For day three of Prince week we have the purple gallinule. The purple gallinule is a swamp hen in the rail family. They breed along the southeastern United States and tropical regions of Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. I captured this one on a walk along Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park in Florida.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 320, f/4.5 at 1/400th of a second
For day two of Prince week, we have the purple sea urchin. These guys live near the shoreline in the Pacific Ocean from Ensenada, Mexico up to British Columbia in Canada. This shot was taken in Olympic National Park in Washington. Interesting fact of the day: purple sea urchins are important in biochemical research, because believe it or not, even though they lack a head structure, they share 7,700 genes with humans. Many of those shared genes are involved in sensing the environment. Oddly enough, they also have almost the same life expectancy as humans at just over 70 years.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/400th of a second
In honor of Prince, I’m going to make this an all purple week, starting with this hummingbird — a velvet purple coronet. I took this one in the cloud forest of Ecuador, and the flash really brings out the iridescence in the wings. Without flash, they appear almost black. You can see a nice bit of purple just below the throat.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
I’ve posted a photo of the much more colorful male black throated trogon before, but the females are pretty cool looking too, if not quite as spectacular. This young lady was hunting for crickets late one afternoon in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/60th of a second
Platypus can be difficult to photograph. First you have to find them. And once you do, they can be very skittish to any movement. What I liked about this shot, is that you can actually see the eyeball, pupil and all. In most shots, it’s hard to make out the actual eye. This was taken on my last full day in Tasmania just outside of the town of Scottsdale in the northeast.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second
They’re common, I know, but I still love to photograph raccoons when they are cooperative enough to pose for a shot. This one was photographed in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
This agile gibbon was just hanging out and watching me photograph bearded pigs and orangutans — both of which, I obviously took a break from to get this shot. As the name would suggest, these are very agile apes with long slender arms, perfect for moving through the thick forest.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second
An old high school classmate of mine passed away yesterday. We were friendly, if not particularly close back then. When I started my blog seven years ago, however, she quickly became one of my biggest supporters. She was also one of the first people to buy one of my prints. It was this shot of Baxter State Park, which I originally posted back in October of 2010. She was a big fan and collector of New England scenics. This one’s for you Katie. Rest in peace.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 25mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 1/30th of a second
This green iguana seemed to be peaking curiously at me through the opening in the vegetation. He put on quite a show, just outside the main veranda of the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
Pelicans are always fun to shoot, especially in flight. I got out to La Jolla on a recent business trip to San Diego and spent a morning watching them coming and going on the steep cliffs on the north edge of town. This guy was obviously coming in for a landing after a flight out to sea.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second