Dani Connor: It's Not About Likes

Dani Connor: 0:04

It's not necessarily about getting a viral video, or getting so many likes or views. It's just developing that community, that tight knit community who are going to support you. It doesn't matter what you do, and they'll just be there for you.

Angela Nicholson: 0:17

Welcome to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast, I'm Angela Nicholson. I'm the founder of SheClicks which is a community for female photographers. In these podcasts, I talk to women in the photographic industry to hear about their experiences, what drives them, and how they got to where they are now. Our guest today is Dani Connor, a wildlife photographer and Canon ambassador who came to the fore with a video about discovering and saving a family of red squirrel kits in Sweden. Since then, she has photographed a range of species publishing her adventures on her YouTube channel. Dani also now works with the Red Squirrel Survival Trust and has produced a series of conservation films. Hi, Dani, thank you for joining me on the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast today.

Dani Connor: 0:57

Hi, Angela. Thank you for having me.

Angela Nicholson: 0:59

Now, I know you're in Mexico at the moment. Are you up to anything exciting there? Or is it top secret?

Dani Connor: 1:04

Um, no, it's not that secret. I'm here for two months, mostly to get some sun after a year in Sweden. But also, I have been filming some videos. So I went to to Lum and I found spider monkeys, which was really exciting. Found a really small, young baby, which was really nice to photograph. But mostly just cracking on with a lot of editing. I have 10 videos to get on with. So I'm mostly just doing a lot of video editing.

Angela Nicholson: 1:38

Yeah, so you chained to your desk actually.

Dani Connor: 1:40

Yeah, exactly.

Angela Nicholson: 1:44

Yeah, I've done quite a bit of video editing myself. And it's, I like it. I enjoy it. But it's quite painstaking. And there's times when you sort of look up and realise, oh, it's dark. I probably should stop doing something and go get some food or sleep or something like that.

Dani Connor: 1:57

Yeah, exactly. I think there's some people who really can just crack on with editing and they really enjoy it. But I'm not like that. It takes me time.

Angela Nicholson: 2:07

Are you one of those people who have to keep watching it through again, just tweak it a bit more than you realise. Well, if we're gonna make that tweak, then I need to make this other tweak and you keep going through.

Dani Connor: 2:14

Yeah, definitely. Especially with YouTube. It's all about short form, is it or condensed? So I'm always trying to see can I make this section a bit shorter? Yeah, yeah, it does take me a while.

Angela Nicholson: 2:27

Okay, we're, quite similar. Now, just to rewind a little bit, what first drew you to photography?

Dani Connor: 2:33

I started more than 14 years ago, and I wanted to get nice photos of my dog. And so I took him to woodland. I borrowed my dad's camera. And after getting some photos of him, I started to notice nature around me. And my camera basically went from my dog to nature. And from then on, I was pretty solidly focus on wildlife photography.

Angela Nicholson: 3:02

And were you interested in wildlife before that? Or is that what got you interested in it?

Dani Connor: 3:06

Photography definitely sparked that interest, but I already had an interest in animals, but not necessarily in wildlife. Like I couldn't identify birdsong, or I didn't know much about my native wildlife. So it was really then that really sparked that interest.

Angela Nicholson: 3:23

Oh, nice. Yeah, it is interesting how sometimes one hobby can spark another, or one interest sparks another and they kind of jog along quite nicely. I think photography does that quite a lot for people and videography, of course.

Dani Connor: 3:33

Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's the amazing thing about photography. you're documenting something you love or something you're passionate in, and it happened a bit the other way round, but I adored my dog. So I wanted those nice memories and moments of him. And then it basically sparked the wildlife photography.

Angela Nicholson: 3:54

Oh, lovely. And I think you can never have too many pictures of your dog. We have a dog, and he's probably my most frequent subject. And actually the most awkward, but I still keep trying. Yeah, you got to keep going.

Dani Connor: 4:07

I'm glad you know the feeling then.

Angela Nicholson: 4:10

Yeah, yeah. It's very familiar. I think anyone with a camera and a dog knows exactly what it's like to try photograph something that just doesn't want to look at you. Yeah. Have you studied photography formally at all? Or are you all self taught?

