Wildlife

The wild side of photography! Explore creative Missions to push your wildlife photography further.

16 active Missions

Birds in Motion

Timing & Motion

Birds in Motion

Speed on! 🦅 This Wildlife Mission is about showing birds mid-flight... whether you go slow to capture the speed or freeze things pin sharp, let's see it! How can you use editing to push that feeling of motion? 🐾 Mission Tips: 🎯 Track with your lens. Follow the bird smoothly before, during, and after the shot ⚡ Use fast shutter speeds to keep things sharp. 1/1000s minimum for most birds, faster for hummingbirds 📐 Catch birds with wings up or extended. Avoid the awkward wing positions mid-flap 🌫️ Use continuous autofocus mode and experiment with back-button focus for better tracking 📍 Position yourself where birds naturally fly... along shorelines or between feeding areas 💬 Which bird gave you the biggest challenge to track and photograph?

Taking Flight

Timing & Motion

Taking Flight

🦅 How can you showcase that feeling of flight? Capturing wildlife in flight is one of the hardest things to nail, but is also what makes it so worth chasing! This Mission is all about trying to capture that feeling of taking flight; the moment of lift off, the stretch of a wingspan , the split second an insect jumps. Birds are the obvious place to start, but we'd love to see how creative you can take it. How can you use composition, editing, lighting or even a text caption to add to the storytelling? Keen to be in with a chance of getting featured by Kōlab and Sigma UK? Then be sure to turn on Shot Recipe to share your camera settings with the community. This is 1 of 3 Missions launched for Wildlife Week, running with our friends at Sigma UK. The shots that stand out most will be featured across Sigma UK and Kōlab. You keep all rights to your photos. We will only ever share them to showcase the work coming out of Wildlife Week, and you will always be tagged and credited as the photographer, because we're photographers too :)

Black & White Wildlife

Black & White Wildlife

Let’s strip away the colour! 🖤 This Mission is about the power of B&W wildlife photography... where texture, contrast, and lighting take the lead. Show us how removing colour reveals something different about your wildlife shot. 🐾 Mission Tips: 🎭 Look for dramatic contrast... dark fur against bright backgrounds or light feathers against shadows 📸 Focus on texture and patterns... the roughness of scales, smoothness of feathers, or wetness of a nose ⚡ Push the shadows and highlights in editing to create mood and drama 🔍 Eyes become even more critical in B&W... make sure they're razor sharp and well-lit 💬 What made you choose this shot for black and white treatment?

Feeding Time

Feeding Time

Nature's dinner show! 🍽️ This Wildlife Mission captures animals during their most focused moments... when they're hunting, foraging, or enjoying a meal. Share your shots that show natural behaviour in action! 🐾 Mission Tips: ⏰ Learn feeding schedules. Early morning and late afternoon are prime time for most wildlife 📷 Use longer focal lengths to keep your distance and avoid disturbing natural behaviour 🎯 Focus on the eyes and mouth area. These shots are about the intensity of feeding 🤫 Stay patient and still. Feeding behaviour often happens in bursts with long waits between 🌿 Frame to include some environment. Show what they're feeding on or where they're hunting 💬 What's the most interesting feeding behaviour you've witnessed?

Explore all missions

Birds in Motion

Timing & Motion

Birds in Motion

Speed on! 🦅 This Wildlife Mission is about showing birds mid-flight... whether you go slow to capture the speed or freeze things pin sharp, let's see it! How can you use editing to push that feeling of motion? 🐾 Mission Tips: 🎯 Track with your lens. Follow the bird smoothly before, during, and after the shot ⚡ Use fast shutter speeds to keep things sharp. 1/1000s minimum for most birds, faster for hummingbirds 📐 Catch birds with wings up or extended. Avoid the awkward wing positions mid-flap 🌫️ Use continuous autofocus mode and experiment with back-button focus for better tracking 📍 Position yourself where birds naturally fly... along shorelines or between feeding areas 💬 Which bird gave you the biggest challenge to track and photograph?

Taking Flight

Timing & Motion

Taking Flight

🦅 How can you showcase that feeling of flight? Capturing wildlife in flight is one of the hardest things to nail, but is also what makes it so worth chasing! This Mission is all about trying to capture that feeling of taking flight; the moment of lift off, the stretch of a wingspan , the split second an insect jumps. Birds are the obvious place to start, but we'd love to see how creative you can take it. How can you use composition, editing, lighting or even a text caption to add to the storytelling? Keen to be in with a chance of getting featured by Kōlab and Sigma UK? Then be sure to turn on Shot Recipe to share your camera settings with the community. This is 1 of 3 Missions launched for Wildlife Week, running with our friends at Sigma UK. The shots that stand out most will be featured across Sigma UK and Kōlab. You keep all rights to your photos. We will only ever share them to showcase the work coming out of Wildlife Week, and you will always be tagged and credited as the photographer, because we're photographers too :)

