Leopard in Clearing
I’ve been on safari in six countries in Africa. Botswana can be the most wild of them, and with the ability to drive anywhere you want, it can be the most enjoyable to track big cats as well as wild dogs. But the scrub forest landscape can also come with more distracting elements, making it more difficult to not only find elusive wildlife, but also to capture good pictures. We had been following leopard tracks for about an hour before we finally found this cat. It was challenging at first to capture images without branches getting in the way, but then for just a moment the leopard entered this circular clearing allowing me a few quick shots when the distractions all of a sudden became a nice framing element.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
Barred Owl
A barred owl peers from behind the leaves of a tree in Everglades National Park in Florida. A few seconds later, it would make a dive downward and capture an eastern lubber grasshopper. Barred owls are the most commonly seen owls for me, especially in the eastern half of the lower 48 where they range from the far north to the deep south.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
Brown Bear Cub in Flooded Field
This yearling cub wondered from his sibling and mother, in search of a watery snack of green grass. Being September, the ordinarily verdant landscape had turned a yellow gold, leaving only patches of green. Once the tide started to rise out on the shoreline, making the capture of silver salmon too difficult, the bears retreated to these fields to fill up on veggies.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 98mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/800th of a second
Binalong Bay
Here’s another look at Binalong Bay on the east coast of Tasmania. Orange lichen covers the rocks at the water line in this incredibly picturesque area known as the Bay of Fires, which stretches from Binalong Bay in the south to Eddystone Point in the north.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/18 at .3 seconds