A break from the wildlife postings for a little something different today. As some of you know, in my day job, I’m a creative director and writer for an advertising agency. One of my accounts is the National Park Service. I’ve been working on the account for the last four years. Everything my team and I have done was leading up to today — the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service. Our goal was to redefine what a park can be for current and future generations of Americans. Parks aren’t just places of wild, physical beauty, they’re also places of historical significance, places of remembrance, of recreation and more. Below is just a small sample of the work we did, starting with video and print for the Park Service (you might recognize quite a few of my photos in the PSA), then the Park Foundation, and finally work for today’s Centennial celebration.
I was fortunate to get this close to a Baird’s tapir. They are usually pretty skittish but I remained very silent on the ground and, luckily, happened to have my wide angle lens handy when South America’s largest animal slowly made its way over to me (they can top out at almost 900 pounds and this one was a large male). The tapir was foraging through the fallen leaves in search of a few fresh ones to eat. I was able to snap off quite a few shots (on quiet mode) before the big guy moved off deeper into Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. The distortion caused by the 17mm lens makes the tapir look much smaller than it actually was. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second
Cape buffalo are all attitude. No creature on the African plains stares you down quite like these guys do. This one was doing his thing in Ol Pajeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second
I was able to capture several shots of this white wallaby out in the open, but there was something about this particular shot of the wallaby deep in the woods that I really liked. This is a rare white morph of the Bennett’s Wallaby. Bennett’s wallabies are common on Bruny Island in Tasmania, but it’s still unusual to see anything other than the usual brown variety. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/100th of a second
As the sun sets on the 2016 summer games in Rio, I thought I’d post one more (well, actually two more) from Brazil. The Pantanal may be the world’s largest flooded plain, but there are also plenty of areas that remain dry and ideal for termites. This particular landscape, just a few hundred yards from the lodge I was staying at, was dotted with these conical spires. Top Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 22mm) ISO 200, f/20 at 1/30th, 1/125th, 1/80th, 1/20th and 1/10th of a second
Bottom Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 30mm) ISO 200, f/22 at 1/60th, 1/250th, 1/100th, 1/30th and 1/15th of a second
Here’s yet another one from the Pantanal in Brazil. This is the crab eating fox. A few of these guys came sniffing around our lodge every night, apparently looking for more than crabs to eat. These guys are mostly nocturnal, and sometimes called the forest fox, wood fox or common fox. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 200, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
Due to their amazing colors, ability to talk, and close bonding behavior with humans, macaws are popular in the pet trade. But to see them out there in the wild, flying high up in the blue sky, well, that’s a whole other thing altogether. I’ve photographed quite a few different species. These guys are aptly named blue and yellow macaws. I saw them in Piaui State, Brazil the same day that I photographed the maned wolf that I posted yesterday. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens with Nikon 1.4 teleconverter (for 550mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1250th of a second
Other than the jaguar, the maned wolf was my next best sighting while in Brazil. I had to take a local bus sixteen hours, followed by a two hour drive, to make it to this location in Piaui State. The first two nights I was there, I did see a wolf, but being nocturnal animals, it was after dark. On the third night, however, a wolf came creeping around while there was still a bit of daylight left. You can see why they call them foxes on stilts. They aren’t foxes, however, nor are they wolves, but rather they are a unique species of canid — the tallest in the world. As for the “mane,” it isn’t quite visible in this shot, but it is that black fluffy tuft of hair that starts on the head and continues down onto the back. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
Aracaris are in the toucan family, although their beaks aren’t quite as large as true toucans. The chestnut-eared aracari ranges throughout the southern Amazon basin, including the Pantanal where I photographed this one just outside the lodge that I was staying at. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/1600th of a second
Continuing on with another week from Brazil, here is a giant river otter from the Pantanal. The Pantanal lies in south/central Brazil (spilling over the border into both Bolivia and Paraguay) and is the world’s largest tropical wetland. Giant river otters are fairly common in the area, but it was still a thrill each time I saw one of these massive creatures — males can be up to five and a half feet long and weigh in at over 70 pounds. This one was lurking in a shadowed area by the river’s edge as a shaft of light lit up its face. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
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