Photographing penguins in the Falkland Islands was certainly one of the most enjoyable wildlife excursions that I’ve ever been on. My first four nights in the Falklands, I was staying by myself in a cabin at the far end of an island that had a total population of two people (they ran a farm on the other side of the island). I basically had the place to myself. Me and thousands of penguins. If I wanted to stay out late with them as they returned from sea after the sun had set, no problem. For this shot, I used an off camera flash to capture a rockhopper penguin as it headed up a rocky slope and back to the rest of the colony. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/800th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash
This photo gives a good look at the body of an African wild dog and you can see why they are nicknamed African painted dogs. They are Africa’s largest canid and are highly social, living and hunting in packs. They are also highly endangered with a current estimated population to be only 6,600 adults and declining due to continued habit loss, fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks. I came across this African wild dog and the rest of its pack late in the afternoon in northern Botswana. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
There seems to be some confusion surrounding the classification of brockets in Central and South America. They are a species (or several species as the case may be) of rainforest deer that range throughout much of southern Central America and down through the northern half of South America. This subspecies (or not) is the Central American red brocket, photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. They are mostly solitary creatures, preferring dense jungle habitat, and they forage on vegetation and fruits when available. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/50th of a second
This is a crimson-breasted shrike, also known as a crimson-breasted gonolek. They live in southern Africa and the males and females are virtually indistinguishable. I photographed this one in the Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. In Namibia — which back in the day was occupied by the Germans and known as South West Africa — the colors of the crimson-breasted shrike reminded colonialists of their homeland flag so they called the bird Reichsvogel, which translates to Empire bird. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second
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
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Photographing penguins in the Falkland Islands was certainly one of the most enjoyable wildlife excursions that I’ve ever been on. My first four nights in the Falklands, I was staying by myself in a cabin at the far end of an island that had a total population of two people (they ran a farm on the other side of the island). I basically had the place to myself. Me and thousands of penguins. If I wanted to stay out late with them as they returned from sea after the sun had set, no problem. For this shot, I used an off camera flash to capture a rockhopper penguin as it headed up a rocky slope and back to the rest of the colony.