Dani Connor: 4:21

All self taught actually, I studied Zoology at university. And I thought I was going down the science route here. And it was only actually during COVID that I went full time. So I've not had any. I've not studied photography at all.

Angela Nicholson: 4:41

So when you say when you went full time? You mean went full time as a photographer?

Dani Connor: 4:44

Yeah. Yeah. So few years ago.

Angela Nicholson: 4:47

Oh, great. So what was it that made you transition from being, you know, a hobbyist photographer to being a full time professional photographer?

Dani Connor: 4:54

Well, I went to Sweden and just before COVID to basically volunteer for a wildlife photographer. And at this point, I had just quit my jobs at the Natural History Museum and at a zoo. And the plan was, I was going to do a PhD, which ended up falling through because of COVID. But I ended up staying in Sweden for basically the whole of the first lockdown. And I went viral on Twitter. And suddenly I had an audience. And I wasn't really sure how to not necessarily monetize it, but how to keep continuously engaging that audience to eventually take it somewhere else. And after six months in Sweden, I became a full time professional, I guess. Yeah.

Angela Nicholson: 5:47

And whilst it's fantastic, what you do, and you produce beautiful videos and photography, ultimately, you do need to earn a living from it at how do you actually do that?

Dani Connor: 5:57

So I have multiple revenue streams, the main one is through YouTube. So I do sponsorship integrations. So I will talk about a service or a product for maybe 30 seconds in the middle of the video. The other income is through Google AdSense. So if you watch my video, and you don't have a membership to YouTube, you do watch an ad, and then I get half of that income. So the rest of goes to the brand. I also have Patreon. I sell calendars every year. And then I do talks, online talks, maybe some articles. So I have various streams. And that's quite nice, because it keeps my work exciting. I'm doing various different things. But YouTube and videos is the main one at the moment.

Angela Nicholson: 6:48

Yeah, I know what you mean, it is nice to have a bit of variety in your work life, as well as anywhere else to be honest, but it do you sell any prints or you know, sell images to magazines, or perhaps write articles for magazines or anything?

Dani Connor: 7:02

So I would love to do prints, it's something that I haven't really properly explored, I would love to do something where at the end of each video, I promote one or two prints for just a short period of time. And then when the next video comes out, it'll be a different image. So that's something I would really like to do. But I occasionally sell photos to magazines. But I find that often magazines want articles for free. So sometimes I don't get paid for those things. But the calendar that I release every year is something that I physically, you know, create, it's a physical product. And that's really nice, because otherwise, when you're an online creator, all your work is sort of digital and online. So that calendar is something I always like work a lot towards. And I love releasing it every year.

Angela Nicholson: 8:04

And they are beautiful images. I've seen you showing them on your YouTube videos, and they are absolutely beautiful images, so I can understand why people would want to buy those calendars.

Dani Connor: 8:14

Thank you.

Angela Nicholson: 8:15

But what was the reason that you started your YouTube channel.

Dani Connor: 8:18

During that time in Sweden, I was experimenting a bit with social media. So I was posting occasionally on Twitter, I was pretty active on Instagram already. And I made a couple of YouTube videos, which were actually tutorials. One was like photo editing, the other one was camera trap. And at the time, I was sort of finding my style on YouTube, getting confident with speaking to the camera, because it's not something that comes naturally to me and I think most people. But it wasn't until the following year, when I released a short film, it got shared on the homepage of Reddit. And within a week, it got a million views.

Angela Nicholson: 9:05

Wow.

Dani Connor: 9:05

And suddenly I had an audience on YouTube for the first time. And then I started to make videos. At the time, I wasn't making really any income because I had such a small audience. But after several months, that audience started to grow. And then maybe after a year of doing it, I started to get emails from sponsors. And it's only been actually a year that I've actually really started making an income from YouTube.

