Christopher Dodds Nature Photographer

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Christopher Dodds Nature Photographer

Author of www.naturephotographyblog.com & www.chrisdoddsphoto.com Chris lives near Montreal with his soul mate and wife, Julie.

Christopher Dodds has combined his life-long passion for nature with highly technical expertise to become one of the top nature photographers of the time. Chris follows the call of the wild to the most breathtaking locations in the world to capture the true soul of nature in his lens. An inaugural member of the Canon Northern Explorer of Light and elite X-Rite Coloratti, he has over 27 years’ expe

rience as a full-time freelance nature and wildlife photographer, nature photography workshop & safari leader, photography educator, blogger, and lecturer. Chris first discovered his love of the great Canadian outdoors during camping, canoe, and backpacking excursions during his childhood after moving to Canada from England when he was eight. By the time he was fourteen, Chris thrilled at freezing fleeting glimpses of birds and the resulting ability to study every detail of their intricate beauty. Today Chris travels to some of the most exquisite locations in the world photographing, teaching nature photography workshops and leading nature photography safaris. Chris’ experience has run the gamut of photography expertise; having purchased a photo studio in 1987 he left after two years to pursue photojournalism and wedding photography, with the ultimate goal of total immersion in his passion: capturing the stark beauty and grit of the world and its creatures through nature and wildlife photography. Chris launched his photography workshops & safaris business in 2001 and has since built a loyal client base that follow him from Alaska, to Newfoundland, Florida to Africa, to capture stunning photographs under Chris’ sharp tutelage. His widely-read blog http://www.naturephotographyblog.com has become the “go to” resource for many nature photographers from around the world. Chris' images appear in many of the world's leading magazines and newspapers and among countless private collections. Chris has apprenticed and mastered both color and black and white chemical darkrooms, but today embraces the computerized, digital workflow. Renowned for capturing images of nature in an artistic, yet technically perfect, manner, his images are collected and published regularly in world-class publications. When not out traveling the world with his camera, he is often seen near their home on walks with their adorable, 140-pound Rottweiler, T-Bone. "I’ve always had a deep love and interest in nature and photography, so it was only natural that I followed my passion as a nature photographer. I try to capture an unobtrusive, close and intimate view into my subject’s lives; at their level and without disturbance. I spend an enormous amount of time learning every detail about my subjects, their behavior and their lives. As a visual storyteller, there is nothing more rewarding than recording a unique behavior or moment, and doing so without my presence felt by my subject, or the viewer. As an educator and workshop/safari leader, I love sharing what I've learned and it truly is wonderful to see a participant improve their skills and learn how to reliably create awesome images filled with visual impact."

03/06/2026

Most photographers are happy just to see an American Bittern.

Watching one swim across open water is another matter entirely.

I photographed this bird from the Marsh Boardwalk at Point Pelee as it quietly crossed a stretch of open water, sitting surprisingly low in the water and leaving a gentle wake behind it. American Bitterns are primarily wading birds, so seeing one swim is a behaviour many birders and photographers never witness.

Full story and image on the blog. 👉 Link in comments

Point Pelee National Park

28/05/2026

One of the things I appreciate most about Point Pelee National Park is the amount of work staff quietly do behind the scenes to maintain habitat while protecting the park.

This Brown Thrasher was part of a nesting pair using one of the park’s brush piles while feeding hidden young nearby during my Songbirds of Pelee workshop.

The moment lasted only seconds. The bird briefly landed on this lichen-covered perch as we were about to continue down the trail — exactly the kind of fleeting opportunity where having manual exposure already locked in makes all the difference.

Full story on the blog. 👉 Link in comments

Point Pelee National Park

27/05/2026

You usually hear a Black-and-white Warbler before you see one.

This bird spent a long time high overhead during my Songbirds of Pelee workshop while photographers debated whether to stay with it or chase a singing Blue-headed Vireo nearby. Those who stayed put were rewarded when the warbler suddenly crept down this twisting woodland vine, completely out in the open at eye level.

One of my favourite things about Black-and-white Warblers is how they behave more like tiny nuthatches than warblers.

Full story and image on the blog.

👉 Link in comments Point Pelee National Park

22/05/2026

The forecast looked terrible.

Heavy rain, dark skies, and enough gloomy weather warnings that some people skipped my Sony-sponsored Point Pelee photo walk entirely.

That turned out to be a mistake.

By afternoon, we were walking back from the tip in steady rain when this Wilson’s Warbler briefly landed carrying a mouthful of insects after feeding hard during migration. The entire moment lasted maybe a second or two.

