Juvenile southern elephant seals are relatively easy to approach for wide angle shots. Sometimes, they even approach you. They are old enough to be on their own and away from their mothers, but they are still on the small side and not yet the massive beasts that they will become (males grow to more than 20 feet and nearly 9,000 pounds). This young fellow was having a nice rest amongst the lichen covered rocks of Carcass Island in the Falkland Islands. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 20mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/2000th of a second
Hermits are pretty cool looking hummingbirds, with their fancy tails and curved bills. In this case, a white-whiskered hermit that I found flitting around in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash
Night monkeys are the only nocturnal monkeys found in the Americas. There are several distinct species, including these two little guys which go by either the Chocoan night monkey or the Panamanian night monkey. I took this photo just before sunset, at about that time that they wearily start to peak out of the tree hollows of their daytime resting spots. You can see the second face, still sleeping, below the top monkey. This one is from Soberania National Park, not far from Panama City. Due to the quickly fading light, I had to use a very slow shutter speed to dig detail out of the shadows. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (with 2x teleconverter for 800mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/13th of a second
If you look closely, you can see a leopard resting in that fallen tree — the sun just about to set directly below her. As soon as the sun did set, she set off on a night of hunting. We saw her and her grown cub a few more times over the next few days and I was able to photograph both of them in a number of settings. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 102mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second
Robins are sweet little birds. They come in many color varieties, including a fiery, orangish-red. Meet the flame robin — a little guy that I had the pleasure of meeting on Bruny Island in Tasmania. That brilliantly colored breast can really light up the otherwise dull colors of the forest. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
It’s been quite a while since I posted a mountain gorilla. I visited Uganda back in 2009 when I was told that there were only about 700 left in the wild. Since then their numbers are up slightly (depending on who is doing the counting) to almost 800. Let’s hope the trend continues. I’ve also seen another count that only has them at 600, so who knows how many are really out there. The point is, not many, so I was thrilled to spend about an hour in the presence of a very large troop of 23 individuals. By my very limited mathematical abilities, that comes to about 3.2% of the world’s total population — right there with me — in one small corner of the Ugandan rainforest. Pretty amazing. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
This photo has been one of my best sellers over the years and I just realized that I’ve never actually posted it to the blog. It is in my “North America” gallery but was never a photo of the day. So here it is. A roseate spoonbill from what started as a terrible day at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. When I first got to the refuge, I couldn’t see ten feet in front of me with the thick fog. I waited it out, however, and when the fog finally cleared, it revealed quite a bit of pink out amongst all that white. It wasn’t the blue skies that I had hoped for, but ended up being the perfect conditions for reflection shots of these beautiful birds. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (with 1.4 teleconverter attached for 550mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/640th of a second
The bushbuck is a very widespread antelope throughout sub-Sahara Africa. They prefer habitat on the edge of thick forest, which provides both shelter and food. I spotted this one in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Bushbucks are rather clumsy runners, but they are great swimmers and jumpers — being able to clear six foot obstacles with ease. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
The above photo gives a good look at the ornamental nasal knobs of the imperial cormorant. Below shows how they highlight that gorgeous face. Both photos were taken on Saunders Island in the Falkland Islands.
Above: Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
Below: Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/800th of a second
Actually, these marine iguanas were resting in the sun and weren’t even moving, but it looked like they were on the attack and storming that small hill on Fernandina Island in the Galapagos Islands. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/16 at 1/250th of a second
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Juvenile southern elephant seals are relatively easy to approach for wide angle shots. Sometimes, they even approach you. They are old enough to be on their own and away from their mothers, but they are still on the small side and not yet the massive beasts that they will become (males grow to more than 20 feet and nearly 9,000 pounds). This young fellow was having a nice rest amongst the lichen covered rocks of Carcass Island in the Falkland Islands.