Angela Nicholson: 9:35

You said that you didn't feel necessarily that comfortable when you first started talking to camera. And I'd like to say I don't think anybody does initially but when your video went viral, and everyone was, you know, sort of looking to you for the next video. Did you sort of think oh my god, I'm not ready, or did you feel that you settled into it by then?

Dani Connor: 9:54

Yeah, well, actually, it's funny that first video that basically started my YouTube was a short film about some baby squirrels I helped, their mum had got hit a by car. So I helped with provisioning and providing food. So the film was very much what my lens had captured, and not necessarily about me. So I didn't actually speak to the camera in that whole video. So I guess it was a nice starting point. And from there, I started to do very short vlogs. And at the start, it was very much scripted. And I needed to prepare myself and now I'm more comfortable, I can just talk to a camera and not have to really think about what I need to say, in advance.

Angela Nicholson: 10:41

It is quite a skill that you develop ins't it? It's not easy. You have to put some work into it.

Dani Connor: 10:46

Yeah, definitely. I mean, you have to say what you need to say. But also, you need to seem like you're talking to someone.

Angela Nicholson: 10:54

Yeah.

Dani Connor: 10:55

So you need to smile, you need to be enthusiastic. Like you aren't talking to a lens, you're talking to an audience. And that's something I really had to I mean, I would watch my previous video clips and I'm, I look like I'm looking at a wall. Yeah, so I need to rerecord and actually be, you know, interactive, and exciting.

Angela Nicholson: 11:16

Yeah. When you script it, did you use a teleprompter or anything? Or are you just good at memorising scripts?

Dani Connor: 11:21

I would have it written down either on a notebook or my phone. And I would maybe remember a few sentences, then go back and look, because obviously, at the end of the day, it's my video, so I can chop the sections where I'm looking at my phone. But now I can do it pretty smoothly. I still cut down a lot. I will read rerecord things often, just so it's more quick and concise, but I'm definitely better at it now.

Angela Nicholson: 11:50

Yeah, it's always easy to go to voiceover, isn't it? But it is nice to actually see the person talking to you, I think as well.

Dani Connor: 11:56

Yeah. Voice only was tricky, though. Because if you can't see the person, then the audio has to be perfect. You can't have background noises. There can't be echo. But if you're seeing the person, it's okay, if there's some background noise, I feel. So I actually struggle with VoiceOver. So I always try and do it actually, to the camera. I think it sounds and looks more natural.

Angela Nicholson: 12:21

Yeah. Do you have any female role models that you know, you look to or you maybe even speak to for advice, or to look at their style?

Dani Connor: 12:59

In the photography sector, not so much. I have lots of, I guess, colleagues or friends my age. And it's wonderful speaking to someone else who's maybe not doing YouTube, but in the freelance world, whether it's Instagram, or Tiktok. And it's always interesting to learn from them. So I've got a few guys, Gamander López, Roxy The Zoologist.

Angela Nicholson: 13:28

Oh great. It is nice to have people that you can bounce ideas off and talk through things, I think, because I don't know about you whether I as an extrovert, the way I think through things is through conversation, rather than sitting on my own and working it through. But maybe you're an introvert and you'd like to puzzle it all out.

Dani Connor: 13:45

I'm definitely an introvert. So I I definitely like to take the time to work it out, whether it's listening to music or writing it down in a notebook, and then I will take it to my friends and discuss it with them. Yeah. But first, I usually I have to go through it myself. But yeah, it's lovely having a community of online creators and bouncing ideas and learning from each other learning from mistakes as well.

Angela Nicholson: 14:17

Yeah, that's I think that's really important to be open to share the mistakes that you make, because you know, you help other people learn and you help sort of work it through yourself, don't you by being open about that. And actually, that's one of the things I really loved about some of the videos that I've seen of yours, where you've actually sort of stopped to go Oh, no, hang on. That's wrong. And I just think that's so honest, you know, it's not put it in the bloopers section either. It's just, oh, hang on. I need to change this.

