripods, and carry accessories.
https://www.peakdesign.com/
Peak Design Capture Camera Clip
Camera clip that attaches to a backpack strap or belt.
https://www.peakdesign.com/products/capture
Peak Design Camera Straps
Quick-release camera strap system.
https://www.peakdesign.com/collections/straps
Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod
Compact travel tripod mentioned by Court.
https://www.peakdesign.com/products/travel-tripod
f-stop Gear
Adventure camera backpacks and modular camera inserts.
https://fstopgear.com/
ORTLIEB Waterproof Backpacks
Waterproof backpack options for wet, rainy, or boat-based travel.
https://us.ortlieb.com/collections/waterproof-backpacks
NOMATIC / McKinnon Battery Case
Battery case mentioned by Court for organizing three camera batteries.
https://www.nomatic.com/products/battery-case
PolarPro
Filters and camera accessories; Court mentions liking a sturdier PolarPro lens cloth that came with a filter.
https://www.polarpro.com/
ProGrade Digital Card Readers
Dedicated memory card readers for SD, CFexpress, and other card types.
https://shop.progradedigital.com/collections/sd-readers
Anker
Charging hubs and USB-C charging accessories.
https://www.anker.com/
Court's Websites
Check out my photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com
Sign up for my photo and conservation blog at www.courtwhelan.com
Follow me on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips
View my camera kit and recommended camera gear
Sponsors and Promo Codes:
MPB.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear
ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design
BayPhoto.com - 25% off your first order (code: TWP25) 
ArtHelper.com - a photo community to learn, share and be inspired
Arthelper.Ai - Smart tools to promo and showcase your art.
LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off

In this snapshot episode of The Wild Photographer, Court dives into one of the most beloved, affordable, and surprisingly powerful lenses in photography: the Nifty 50.
A “Nifty 50” is the nickname for a 50mm prime lens with a very fast aperture, often somewhere around f/1.8, f/1.4, or even f/1.2. These lenses are famous for being small, lightweight, relatively inexpensive, and capable of producing beautifully shallow depth of field. In other words, they can give your photos that dreamy background blur, strong subject separation, and low-light flexibility that usually comes with much more expensive gear.
While a 50mm lens may not seem like the obvious choice for nature and wildlife photography, Court makes the case that it deserves a permanent spot in just about every photographer’s kit. It may not be the lens you use all day, every day, but it can become your “X factor” lens — the one you pull out when you want a different look, a creative constraint, or a way to make images that feel a little more cinematic, intimate, or unexpected.
In this episode, Court explains what makes the Nifty 50 so useful, why it’s such a great lens for beginning photographers, how it can help you learn aperture faster, and where it fits into a travel, nature, portrait, cultural, or even video workflow.
Key Takeaways
A Nifty 50 is a 50mm prime lens with a fast aperture, often f/1.8 or f/1.4.
It is one of the most affordable ways to experience very shallow depth of field.
It is small, lightweight, and easy to keep in your camera kit.
It is not the perfect lens for classic landscapes or traditional wildlife close-ups, but it can create fantastic, creative nature images.
It excels at portraits, travel, culture, food, markets, low light, and video.
It is especially valuable because it teaches aperture through real-world use.
For many photographers, the inexpensive version is more than enough.
Court Whelan on YouTube
Court shares weekly photography videos, editing tutorials, on-site video lessons, and practical tips for growing as a photographer.
https://www.youtube.com/@courtwhelan
The Wild Photographer Podcast
If you’re enjoying the show, please consider sharing the podcast with a friend and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast platform of choice. I truly appreciate it and and appreciate you for listening!
Court's Websites
Check out my photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com
Sign up for my photo and conservation blog at www.courtwhelan.com
Follow me on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips
View my camera kit and recommended camera gear
Sponsors and Promo Codes:
MPB.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear
ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design
BayPhoto.com - 25% off your first order (code: TWP25) 
ArtHelper.com - a photo community to learn, share and be inspired
Arthelper.Ai - Smart tools to promo and showcase your art.
LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off