Black & White Wildlife

Black & White Wildlife

Let’s strip away the colour! 🖤 This Mission is about the power of B&W wildlife photography... where texture, contrast, and lighting take the lead. Show us how removing colour reveals something different about your wildlife shot. 🐾 Mission Tips: 🎭 Look for dramatic contrast... dark fur against bright backgrounds or light feathers against shadows 📸 Focus on texture and patterns... the roughness of scales, smoothness of feathers, or wetness of a nose ⚡ Push the shadows and highlights in editing to create mood and drama 🔍 Eyes become even more critical in B&W... make sure they're razor sharp and well-lit 💬 What made you choose this shot for black and white treatment?

Feeding Time

Feeding Time

Nature's dinner show! 🍽️ This Wildlife Mission captures animals during their most focused moments... when they're hunting, foraging, or enjoying a meal. Share your shots that show natural behaviour in action! 🐾 Mission Tips: ⏰ Learn feeding schedules. Early morning and late afternoon are prime time for most wildlife 📷 Use longer focal lengths to keep your distance and avoid disturbing natural behaviour 🎯 Focus on the eyes and mouth area. These shots are about the intensity of feeding 🤫 Stay patient and still. Feeding behaviour often happens in bursts with long waits between 🌿 Frame to include some environment. Show what they're feeding on or where they're hunting 💬 What's the most interesting feeding behaviour you've witnessed?

Vivid Wildlife

Vivid Wildlife

Nature's paint box is wildddd! 🎨 This Mission celebrates the incredible colours that wildlife brings to our world. From vibrant bird feathers to colourful insects to striking reptile patterns, show us the creatures where those colours make you go 'wow'. 🐾 Mission Tips: 🌈 Look for subjects with naturally vibrant colours 📸 Use complementary backgrounds that make your subject's colours pop even more ☀️ Shoot in good light to bring out those natural tones at their richest 🎯 Fill the frame with your colourful subject to maximise impact 🖼️ Consider how different colours work together in your composition 💬 How did you use editing to enhance the colours further?

Close-Up Spiders

Close-Up Spiders

Spiders might be small, but at macro scale, they reveal an incredible world of detail. This Mission is all about getting close and bringing out the sharpness, texture, and intricate details that are easy to miss with the naked eye. From the fine hairs on a spider’s body to the delicate structure of its legs and the incredible patterns across its eyes and abdomen, let’s see how much detail you can uncover. Think about the textures that make your subject stand out. A perfectly sharp set of eyes? Intricate patterns across the body? Fine hairs catching the light? Use your edit to enhance these details while keeping the shot looking natural and true to the subject. How far can you push the detail? Let’s see it! 🕷️

Feathers, Fur & Scales

Feathers, Fur & Scales

The details of Wildlife! 🐾 This Mission by SIGMA UK is all about seeing how close you can get to capture the incredible details in animals. From the intricate patterns on a bird's wing to the soft fur of a mammal, show us those amazing textures! 🐾 Mission Tips: 🔍 Get close with a macro lens or zoom in tight. SIGMA's macro lenses excel at this kind of detail work. 📐 Side lighting reveals texture best. Early morning or late afternoon light rakes across fur and feathers beautifully. 📷 Use a wide aperture to isolate your subject but keep enough in focus to show the texture clearly. 🎨 In post, gently boost clarity and structure to make those details pop without overdoing it. 💬 How did you capture this? What lens decisions did you make?

Wild Eyes

Wild Eyes

It's time for some wild eye contact! 👁️ This wildlife Mission is about capturing that intense moment of eye contact with an animal. What lens decisions did you make to shoot it? Whether it's a bird of prey staring you down, a fox glancing back, or a deer frozen mid-step, show us the power of a direct gaze from the natural world. 🐾 Mission Tips: 👁️ Focus on the eyes always... if the eyes aren't sharp, the shot doesn't work 📷 Use a wide aperture to blur the background and make those eyes pop 🤫 Patience is everything... stay still, stay quiet, and let the moment come to you 🔍 Get low to be on the animal's eye level for maximum connection ✨ Catch light in the eyes adds life and sparkle to your subject 💬 Share your set up - how did you capture this? What settings did you use? 💡 Did You Know? Many animals interpret direct eye contact as a threat. The fact you captured that gaze often means the animal was assessing whether you were dangerous.

