After 220 days of travel in 2024, I slowed my pace in 2025 and found something unexpected. Returning to familiar places, working with smaller groups, and choosing experience over accumulation reshaped how I photograph and how I teach. This year became a reminder that photography is not about doing more, but about seeing more, learning deeply, and showing up with intention.

Winter reveals nature at its most honest—stripped down to movement, behavior, and instinct. As photographers, our role isn’t to alter that story but to witness it with care. By understanding seasonal behavior, respecting thin margins, and showing up with patience, we create images that honor wildlife and let the wild remain wild.

There’s a unique rhythm to photographing nature’s extremes—the frost on a leaf and the caribou crossing a ridge. In this guide, I share how I plan a single trip to capture both ends of that spectrum, from macro to mammals, using a lightweight two-lens setup, location strategy, and ethical field practices that let nature lead the story.