Dani Connor: 14:43

Yeah, I think people find that quite human and amusing. So there's times where, you know, I feel myself when I don't get the photo. There was one video thing a year or so ago, and I'm outside trying to photograph the moment about takes off from branch and Well, there's several boats and but the light is perfect. Yeah, it's December Winter Light. So it's rich blue backgrounds, yellow boki. And it was just amazing. And I just have my finger on the shutter and you can hear it just ticking away and I take me I took maybe three 4000 photos and didn't get it. And people found that hilarious. So...

Angela Nicholson: 15:25

Yeah, I think that's part of the magic of wildlife photography. Because if it was easy, you wouldn't want to keep going back. It's that occasional little, I think it's actually the same theory when you train a dog. You know, you give them a treat, so they want to treat and then sometimes you give them a big treat, sometimes they don't get a treat. So they're kind of like, on their toes.

Dani Connor: 15:42

Yeah.

Angela Nicholson: 15:42

And I think that's a bit like wildlife photography. Occasionally, you get that picture, and it makes you so happy. And you think,'Oh, I wonder if I could do this?' Or maybe if the background was different, or a different bird or something, and you just keep going back.

Dani Connor: 15:53

Absolutely. I mean, I get asked all the time, will you ever get bored of squirrels, and I have so many photos in my mind that I haven't got it. So I will always follow them. Because the more time I've spent with them, there's been behaviours, I've witnessed that I really want to photograph. So I don't think I'll ever get bored of them. But I never you can get bored of any subject. There's so many different new photos, new ideas, and there's so many possibilities with wildlife photography.

Angela Nicholson: 16:26

Yeah. And you're not completely in control of it all. So I think that adds a certain magic, doesn't it?

Dani Connor: 16:30

Absolutely.

Angela Nicholson: 16:32

Now, how do you balance your photography with your need or your desire to create videos and content?

Dani Connor: 16:40

I would say it's not very balanced. I actually feel like I've lost that interest in photography just a bit because I'm so focused on video, because not only am I filming myself, with the wildlife or with my camera, I'm also filming the wildlife. And yeah, in order to create a sequence that is good enough. I need a lot of footage. And so I can piece it together. Yeah. So one thing I've been doing, which has helped with that is that I'm not just showing wildlife photography constantly, I'll show other aspects of my life. So I can actually make the video a bit bigger and actually spend some more time focusing on photos. But before I used to either have to be in photo mode, or video mode in my head, so I'd have to either focus on on getting photos right now. And I need to have these settings, I need to be in this mindset. Yeah. And now I'm a bit better with switching between quite easily and quickly. But being with the spider monkeys just two weeks ago was a good example where I was getting the footage, it was also very difficult because there was a lot of foliage in front of the monkeys. So I needed to have different settings, I was changing things. And then I was just like, wait, I need to get some photos. So I would then focus on photos. And then I'd actually get very excited about taking photos. And I forget that I need to take videos. So it's not that balanced. I'm getting better with it. And I think one thing that will help me is actually having two cameras, one with a wide angle lens. And I can sort of just have it on me. Maybe with a wireless microphone, and I can just move around. Take my photos and videos.

Angela Nicholson: 18:32

Yeah, I noticed that when you were filming yourself taking photos, the camera you were using for the photography, you had a shotgun mic on it. So you're ready to get video footage of the animal as well. You share it in a different way, obviously, don't you but that the seeing those clips of video interspersed by photographs is lovely.

Dani Connor: 18:49

Yeah, I think it's definitely engaging, because you can see how the scene looked in video, and then how I've created my photo, how I've edited it, and you know that difference. And it definitely increases the pace of the video. You're looking at different things. And I think that's quite engaging and exciting. But I mean, there's been multiple times where I've forgotten to take photos. So there's no photos. It's just video clip, which is fine. Like I enjoy getting the video clips. But to me those photos I'm going to go back to

Angela Nicholson: 19:28

Yeah

Dani Connor: 19:29

in 5, 10 years, but the video clips, I may not

Angela Nicholson: 19:32

Yeah, cuz with the best will in the world, I mean, you can flip through your images quite quickly and sort of get a satisfaction from that whether that's in, you know, on screen or an album you've created or you've got prints on the wall, or perhaps one of your calendars, but a video is a lot of time involved in actually reviewing those again, isn't there?