Wildlife Golden Hour

Wildlife Golden Hour

Golden hour meets the wild side! ✨ This Wildlife Mission is about combining that gorgeous golden light with wildlife subjects... when the warm glow transforms fur, feathers, and scales into something epic. Show us wildlife bathed in golden hour light. Warm tones, beautiful rim lighting, animals glowing. 🐾 Mission Tips: 🌅 Time it right. Golden hour is roughly one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset 💡 Use rim lighting to your advantage. Position yourself so the light creates a halo around your subject 📸 Expose for the highlights on the animal, not the background. You can lift shadows in editing 🎨 Look for warm reflected light bouncing off grass, sand, or rock onto your subject 🔄 Try backlighting for dramatic silhouettes or to make fur and feathers glow like fire 💬 How did the golden light change the mood of your wildlife shot? 💡 Did You Know? Golden hour light is around 3000K colour temperature, much warmer than midday sun at 5500K, which is why it makes everything look so magical.

Feet on the Ground

Feet on the Ground

🐘 From a stomping elephant to the gentlest spider, how will you showcase wildlife in contact with the ground? This is a great opportunity to get creative with your lens choice to exaggerate scale or freeze the action! We want to see how you can really push the storytelling here, showing just how the wildlife connects with the ground below. Think hard about how your shooting angle can dramatically change the feel of the shot. Keen to be in with a chance of getting featured by Kōlab and Sigma UK? Then be sure to turn on Shot Recipe to share your camera settings with the community. This is 1 of 3 Missions launched for Wildlife Week, running with our friends at Sigma UK. The shots that stand out most will be featured across Sigma UK and Kōlab. You keep all rights to your photos. We will only ever share them to showcase the work coming out of Wildlife Week, and you will always be tagged and credited as the photographer, because we're photographers too :)

Dark & Moody Wildlife

Dark & Moody Wildlife

Embrace the mood! 🌑 This Wildlife Mission is all about capturing those dramatic, moody tones. Show us your darkest, most atmospheric wildlife shots. Think silhouettes against stormy skies, animals emerging from deep forest shadows, or creatures lit by single shafts of light breaking through darkness. 🐾 Mission Tips: 🌚 Underexpose deliberately to keep those shadows deep and mysterious ⚡ Look for dramatic side lighting or backlighting to create strong contrast 🎨 Push the blacks in post to intensify the mood 🦉 Early morning mist and late evening storms create perfect moody conditions 📱 Boost contrast and lower highlights to amplify that brooding atmosphere 💬 What conditions helped create your moody shot? 💡 Did You Know? Many nocturnal animals are most active during twilight hours, making dusk perfect for capturing them in naturally moody lighting.

Wildlife Bokeh

Wildlife Bokeh

Blur the world away! ✨ Inspired by the SIGMA 50mm 1.2 DG Art, this Mission is all about using shallow depth of field to isolate your wildlife subjects with creamy, dreamy background blur that makes them pop off the screen. Show us wildlife shots with beautiful bokeh. Your subject should be tack sharp while the background melts into smooth, blurred tones that don't compete for attention. 🐾 Mission Tips: 📷 Shoot wide open... f/2.8 or wider if your lens allows 📏 Get closer to your subject to increase background separation 🌿 Look for busy backgrounds like leaves or grass that blur into lovely textures 🔭 Longer focal lengths naturally create more compression and bokeh 💡 Bright spots in the background become beautiful bokeh balls 💬 What aperture did you use and how close were you to your subject?

Life on Earth

Life on Earth

Celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th birthday🙏 This wildlife Mission celebrates the incredible diversity of wildlife our planet holds, just like the legendary Sir David has shown us for decades. Whether it's a tiny insect on a leaf, a majestic elephant in the wild, or birds in their natural habitat, show us the wonder of life on Earth. Post your wildlife shot that captures the essence of our natural world, one that makes you appreciate the magic of wildlife. 🌍 Mission Tips: 🔍 Look for behaviour moments - animals doing what they do naturally can tell a better story. 📸 Get down to their level. Eye-level shots create connection and intimacy. 🌿 Use the environment to frame your subject and show their world. 🎯 Focus on one clear subject. Let that animal be the star of the frame. 💬 What made you stop and appreciate this moment in the wild? 💡 Did You Know? David Attenborough has travelled to every continent and witnessed more wildlife behaviour than almost any human in history. His 'Life' series has inspired countless wildlife photographers worldwide.

