Elephants have the largest brain of any land animal and three times as many neurons as humans. They are incredibly smart and have also been known to show deep empathy while grieving a lost family member. That said, zoologists haven’t been willing to attribute their ability to shed a tear to an emotional response. But only because they can’t prove it. Who knows why this particular elephant was crying. Perhaps the wind, perhaps a fly, perhaps something more. Photographed in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy in Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1250, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.
I love the time in-between game drives while on our African safaris. This is when I’m free to walk around camp on my own searching for whatever wildlife I can find. At our camp in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy of Kenya, there was a water hole in front of all the tents. Impala were a frequent visitor, along with zebra and waterbuck. I was able to get into my favorite position (on the ground) to capture some nice low-level shots of the action. Impala are without a doubt the most common mammal species that we see, but still a treat to see them and have the opportunity to photograph them in all sorts of settings. This was a young male, hanging around the periphery of a much larger male’s harem — never really challenging, but perhaps scheming a strategy for a later date. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/3200th of a second.
While in Guyana earlier this year, burrowing owls kept me busy while searching for giant anteaters. Always nice to capture that first light as it seeps in and paints the landscape. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second.
Spotting a leopard is always at the top of the wish list on our African safaris. Even better to find one in a great setting like this. We were able to observe her for awhile while resting on that fallen tree. Eventually she began her hunt, climbed a tree and then disappeared into the tall grasses and scrub brush of Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.
I posted a similar image a few years back of this scene — a moose cow (on the left) and her grown bull foraging by a frosty creek. This was in Montana, just outside the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second.
A tiny little Uakari poison frog, sits in the leaf litter on the rainforest floor in the Peruvian Amazon. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/3.3 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash with softbox.
While out searching for giant anteaters on the Rupununi savanna grasslands of Guyana, I ran into quite a few of these fork-tailed flycatchers. You can obviously see where it gets its name. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 72, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
We were heading to dinner while in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy of Kenya when we spotted this African savanna hare behind our tent. It was well past sunset, but the lights from the nearby pathway and dining area were enough to illuminate the scene. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 12800, f/5.6 at 1/30th of a second.
Always fun when an elephant suddenly appears out of the bushes. This was a relatively young elephant, intent on crossing the road just as we were driving past, but allowing me to use a wide angle lens to grab a few photos. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens (at 30.5mm) ISO 360, f/4 at 1/640th of a second.
Black-backed jackals are the most common canid we see on our Africa trips. That said, it’s not as if they’re all over the place — always nice to get a few sightings. They are often encountered in pairs. These two were getting a good look at us before getting back to their search for food. They are hunters as well as scavengers and will often try to boldly annoy a lion off a kill. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.
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