Dani Connor: 19:49

Yeah, and I think the issue of YouTube is once people have watched it once they won't watch it again. So it's very much like in the moment after two weeks the video is potentially relevant. So which is a bit sad, like that's why I like to do more of the either the conservation films or the short films because people return to those. Yeah, so my short film The squirrels are me. People have told me they've watched it they watch it every Christmas, which is lovely to hear. But a huge irregular you shoot video people don't return to.

Angela Nicholson: 20:24

Yeah, suppose they are quite different. I've not really thought about it like that. You're now a Canon ambassador, so congratulations on that. How did that come around?

Dani Connor: 20:32

Thank you. Well, my relationship with Canon started almost two years ago now. And it was quite unusual because I had been approached for the AR seven Lorge, as well as the Canon professional team, to basically be almost like a mentor and support me. And whenever I need equipment, or any negotiations were fees or anything, they just said, we're here. We would love to support you. And I was just like, amazing. So after a few months, I went to Spain to do the seventh launch, which was very exciting photograph to the Iberian lynx. And I did many talks and articles about the seven. And I guess this was building a portfolio of my work of Canon. And then they invited me to apply for the ambassador programme. And I got accepted.

Angela Nicholson: 21:28

Fantastic. Congratulations. That is, that is wonderful.

Dani Connor: 21:30

Thank you.

Angela Nicholson: 21:31

And have you completely switched over to a mirrorless system now? Because I know you were shooting with a DSLR, and then you had one DSLR and one mirrorless camera.

Dani Connor: 21:39

Yes. So I am entirely mirrorless now. It did take some time, I remember, when I got my R5, I was overwhelmed by the number of settings and the capabilities of the camera. And before I was shooting on the Canon 5D Mark IV, which, I had been on the 5D series for maybe eight years before that. So I was very comfortable with it. And then going to the mirrorless I was just very, yeah, it was overwhelming, basically. But now I'm completely comfortable with it. And when I go to the 5D Mark IV, which I still have, I get annoyed and frustrated that it doesn't have the same amount of capabilities. But I mostly use that DSLR for camera trapping. So a camera I can leave in the forest for multiple hours or even overnight. And yeah, I'm not too worried if it I mean, it won't disappear. But um, well, it might in London, but if it rains, it should be okay. It's not my main camera. And I'm looking to get another are five. So I can have two, which I think will help me a lot for filming.

Angela Nicholson: 22:52

Has subject detection, and perhaps eye detection been a major step forward for you?

Dani Connor: 22:58

Absolutely, yeah, sometimes, like if I'm photographing squirrels in a poorly lit forest, and they're moving very quickly, it won't detect the eye, but it will be on the body. And that's amazing for them running or running up and down trees. And when I'm vlogging myself, I can have it on, you know, human eye detection, and I don't need to worry that it's going to get out of focus, I can, you know, get closer to the camera or further away. And it will continue to track me which is very useful. Because before I would try and set it on manual focus, then switch off the focus on the lens, and then hope that it's maintained the focus, but there's some of my first videos where you can see I've moved a bit and I'm out of focus. Yeah. So it's definitely made my life easier.

Angela Nicholson: 23:51

Okay. And do you think your approach to photography and videography has changed since you became a Canon ambassador or became a professional content creator?

Dani Connor: 24:00

Not so much since be a Canon ambassador, because it's only been a month or so, That would be a bit soon. Yeah. But in terms of when I became professional, I used to take way more time to plan shots. And I think one reason is I've got better with it. I know what shots I need. So before I may have written a shortlist, and now I just know I will go Yeah, I need to I have this sequence in mind, I need to get the shots solid, definitely more efficient now, but now I just I'm constantly filming constantly editing, so I just need to be quicker with my workflow.

Angela Nicholson: 24:39

Yeah. Have you got any future plans or goals that you'd like to share with us?