Getting Wet

Getting Wet

🐳 For those animals that just love getting wet! From a breaching whale to zebra gathering at a watering hole, this Mission is all about trying to capture those special interactions between wildlife and water. Whether you decide to share deep underwater creatures or an animal that's caught in the rain, we'd love to see how creative you can take it. How can you use composition, editing, lighting or even a text caption to add to the storytelling? Keen to be in with a chance of getting featured by Kōlab and Sigma UK? Then be sure to turn on Shot Recipe to share your camera settings with the community. This is 1 of 3 Missions launched for Wildlife Week, running with our friends at Sigma UK. The shots that stand out most will be featured across Sigma UK and Kōlab. You keep all rights to your photos. We will only ever share them to showcase the work coming out of Wildlife Week, and you will always be tagged and credited as the photographer, because we're photographers too :)

Shot from Afar

Shot from Afar

🦌 How have you captured wildlife from a distance? This Mission is all about lens reach: how far can you push your lens to get those shots of the animals you can't get near; the shy, the wary, the impossibly distant. From an eagle riding a distant thermal to a stag across a misty valley, we'd love to see how creative you can take it. A great chance to stretch your longest lens! How can you use composition, editing, lighting or even a text caption to add to the storytelling? Keen to be in with a chance of getting featured by Kōlab and Sigma UK? Then be sure to turn on Shot Recipe to share your camera settings with the community. This is a surprise bonus Mission for Wildlife Week, running with our friends at Sigma UK. The shots that stand out most will be featured across Sigma UK and Kōlab. You keep all rights to your photos. We will only ever share them to showcase the work coming out of Wildlife Week, and you will always be tagged and credited as the photographer, because we're photographers too :)

Edit Remix: Wildlife Edition

Edit Remix: Wildlife Edition

One RAW file, infinite edit possibilities… it’s time for a community Edit Reveal… Download Ollie’s RAW file below and let’s see your edit!😎 How it works: 1️⃣Download the RAW file below 2️⃣Edit it your way 3️⃣Upload with ‘Edit Reveal’ to show your transformation! Massive thanks to @olliebphotography for sharing this incredible RAW shot with the Kōlab community🦜📸 And if you’ve not yet tried out Kōlab’s new Edit Reveal feature, now’s the time 👀 During upload, turn on the Edit Reveal toggle to add an unedited version. Your before and after then shows directly on Kōlab, ready to share straight to Instagram! This is the perfect excuse to try something new, push your creative comfort zone, and see what you can create 🔥 Quick friendly note: the RAW file remains copyright of the original photographer (Ollie Bennett) and can only be used for the purposes of this Kōlab Edit Remix Mission - thanks for respecting that 🙏 ⚡️ Mission Tips: 🎯 Make it yours: moody, cinematic, natural, punchy, soft… anything goes. 🎨 Push your style: colours, tones, crop, lighting… experiment a little. 🧠 Edit with intention: what do you want the viewer to feel when they see it? 🗣 Tell us your thinking: how did you edit it, and why?

What the community is creating

RTB_Photography, kentonrose and mike_snaps recently completed Wildlife Missions

We often hear Ruru (Morepork) in our garden in New Zealand but they are hard to capture awake with a camera, as they are nocturnal and it gets very dark where we are! During the day they are usually fast asleep and look like giant pinecones up in the branches.

Hence, it was great to see this one wide awake at the Hawk Conservancy, near Andover, which was one of our family's favourite places when I was working at Boscombe Down.

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RTB_PhotographyCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

Common Garden Spider

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kentonroseCompleted Close-Up Spiders

First capture of a Wren. I had no idea how loud this little bird could be!
Shot on my canon 760D and Sigma 150-500mm

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mike_snapsCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

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russCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

📸: Canon EOS R7 + Sigma 150 to 600mm

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mmphotographyCompleted Feet on the Ground

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saracenCompleted Birds in Motion

An Eagle Owl in flight, low over the display arena, coming straight towards me before landing on the perch above my head.

The image was taken at York Bord Of Prey Centre.

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kentonroseCompleted Birds in Motion

Gibbon hanging by 3

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sebash_nielsonCompleted Vivid Wildlife

📸: Canon EOS 4000D + Sigma 150 to 600mm

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mmphotographyCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

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stijnCompleted Feeding Time

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rsphotographyCompleted Feeding Time

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rsphotographyCompleted Birds in Motion

Just a day out with the family and I've always loved tigers he was on his catwalk and looked straight at me as i shot.

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stigphotographyCompleted Wild Eyes

A Swan preening in the morning light

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willemCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

Canon 760D
Sigma 150-500m

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mike_snapsCompleted Taking Flight

Red Kite

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danimonachCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

American Bald Eagle

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danimonachCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

Prairie Falcon

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danimonachCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

A Red Kite circled above me

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maverickCompleted Birds in Motion

What a moment after years of trying!

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deanjphotographyCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

A Russian Albidus Goshawk enjoying its lunch at York Bird Of Prey Centre

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kentonroseCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

A Female Southern Masked Weaver sat next to me in a tree while I was doing some plane spotting.

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TimHomanCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

Short-eared Owl diving for food

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alanforsheeCompleted Birds in Motion

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lussiannaCompleted Feathers, Fur & Scales

Wildlife guides

How to shoot this stuff.