Rain changes a forest photographically. Colours deepen, backgrounds soften, and everything starts to glow in a way that always reminds me of Fuji Velvia slide film from back in the day.
Full story and image on the blog.
Point Pelee National Park

21/05/2026

Spring migration at Point Pelee can be magical.

Blackburnian Warblers are usually way up in the treetops, where they’re just close enough to tease you and just far enough away to ruin the shot.

Not this one.

Right after a downpour during my Songbirds of Pelee workshop, this male dropped down low and landed on a clean perch in beautiful soft light for a few seconds before disappearing again.
Sometimes the rain helps.

Full story and image on the blog.

👉 Link in comments Point Pelee National Park

20/05/2026

Every spring at Point Pelee, photographers spend half their time fighting branches, leaves, and cluttered backgrounds while trying to isolate tiny migrating birds.

And then once in a while, all that chaos finally works.

This Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched for only a few seconds during my Songbirds of Pelee workshop before disappearing back into the foliage. Instead of cropping tight, I left the bird small in the frame to let the soft spring greens and warm earth tones tell part of the story.

Funny enough, the same leaves we usually curse are exactly what made this image work.

Full story on the blog.

👉 Link in comments

Point Pelee National Park

19/05/2026

The Louisiana Waterthrush drew a steady stream of photographers into Tilden Woods during spring migration this year, and for good reason. It’s a striking bird with loads of personality, constantly working the flooded trails and tangled edges of the swamp looking for food. But while seeing it was easy enough, photographing it cleanly was another story entirely.

If you tried, you already know.

Tilden Woods can be brutally difficult photographically — branches everywhere, messy reflections, bright water highlights, cluttered backgrounds, and seldom a clear angle. Most frames looked exactly like the habitat felt: chaotic, distracting and far from the wall-hanger we are all after.

That’s what made this moment exciting.

No bait, no playback, no callback. Just a completely wild migratory bird briefly stepping into a spot where the light, posture, perch, and background all lined up naturally for a few seconds before disappearing back into the clutter.

Despite the name, Louisiana Waterthrushes are actually warblers, not thrushes.

The reach of the Sony 600mm f/4, paired with the 1.4x teleconverter, helped tremendously here, compressing the scene and throwing a couple of branches between the bird and me so far out of focus that they effectively disappeared. Without that compression and shallow depth of field, this frame probably never would have happened.

That’s the part I love about photographing migration at Point Pelee. Most attempts fail. Then suddenly, for one brief moment, everything comes together on its own in the wild.

Moments like this are exactly why I keep returning to Point Pelee every spring for my Songbirds of Pelee workshop. You never know what migration will deliver next, but when patience, fieldcraft, timing, and luck all collide at once, the results can be unforgettable.

If you’d like to experience spring migration at Point Pelee firsthand and improve your bird photography in the field, I’d love to have you join me next May for Songbirds of Pelee. Point Pelee National Park

01/05/2026

We had this Black-throated Blue Warbler all to ourselves.

Spectacular breeding plumage, working low and slow, right out in the open—refuelling after crossing Lake Erie.

The park was quiet. Just a handful of photographers. No chaos, no crowd… just time to watch, anticipate, and be ready.

That’s Point Pelee this time of year.

👉 Full story on the blog - link in comments

29/04/2026

We were locked in on puffins coming in with capelin when Hugh Smith called it—Merlin.

By the time I found it, it was already on us. Fast, backlit, no time to adjust. One pass, one moment, and gone.

This frame is from that split second.

Full story on the blog.

👉 Link in comments

27/04/2026

One room left — August 10–13, 2026.

This is what it’s about.

A puffin cutting through golden light with a beak full of capelin — a moment that lasts a fraction of a second, but tells the whole story of the season.

And then there’s everything around it.

Living on the island. Puffins flying overhead at arm’s length. The constant movement, the sound, the rhythm of it all. No schedules forced on you — you shoot when the light is right, step away when it isn’t, and go again.

Randi joined me last August and summed it up perfectly:
“It was truly an incredible and unforgettable experience… I will never forget the feeling of standing on the beach as countless puffins flew overhead… My biggest takeaway was learning to get it right in-camera and trust my histogram.”

That’s the difference — not just the images you come home with, but how you make them.

One room left. That’s it.

👉 Secure the Last Room. Link in comments.

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http://www.naturephotographyblog.com/, http://www.chrisdoddsphoto.com/

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