Dani Connor: 24:44

Well, I'd love to write a red squirrel book. And, this summer in particular, I've got many photos that are quite unique of like squirrels in their drain, or peeping out of the drain collecting bedding material. So I'm starting to get a collection of red squirrel images, I think would be quite good for a book. It's not just cute portraits, it's actually different behaviours. So that will be great, but I'm currently working on a secret video series and I'm hoping that we'll be out maybe towards Christmas time or if not early 2024 But it six or seven episodes and it basically follows my journey with an individual animal. It might be a squirrel. And it's quite unique because it's unlike any of the other videos I've done where it's like a natural series, but yeah, I don't want to give too much away, but unfollowing one squirrel for seven episodes.

Angela Nicholson: 25:47

Okay, fantastic. Well, we'll keep our eyes peeled for that sounds very exciting. I look forward to seeing it. And the book. The book sounds good, too.

Dani Connor: 25:53

Yeah, I think there'll be a lot of work.

Angela Nicholson: 25:55

Yeah, I'm sure it will be. I'm sure it will be. Okay, so now it's time for Six from SheClicks. And I have 10 questions from SheClickers. I would like you to answer six of them, please, by choosing numbers from one to ten. So if you'd like to give me your first number?

Dani Connor: 26:10

Okay, seven.

Angela Nicholson: 26:12

Number seven. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? And that could be for photography, or just in life. Or both. If you want. That question is from Philipa.

Dani Connor: 26:21

Oh, that's tricky. I think it's actually someone from Canon who told me this this summer, which was 'Go with your gut, and 'go with your instinct'. And don't overthink, because I think this year in particular, I've been overthinking a lot with my work. And he was just saying, you know, before you are more of a risk taker, and just go with your instinct.

Angela Nicholson: 26:47

Do you think that you have lost a little bit of that risk taking because you feel there's extra pressure on you? Because you've got more people looking at what you do?

Dani Connor: 26:56

Absolutely. Occasionally videos don't do well, even though I've spent a lot of money invested into them, or a lot of work a lot of editing time, or maybe I've collaborated with someone, and yet the video just doesn't do well. algorithm may be the thumbnail or the title wasn't right. There's so many things. And it doesn't matter. It's okay. But the important thing is to make those videos that may not be as popular, and sometimes a new idea will be incredibly successful. Sometimes it's not. And I think it's important to be flexible, and also adapt because the online world is constantly changing.

Angela Nicholson: 27:47

Yeah, I that I think that sounds like a really sensible approach. Because the other thing is like you want to make the videos that you want to make it's your life, you want to enjoy it. So you've got to follow your gut. And there will be other people who feel the same way and are interested. Just they've got to find you.

Dani Connor: 28:03

Yeah, definitely. But I think also, I always say, you know, maybe 10 or 20% of your audience, are your hardcore audience. It doesn't matter what you do, they will still love what you do. And even if I change to photographing, I don't know,

Angela Nicholson: 28:21

Don't say rats!

Dani Connor: 28:24

elephants, or frogs or whatever, like whatever it would be maybe not have a particularly charismatic subject, they will still follow my journey. Yeah. So I guess the thing about having an online channel is just growing that hardcore audience. It's not necessarily about getting a viral video getting so many likes or views. It's just developing that community, that tight knit community who are going to support you. It doesn't matter what you do, and they'll just be there for you.

Angela Nicholson: 28:56

Great. Yeah. Well, I think you're on your way. So can I have your second number, please?

Dani Connor: 29:01

Three.

Angela Nicholson: 29:03

Number three. All right, okay. Is there an animal you'd like to capture but always eludes you? Several people asked that. And also, just as a sort of add on, what are your top three favourite animals?

Dani Connor: 29:16

Okay. I don't think there's particularly being an animal that's eluded me, I really, really want to photograph tigers. So that's on my bucket list, but I'd only miss being. The thing is, the more time you spend trying to get a photo or with a subject, eventually, you'll have those golden moments. So I guess if there's something that's been eluding me, I will just spend more and more time to try and capture them. My top three animals would be red squirrel. I have to say that

Angela Nicholson: 29:52

Number one, surely?

