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Hayden Dumaw • Wildlife

@haydendumaww

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Photographer + Biostatistician
Sharing my passion for real wildlife (never AI)
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Thank you for supporting my passion and helping me achieve a lifelong dream of mine. It truly means the world 🫶

#SonyAlpha #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #NatGeoYourShot #Birding by @haydendumaww

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8 months ago

Prints of my photo “HUGINN” are now available at haydendumaw.com (link in bio). Because so many have asked for the story behind this image, I wanted to share more about it.

What first caught my attention on this morning in Alaska was this crow perched against a pale blue background created by the foggy mountains in the distance, in light rain. I was intentionally trying to photograph it shaking the rain off - but I had no idea I would freeze the exact moment its head was mid-rotation, making it look almost completely backwards, while its nictitating membrane swept across its eye at the same time. The nictitating membrane is a third eyelid that birds have to clean, protect, and moisten the eye - and that is what created that pale icy-blue glaze you see here. These moments combined to create a very possessed-looking crow. When I saw the moment through my viewfinder I knew immediately that something special had happened.

This is not my typical wildlife photo - it is more unsettling than conventionally beautiful, and that is exactly what makes it interesting to me. It captures a moment that happened so fast it would be completely invisible to the naked eye. Every image I share is a real photograph of a real wild animal, and this one is no exception.

There are a few things I like to clarify about this encounter. Firstly, this is an American Crow, not a Common Raven. The size difference was very apparent in person, and the sound of its call confirmed it. Secondly, the crow is also completely healthy - it is not blind, not suffering, and has no deformity. It was simply shaking its head.

Due to popular demand, “HUGINN” is available as a print in a wide range of sizes on paper, canvas, and metal at www.haydendumaw.com, linked in my bio. Thank you sincerely to everyone who has supported my work - it means more than I can express. I’m very grateful and humbled that this moment I captured was able to remind so many that wildlife deserves our appreciation and protection.

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II + 600mm f/4 GM.

#NatGeoYourShot #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #GameOfThrones #Birding taken in Alaska, USA by @haydendumaww

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a month ago

For the longest time, I’ve honestly been scared to truly give black-and-white photography a try. I’ve always gravitated to color - the richness of it, the emotion it carries, the way it brings a scene to life. It makes my brain happy seeing how the various colors in a scene come together to compliment each other. Removing color felt like taking something away, like losing part of the story. Even though I understood why black-and-white images could be powerful, it never truly resonated with me on a personal level. It just wasn’t how I saw the world or my work.

But today, something shifted. I looked at one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken (the first one in this post) and, for the first time, I genuinely felt that it was stronger in black and white than in color. That moment clicked in a way I can’t really explain - like I finally felt what I had only understood on paper before. It wasn’t about losing color anymore; it was about revealing something deeper - light, texture, emotion, and form in a way color sometimes hides. I truly feel like the black-and-white version of the image in invokes a feeling that the color version did not. It feels like a turning point for me, not just in editing, but in how I see my work as an artist. Like I’ve taken a small but meaningful step forward in understanding photography on a deeper level.

I’m absolutely not going to stop posting color. But I am very excited to continue experimenting with black-and-white in the future, and occasionally sprinkling in some monochrome edits into my gallery. I hope you will enjoy them.

All shot on @sonyalpha / @sonyelectronics A7RIV or A1 II and edited in @lightroom.

#NatGeoYourShot #SonyAlpha #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #NatGeoYourShotWonder by @haydendumaww

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7 months ago

Mother nature delivered this photo to me on a silver platter. I was photographing a distant eagle with a teleconverter attached when this adolescent Bald Eagle swooped in from nowhere and landed less than five feet away from me for absolutely no apparent reason. I did not even realize it had landed at first. I had to slowly inch backward several feet to not startle it just to fit its face in the frame (this first photo is uncropped) and it stayed for a full minute - completely unbothered, perfectly composed, and facing me the entire time. Nature created this moment entirely on its own. I was simply lucky enough to be standing there with a camera.

This beautiful bird was mid-transition to the iconic white head - Bald Eagles are born with dark brown plumage across their entire body and take around five years to fully develop the white head and tail feathers that make them so recognizable, with the white creeping in gradually and unevenly each year. I was also excited to capture the nictitating membrane - the translucent third eyelid that sweeps horizontally across the eye to protect it while keeping their vision intact. The only lesson I can honestly take from this encounter is to always be prepared and ready, because the moments you could never have planned for are often the ones you remember for the rest of your life.

Shot on @sonyalpha / @sonyelectronics A1 II + 600mm f/4 GM + 1.4x teleconverter. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #Birding taken in Alaska, USA by @haydendumaww

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5 months ago

This Pacific Screech-Owl encounter means a great deal to me. These images were one of the first times I experimented with a new editing style and also pushed past my own perfectionism to share something I loved but almost held back for not being “perfect enough”. This beautiful owl ended up being featured by National Geographic, which remains one of the most meaningful things that has ever happened to me as a photographer. I credit sharing this moment - despite my own doubts - with some of the important growth I have had as an artist.

