This was the beginning of a beautiful morning in Laikipia, Kenya in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy. There’s only a single elephant in the photo, but moments later we were surrounded by the rest of the rather large herd. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 180, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.
There are many species of anole lizard. I think this is the many scaled anole. I was deep in the rainforest of Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica when this guy popped his head into a shaft of light that made its way through the thick foliage. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.
Some good action up at the camera trap this week, including a young black bear, a bobcat and a short tailed weasel. Unfortunately, those were all near misses (the weasel keeps passing through in the wrong direction and showing me his backside). But this raccoon hit the sweet spot of the frame for a nice portrait the other night. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Camtraptions housing and triggers, plus two Nikon SB-900 flash units.
This one is from my Guyana trip back in February. Quite a spectacle to see flocks of scarlet ibis heading home to roost at the end of the day in the Georgetown harbor. I used a slow shutter and panned with the ibis to blur out the background. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second.
Bustards are large birds that spend most of their time on the savanna grasslands. I’ve previously posted the kori bustard, which is the largest. This is the black-bellied bustard, photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya. He was performing a mating call, as well as a bit of a dance to go along with it. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.
A single take of a dwarf mongoose doing as they do. Filmed in Samburu National Reserve in April. Nikon Z8, 4K at 120fps.
This lioness had just finished feasting on a Cape buffalo carcass. Moments later she plopped down in the tall grasses of the savanna for a nap. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
This photo is from our trip to Uganda last June. A mountain gorilla getting tired, but still reaching out for more leaves to eat. Their diet consists of about 38 different species of plant — mostly Galium, thistles, celery and nettles across their mountain habitat in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens (at 55mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second.
It felt like a rockhopper-penguin-taking-a-shower kind of day today. So here are two little rockhoppers doing what they do when coming in from a day at sea. Photographed in the Falkland Islands. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/800th of a second.
I previously posted a photo from this water-level encounter with a hippo. Here’s 19 seconds of dramatic video of the hippo surfacing and submerging, while another hippo looks on from nearby bushes. Nikon Z8, 4K at 120 frames per second.