Dani Connor: 29:53

Yes. Tigers and killer whales

Angela Nicholson: 29:57

Killer whales. Interesting. Why do they make the list?

Dani Connor: 30:00

I just think they are extremely intelligent. And unfortunately, I've only ever seen them in captivity, but watching videos of you know them, like different populations hunting different strategies just they're fascinating. I'd love to photograph them.

Angela Nicholson: 30:18

Oh, well. Good luck with that. I hope you get to do that soon.

Dani Connor: 30:20

Thank you.

Angela Nicholson: 30:22

Could I have your third number please?

Dani Connor: 30:24

Let's go for one.

Angela Nicholson: 30:26

Number one. Okay. Did you find that the squirrel videos going viral, particularly first one, has in some way typecast you so you feel like you have to keep going back to the squirrels, even if you want to shoot something different? And that question is from Paula.

Dani Connor: 30:41

Yes. It slightly frustrates me slightly, that every time I post a squirrel photo on Instagram, it usually gets double or triple the amount of likes then any other subject that I share. And I love red squirrels. The more time I've spent with them, I've realised how charismatic they are. And I'm constantly learning from them. But I do like to photograph a wildlife I, I'm not necessarily just tied to red squirrels, but it does feel like that sometimes, which is okay. But I think red squirrels helped me become professional. And they are cute. They are relatively widespread. Not in the UK, but across Europe. So a lot of people can connect with me, because they have red squirrels that they follow. So I think they are quite a good subject to engage people with. But yeah, if I share a photo of a less charismatic species, then it doesn't get the same engagement, but that's okay.

Angela Nicholson: 31:51

The red squirrel kits, though they are ridiculously cute. I mean, I was trying to think Is there anything cuter do you think?

Dani Connor: 31:56

I think some baby seals, baby grey seals, they're quite adorable. Yeah, baby harbour seals. Big eyes. Yeah. Yeah. But yes, they are quite adorable red squirrel kids.

Angela Nicholson: 32:08

Okay, so can I have your fourth number, please.

Dani Connor: 32:11

Let's do four.

Angela Nicholson: 32:13

Okay, what makes you want to pick up your camera, other than wildlife? If anything does, that's from Liz.

Dani Connor: 32:20

In terms of a professional perspective, I guess it would be that it is my livelihood. So picking up a camera, recording myself for wildlife is going to feed me. But in terms of my inner passion. I love watching wildlife with binoculars. So although I love to capture moments, I also just like to be in nature without a camera, without a phone and just be completely immersed and connected to the natural world. So although I absolutely adore wildlife, photography and photography, it's not always about that. So it's funny because I started wildlife photography because of the photography. But now I love to go out in nature without the camera. And that's, not often something I can do, but when I do it is, yeah, it's beautiful to just be connected with nature, just listen to birds sound and not be focused on the iPhone, the Internet or photography.

Angela Nicholson: 33:29

Yeah, a lot of people find that quite hard to achieve. So it's good that you're able to do that. I think maybe sort of being quite remote in, in Sweden helps with that, I guess.

Dani Connor: 33:38

Yeah, definitely. And I definitely find that sometimes being without the camera actually helps inspire different ideas. Because I'm not focused on getting the photos. I can just be like, Oh, this will be a really nice moment to capture. Yeah, or this is an amazing location. Maybe I could set up a camera trap here. So sometimes being without the camera is also about planning and researching a location or maybe how the light moves in the forest.

Angela Nicholson: 34:07

Yeah. Okay, so can I have your penultimate number, please?

Dani Connor: 34:10

Six.

Angela Nicholson: 34:11

Number six. Do you have any plans to run workshops, I noticed that you're leading a trip to Madagascar. So maybe that will lead to more workshops. That's that question was asked by quite a few people actually. So it's obviously demand.

