A male lion with a full dark mane stares directly into the lens on the Serengeti plains — Camera data: Sony α7R III400 mmf/5.61/400 sISO 100Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Photo Giles Laurent · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

How the frame was made

Behind the Shot

The field notes, decisions and settings behind extraordinary wildlife images.

Latest · 15 Oct 2026

Sample content

Behind the shot: Snyggve, the Serengeti lion who looked back

A direct gaze, soft light and a background that disappears: what the file data and the frame itself tell us about one of the most-viewed lion portraits on Wikimedia Commons.

Read the story · 6 min

Sample content

Behind the shot: three bee-eaters that are one bird

Giles Laurent's stacked sequence of a European bee-eater shows the whole arc of a wingbeat in a single frame. Here is what a stacked image is, how this one was built, and why saying so matters.

30 Sept 2026 · 6 min read

The WLIFE Dispatch · weekly

The week’s best wildlife photography, in one email.

New images, photographer stories, gear tested in the field and expedition openings. Free, unsubscribe any time.