Wildlife photos: How to take the best shots

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition - run by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide - receives thousands of entries. With the 2013 entry deadline approaching, what could you do to make your images stand out? Watch this slideshow - and see the lists below - to get some expert tips.

Photographer David Maitland's top tips

1. Do not try to "please" the judges - always take pictures for yourself which meet your own aesthetic standards.

2. Do not copy - you can hone your practical skills by trying to replicate technical aspects of other good photographs, but you should aim to produce original work.

3. Be nice to your subject - living things are fragile and special and deserve to be treated with the care and respect. Never harm your subject for the sake of a picture.

4. Live with your subject - spend as much time as possible observing the subtleties of your subject's life to record surprising details and behaviours.

5. Camera settings - modern cameras are magical tools, but I spend a day reading the manual of a new model and then delete all of its 'clever' automatic settings! I then spend time setting the functions that I want.

6. Get the lighting right - lighting can transform the ordinary shot into the extraordinary... and of course bad lighting can ruin a potentially great shot!

7. Break the rules - originality does not come easily, and you sometimes must throw away the rule book that says good composition follows the rule-of-thirds, or that front lighting should be avoided. Experiment to force yourself to see things in a different way.

8. Be selective - not every subject is going to produce a great shot, so the trick is to spot potential in the ordinary. If you have decided to stop and take a picture, make sure you give yourself a chance...

9. Work around your subject - do not point and shoot your subject from a single viewpoint. Try different angles, lenses, lighting and compositions. It is not unusual for me to spend four hours photographing a single blade of grass (it was a special blade of grass!).

10. Do not be afraid to take a shot - once you have gone to the expense of paying for a digital camera, pressing the button to take a photo costs next to nothing - so take advantage and experiment!

Full version: bbc.co.uk