I never shared the full set from the encounter, and I have been wanting to come back to it ever since. We heard the owl calling from the side of the road as the sun was setting, and somehow managed to spot him tucked deep within the leaves - incredibly difficult to see until a single intense beam of golden light slipped through the canopy and illuminated him like a spotlight. Judging by the owl’s facial expressions, the sudden brightness was likely a surprise. The moment was completely fleeting; almost as quickly as it arrived the light shifted and disappeared. The owl glanced upward, almost as if longing for the warmth that had just left, then spotted us and flew to a higher perch to catch the last rays of the fading sun. I’m so thankful we got to witness this beautiful creature with our own eyes.

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II + 600mm f/4 GM.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Birding taken in Costa Rica by @haydendumaww

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2 months ago

In South Africa, the Impala and other antelope species are extremely widespread and often overlooked by visitors. But I still cannot not stop myself from photographing these beautiful creatures every time. This is a collection of some recent Impala photos, with minor guest appearances from the Kudu (slide 15) Nyala (slide 6), Bushbuck (slide 2) Waterbuck (slide 12, 13) and Sable (slide 19), and even the Red-billed Oxpecker (slide 2, 3, 7, 8, 10).

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II + 600mm f/4 GM and A7RIV + 24-70mm f/2.8.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Impala taken in South Africa by @haydendumaww

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a month ago

All of these photos were captured within a single second - a good reminder of how many extraordinary moments are unfolding around us if we just slow down and pay a little more attention. Honey bees are widely regarded as the most important insect on the planet, responsible for pollinating roughly 1/3 of the food we eat - a small and gentle creature carrying an enormous weight. Excited to share more photos of these beautiful insects soon.

Shot on @sonyalpha / @sonyelectronics A1 II + 100mm f/2.8 Macro GM. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #MacroPhotography taken in North Carolina, USA by @haydendumaww

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6 months ago

The Green Sea Turtle is an animal that holds a deeply personal meaning to me but also one that never stops amazing me. Every time I encounter one, it feels just as incredible as my first time. One of my favorite frames from this morning was the turtle biting at its own flipper - most likely removing a parasite or addressing an irritation, since sea turtles have limited ways of scratching themselves. A pose I have never seen before.

I have also been experimenting with black and white editing lately, and with certain shots I love the way it brings out the contrast between the water and the patterns on the shell.

Shot on @sonyalpha A7R IV.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Underwater taken in Maui, Hawaii by @haydendumaww

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3 months ago

The Lilac-breasted Roller is widely regarded as the most colorful bird in Africa, and this encounter made it impossible for me to argue otherwise. This was taken just moments after the first glow of sunrise crept over the horizon and caught every feather in that early golden light. The colors looked so vivid and rich in person that they barely seemed real. I’ve shared a few photos of this bird before, but after sitting on the full set and revisiting the edits, I felt like it deserved a proper post - these are some of my favorite frames from the entire trip, and this beautiful bird is up there with my favorites I’ve ever photographed in my life.

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II with the @sonyelectronics 600mm f/4 GM. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #Birding taken in Kruger National Park, South Africa by @haydendumaww

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7 months ago

The Chestnut-headed Oropendola is a beautiful bird, and this individual is only one I have ever encountered. It was clearly shy - lingering for just a few seconds to finish a piece of banana it had plucked from a nearby tree before disappearing back into the forest. The deep blue-grey of the clouds and mountain fog rolling through the Monteverde sky made for a gorgeous blue background I couldn’t have planned that complimented the eyes well. Oropendolas are also known for one of the most distinctive calls in the neotropical forest - a loud, gurgling, almost mechanical sound that carries through the trees and is nearly impossible to mistake once you have heard it for the first time. I hope I get the privilege to see another one in this life.

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II with the @sonyelectronics 600mm f/4 GM. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #Birding taken in Monteverde, Costa Rica by @haydendumaww

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6 months ago

This European Fallow Deer gave me one of my most memorable wildlife encounters. He was completely unbothered by my presence and allowed me to stay with him for a while during the afternoon glow. Some photos he looked like he was squinting into the bright sun, while others like he was relaxing and slowly falling asleep in the warmth, eyes growing heavy and relaxed. Either way he looked like he knew he was posing for a portrait. There is something incredibly special about a wild animal choosing to let you join its space - not because it has to, but simply because it has decided you are safe. These are the encounters I treasure most.

Shot on @sonyalpha A7R IV with the @sonyelectronics 200-600mm G. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife taken in The Netherlands by @haydendumaww

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4 months ago

Photographing a brown bear up close has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and I finally got to check it off. We approached slowly and respectfully, making sure this individual knew we were there from a distance and giving her hours to get comfortable with our presence before we ever got close. She almost certainly knew we were nearby long before we ever saw her (a bear’s sense of smell is remarkable). She was clearly aware of us throughout, watching carefully in her own quiet way while feeding on clams along the shoreline, and we simply stayed patient and let her set the pace. She had recently emerged from hibernation and was clearly focused on rebuilding her energy, and clams are an important early-season food source for coastal bears in this region.

Being close to an animal this powerful, on her terms, is something I will never forget. The color and texture of her fur and the depth in her eyes felt almost impossible to fully capture, but I tried my best to do her justice. I’m still going through most of the pictures from this encounter, so I’m excited to share more in the future.

Shot on @sonyalpha A1 II + 600mm f/4 GM. Seen with @cookinletadventures. Edited in @lightroom.

#SonyAlpha #NatGeoYourShot #MadeWithLightroom #WildlifePhotography #Alaska taken in Katmai National Park & Preserve by @haydendumaww

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4 months ago