Andrew Parkinson, from Crich in Derbyshire, combines renovating his house with heading out to shoot "unique and credible" bodies of work.
His images have won approval from Chris Packham and he has been named the 2016 Bird Photographer of the Year.
Mr Parkinson said a trip to visit grizzly bears in Alaska first encouraged him to take up photography.
"There is a lot of what I'd call homogeneity with wildlife photography now," he said.
"I like to produce unique and credible bodies of work.
"I find it absurd that anyone would need to pay someone to find them wildlife to photograph.
"I like to be quite cagy about my locations.
"It is like being a journalist - you want to break the story first."
Mr Parkinson says his dream trip would be to Wapusk National Park in Canada to photograph polar bears emerging from their dens with their young cubs.
His next big project will be in the Peak District and the Scottish Highlands when he attempts to photograph mountain hares.
"I love the physical challenge, the isolation and beauty of photographing these animals up close," he said.
A "very secretive" photographer has been winning national recognition for his wildlife images.