In this episode of The Wild Photographer, Court follows up on his recent conversation about the “rules” of photography by exploring the equally interesting topic: when should we break them?
Photography rules exist for good reason. Things like the rule of thirds, sharp focus, proper exposure, level horizons, golden hour light, and clean composition all help us make stronger images more consistently. They give us a useful framework, especially when we’re learning or working quickly in the field. But as every photographer eventually discovers, those rules are not laws. They are shortcuts, not mandates.
At the end of the day, photography is art. A technically perfect image can fall flat, while a photograph that bends or completely ignores the rules can be the one that draws more attention and pop. Sometimes a slightly blurred subject, an "overly bright" exposure, a centered animal, a tilted horizon, or a chaotic scene full of visual clutter creates more feeling, more story, and more originality than the “correct” version ever could.
In this episode, Court walks through some of his favorite ways to break traditional photography rules with intention. He talks about exaggerated composition, center-weighted subjects, high-key and low-key exposure, motion blur, focusing somewhere other than the eyes, embracing bad weather, shooting at midday, experimenting with minimalism and maximalism, photographing the aftermath of a moment, and even leaning into star trails instead of trying to avoid them.
The big idea is not to throw every rule out the window and hope for the best. It’s to understand the rules well enough that you can recognize when breaking them might create a stronger photograph. When done thoughtfully, breaking the rules gives you more creative control and a way to make images that feel more personal, more memorable, and sometimes a whole lot more fun.
Court's Websites
Check out my photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com
Sign up for my photo and conservation blog at www.courtwhelan.com
Follow me on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips
View my camera kit and recommended camera gear
Sponsors and Promo Codes:
MPB.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear
ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design
BayPhoto.com - 25% off your first order (code: TWP25) 
ArtHelper.com - a photo community to learn, share and be inspired
Arthelper.Ai - Smart tools to promo and showcase your art.
LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off

In this snapshot episode of The Wild Photographer, Court shares a quick, practical guide to astrophotography — specifically, how to photograph the Milky Way with strong composition, sharp stars, and a plan for success.
Astrophotography can feel intimidating at first. You’re working in extreme low light, trying to make tiny points of starlight stand out in a big, dramatic way. Plus, you're likely using gear that is specialized, and let's face it, things are more challenging in the pitch dark.
But the good news is that with a solid plan, it's a fairly straightforward formula. With the right lens, a sturdy tripod, thoughtful foreground composition, and a few repeatable camera settings, you can create beautiful night sky images that will really help elevate your nature photography.
Links Mentioned in the Episode:
Sun Surveyor App
A planning app for tracking the sun, moon, and Milky Way, including augmented reality tools for scouting compositions.
https://www.sunsurveyor.com/
Timeanddate Moonrise and Moonset Calculator
Useful for checking moonrise, moonset, moon phase, moon direction, and timing for astrophotography planning.
https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/
Court Whelan on YouTube
Court’s YouTube channel includes photography tutorials, editing walkthroughs, and visual companions to topics discussed on the podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/@courtwhelan
Smallrig LED Light: https://amzn.to/3PlZvTT
Petzl Actik headlamp: https://amzn.to/4nUlwWE
Court's Websites
Check out my photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com
Sign up for my photo and conservation blog at www.courtwhelan.com
Follow me on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips
View my camera kit and recommended camera gear
Sponsors and Promo Codes:
MPB.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear
ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design
BayPhoto.com - 25% off your first order (code: TWP25) 
ArtHelper.com - a photo community to learn, share and be inspired
Arthelper.Ai - Smart tools to promo and showcase your art.
LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off

In this episode of The Wild Photographer, Court shares the core lessons he teaches at the beginning of every photography trip. These are the foundational tips that help guests quickly gain more creative control, troubleshoot challenging field conditions, and start making stronger nature and wildlife images from the very first outing.
Whether you’re heading on safari, photographing bears in Alaska, chasing landscapes in Iceland, or simply trying to get more out of your camera, these are the habits that can make a huge difference.
The 7 Things
 Move off full auto 
 Practice exposure compensation 
 Use center point autofocus 
 Work on composition and visual balance 
 Remember to zoom out 
 Choose your background 
 Choose your white balance 
Court's Websites
Check out my photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com
Sign up for my photo and conservation blog at www.courtwhelan.com
Follow me on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips
View my camera kit and recommended camera gear
Sponsors and Promo Codes:
MPB.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear
ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design
BayPhoto.com - 25% off your first order (code: TWP25) 
ArtHelper.com - a photo community to learn, share and be inspired
Arthelper.Ai - Smart tools to promo and showcase your art.
LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off