Dani Connor: 34:24

Okay, so I am not hosting Madagascar. Unfortunately, that one fell through, but I am going to Iceland next year. So we are going with eight guests, there are two spots still available. And the focus is puffins and arctic foxes, as well as some landscapes. But I am going to be announcing some more trips soon, including Svalbard, Alaska, and also Japan in the winter. And there'll be over the next two or three years, but I've never really thought about workshops before and then I saw so many people wanted to go on workshops. So it was actually my audience telling me that they want workshops that I decided to do them but I'm not sure how much video I will do then and maybe it will just be about photography and yeah, having a good time with the guests, but I will be doing some lectures in the evening and some, I guess, like tutorials about how I edit so I'm quite excited for those because it's It'll be the first ones that I've ever done.

Angela Nicholson: 35:31

Yeah, that sounds very exciting. I'm sure there'd be lots of people wanting to join you on those. Do you get to take photographs or shoot videos with other people very often?

Dani Connor: 35:40

Umm not really, if if I want to work with a guide, or someone who really knows what they're doing with a certain species, so I went with a guide, who was also a photographer for musk ox. That's a nice moment where I can actually shoot with someone else or talk to someone else about wildlife photography settings, etc. But otherwise, I'm mostly on my own. But I do like shooting with other people. It just doesn't happen that often.

Angela Nicholson: 36:11

Yeah. I never used to shoot with other people. And then when I started, SheClicks we started having meetups and it is so much fun, and it's very inspiring to shoot with other people. I think you'll enjoy it.

Dani Connor: 36:22

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I started a group maybe 15 years ago when I first started photography, called the Young Wildlife Photographers, UK.

Angela Nicholson: 36:30

Oh, yeah.

Dani Connor: 36:31

And I started it because I didn't have any friends at the time who were wildlife photographers. So that was an easy way to create a community. And we did do some trips. And it was quite hilarious, because eight of us went to the foreign islands. And we were between 16 and 18 years old. And we stayed at a very small hostel. But we had so much fun, and I learned so much just watching how someone else takes a photo. And then you think, how did they get that shot? So I would love to do that more. Yeah, that's exactly the same thing it is, it is such good fun. I'm glad you've tried it. So can I have your last number then please? Let's go for 10.

Angela Nicholson: 37:14

Okay, so this is from Helen, who actually in SheClicks, we call her the Squirrel Whisperer.

Dani Connor: 37:20

Okay.

Angela Nicholson: 37:21

Because we had a trip to Bushy Park and the squirrels just basically ran up her leg. And you know, she could, they came really, really close to her and at one point was inside her lens hood, so you know, she had to back off a bit. Anyway. So this is from Helen, how do you decide where or what to photograph next?

Dani Connor: 37:39

I often have various locations that are sort of on the bucket list. There's multiple places I want to go to, but sometimes I need to plan it in advance how many videos I'm going to make how many sponsors? And can I afford this trip, basically. So I have various locations in mind. It's just working out the best way to collaborate with someone to be able to go there. But I often find locations just on Instagram from other photographers. For example, a few years ago, I found this amazing island in Northern Norway, who had no idea where puffins arrive when there's snow. And I love photograph puffins and I thought that was absolutely incredible that you can photograph puffins and snow. And this year I managed to go there. So it did take a couple of years, but I usually find my locations online and then work towards somehow trying to get there.

Angela Nicholson: 38:37

Okay, well, it sounds fantastic. Yeah, I've seen puffins in the Farne Islands, but never in snow.

Dani Connor: 38:43

Yeah, Farne Islands are great as well.

Angela Nicholson: 38:45

They are very cute as well actually.

Dani Connor: 38:48

And amusing.

Angela Nicholson: 38:50

Well, Dani, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been absolutely fantastic to hear from you. And I wish you all the best with your next ventures.

Dani Connor: 38:57

Well, thank you, Angela for having me. And it's been absolutely lovely to chat to you.

Angela Nicholson: 39:01

Thank you. Bye.

Dani Connor: 39:03

Bye.

Angela Nicholson: 39:05

Thanks for listening to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. You'll find links to Dani's website and social media channels in the show notes. I'll be back with another episode soon. So please subscribe to the show on your favourite podcast platform and tell all your friends and followers about it. You'll also find SheClicks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube if you search for SheClicks net. So until next time, enjoy your photography.