Capture a sighting people can use

What you can contribute

We welcome useful, authentic travel and wildlife discoveries from several types of cameras:

• Standard photos: clear phone, compact, mirrorless or DSLR images.
• Short video clips: steady footage that shows the place, activity, animal or visitor experience clearly.
• Interactive 360° photos and video: correctly stitched panoramic media that visitors can drag or swipe to explore.
• Camera-trap photos and clips: relevant wildlife footage from a legally and responsibly placed camera, submitted by the owner or with permission.
• Live cams: authorised live-camera links or useful highlights from a live stream. Only submit footage you own or are allowed to share.
• Drone footage: only where the flight was legal, permitted and safe, without disturbing wildlife or visitors.

Choose the correct media type when submitting. Every contribution is reviewed before it appears publicly, and sensitive wildlife locations are protected.

Fast phone checklist

1. Clean the camera lens first. Gently wipe it with a clean microfibre cloth. Pocket dust, fingerprints, sunscreen and moisture can make an otherwise good photo look hazy or blurry.
2. Use the rear main camera at 1× whenever possible. Move safely closer only when rules and wildlife distance allow it.
3. For video, choose 4K at 30 fps or 1080p at 30 fps with stabilisation enabled. Use 60 fps mainly for fast action in good light.
4. Hold the phone horizontally for landscapes and wildlife. Use vertical only when the story is clearly intended for a vertical social clip.
5. Use both hands, keep elbows against your body, lean against the vehicle or use a small tripod.
6. Tap the subject to focus. On many phones, hold to lock focus and exposure. Reduce exposure slightly when bright sky or pale animals are losing detail.
7. Avoid long digital zoom. Use an optical telephoto lens, or record a wider sharp view and crop moderately later.
8. Start recording two seconds before the action and continue two seconds afterwards. Short, steady clips of 8–20 seconds are ideal.
9. Do not pan rapidly, pinch-zoom while recording or add filters, music, stickers or text before uploading the original.
10. Keep location services enabled for the camera if you want Trip Upload Studio to suggest the destination. Sensitive wildlife coordinates are protected.

Phone settings that usually work

• Daylight photos: 12–24 MP, standard Photo mode, HDR/Smart HDR automatic, Live/Motion Photo optional.
• Wildlife action: use burst mode, continuous focus or subject tracking, and the optical telephoto camera in good light.
• Low light: use the main 1× lens, support the phone, let Night mode finish and avoid maximum zoom.
• Video: 4K/30 for detail, 1080p/30 for smaller uploads, stabilisation on, HDR only when you know your editing and sharing workflow supports it.
• Storage: HEIC/HEIF is efficient and accepted. JPEG is the safest universal format. RAW/ProRAW is useful for editing but creates much larger files—export a finished JPEG or HEIC for submission.

Good current phone examples

These are examples, not required purchases. A recent phone with a clean lens, optical stabilisation and careful technique can produce excellent results.

• Apple iPhone 17 Pro / Pro Max — useful for strong stabilised video and several optical focal lengths.
• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — useful for wildlife reach, high-resolution daylight photos and stabilised video.
• Google Pixel 11 Pro / Pro XL — useful for straightforward automatic processing, low light and telephoto reach.

Before buying, prioritise optical image stabilisation, a dedicated telephoto camera, dependable autofocus, 4K video, good battery life and enough storage. Do not choose by megapixels alone.

Phone add-on lenses

A well-made mounted lens can give a phone more creative reach. Systems such as REEFLEX G-Series lenses include telephoto, macro, wide-angle and anamorphic options. They are useful extras, not essential equipment.

• Telephoto: useful for distant wildlife when it is securely mounted. Support the phone and lens, because extra magnification also makes camera shake more visible.
• Macro: useful for flowers, insects, tracks and small details. Keep a respectful distance from living subjects and do not disturb them.
• Wide-angle: useful for landscapes, interiors and establishing views. Check the corners for softness or dark edges before an important shoot.
• Anamorphic: mainly useful for a cinematic video look; it is not necessary for ordinary sightings.

Buy only a lens and mount made for your exact phone and camera position. Clean both sets of glass, test autofocus and stabilisation, avoid combining the lens with heavy digital zoom, and compare the result with the phone camera alone. A poor-quality or misaligned attachment can reduce sharpness.

Mirrorless and DSLR starting points

• Wildlife: continuous autofocus (AF-C/AI Servo), subject or animal detection when available, burst shooting and approximately 1/1000 sec or faster.
• Birds in flight: start near 1/2000 sec, continuous autofocus and a wider focus area; raise ISO rather than accepting motion blur.
• Landscapes: ISO 100–400, approximately f/5.6–f/11, careful horizon and a tripod when shutter speeds become slow.
• Video: 4K/25 or 4K/30, stabilisation on, controlled slow movements, and an external microphone or wind protection when sound matters.
• Files: RAW+JPEG is useful for important stills; upload the finished JPEG. Record the best quality your storage and editing workflow can manage.

Respect the place and the subject

Never leave a permitted road, crowd an animal, reveal a sensitive nest or wildlife location, fly a drone without permission, trespass, or ask a person to appear without consent. The safest useful image is always better than the closest image.