Ethics, Pressure, and Staying True to Your Wildlife Photography in 2026

The Pressure of Social Media

As we move into 2026, social media continues to shape how wildlife photography is seen, valued, and judged. Stunning images appear in our feeds every single day, and it’s very easy to feel pressure or even defeat. You might look at certain photographs and think, I’ll never be able to achieve that. I’ve felt that way myself at times.

But social media rarely tells the full story. What you see is the end result, not the method, the ethics, or the impact on the subject. That’s why I believe it’s more important than ever to pause and ask how an image was actually captured.

Question the Image

When you see an image that stops you in your tracks, do you ever consider the process behind it? Was it photographed naturally in the wild? Was it taken at a baited hide under controlled conditions? Was AI used in the creation or enhancement of the image? Or was the scene staged in some other way?

For me, these questions matter just as much as sharpness, light, or composition.

Staying True to Your Own Values

Personally, I only photograph wildlife in natural settings. I don’t use baited hides, I don’t manipulate behaviour, and I don’t use AI. That doesn’t make me right and others wrong, it’s simply the line I choose not to cross. Ethics are the very first thing I consider when I view an image, long before I decide whether I like it.

I urge people to look closer at images they would normally like, comment on, or repost. Many images shared by professionals, amateurs, and hobbyists don’t clearly declare the use of baited hides or AI. If they did, would you still engage with them in the same way?

The Normalisation of Baited Hides

Many people who follow me for my ethical stance message me privately to say they agree, yet I often see those same people publicly liking and sharing images clearly captured at baited hides. Kingfishers fed through tubes into artificial pools. Golden Eagles photographed in snowy scenes with dead animals placed nearby, photographers sitting comfortably in hides capturing images that almost anyone who can operate a camera could achieve.

The methods used to conceal bait are often obvious once you know what to look for like blown-out blur in front of or around the legs of a bird or mammal, prey hidden behind a mound or log, or even removed entirely. If you work this way, I believe it should be declared openly.

Credibility, Competitions, and Protection

Not everyone enters wildlife photography competitions, but some of the biggest and most respected in the world set the benchmark. The Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition strictly bans baiting and the use of AI. These rules aren’t there just to make things fairer; they exist primarily to protect the subjects being photographed. I follow these rules whether I enter competitions or not.

If others know an image is fake, staged, or ethically questionable and see you liking, commenting on, or reposting it, your credibility as a wildlife photographer can be reduced and people may question the legitimacy of your work! It’s always worth sanitising an image before engaging with it.

Conservation or Convenience?

Many baited hide businesses justify their practices under the banner of conservation or species recovery. In some situations, government bodies and wildlife organisations may use bait, but only when it is approved, closely monitored, and strictly controlled. Most commercial operations are not the same thing, no matter how they are marketed.

A Message for 2026

This is all my personal opinion, and I don’t claim to know everything. My message for 2026 is simple: look harder, be more selective, and make your own informed choices about what you support. Don’t feel pressured to cut corners or take the easy route. Challenge yourself—the rewards are far greater.

If you pursue wildlife photography in the right way, you’ll learn more, earn more respect, and if recognition comes, you’ll know it’s genuinely deserved. The hours in the field, the failures, the missed shots, and the quiet moments all matter just as much as the final image.

So head into 2026 with curiosity, patience, and confidence in your own path. Celebrate your small wins, enjoy being outdoors, and remember why you picked up a camera in the first place. Wildlife photography should be inspiring, humbling, and above all enjoyable.

Best of luck with all your photographic adventures in 2026 — may it be filled with great light, honest encounters, and images you can truly be proud of.

Cheers Rich :-)

If you’d like to leave a comment, it’s very much appreciated.