Black foxes, also know as a silver fox, are actually just a color variant of the red fox. They are said to make up about 8% of the red fox population. I found this one at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, scurrying around amongst the alpine wildflowers just before the sun went down.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second
On my recent business trip to Los Angeles, I was able to get out to the desert for a day over the weekend. The ocotillo cactus were blooming and showing their bright red tips. Native to our Southwestern deserts, ocotillo can bloom during spring, summer and sometimes fall, usually after a good rainfall. The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds and carpenter bees.
Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 400, f/22 at 1/160th of a second
I suppose I should have posted this on Friday, but better a day late than never. Rabbits are perhaps the most visible mammal that I encounter on my visits to wild, and not so wild places around the country. I literally see them everywhere. This particular cottontail was photographed in Badlands National Park early one spring several years ago. Happy Easter everyone.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second
This sea otter didn’t seem to want to have its picture taken. I was in Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California (just north of Monterey), one of the best places in the country to see these furry sea mammals. It’s also a great place for harbor seals and sea lions.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
This little dwarf mongoose was lurking in the tall grass around a camp we were staying at in the Masai Mara of Kenya. As the name would suggest, it is a rather small mongoose, growing to only about 11 inches long. It also has the distinction of being Africa’s smallest carnivore.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/160th of a second
Here’s another from my polar bears at sunrise series. In this one, the sun just started to clear the low-lying clouds and the warm tones began spilling into the cold, shaded foreground of snow and ice. The polar bear seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was. I had my 200-400mm lens mounted to my camera and had to go vertical to fit the sun and the bear into the same frame.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
Yesterday I posted a cormorant up on the cliffs at El Matador State Beach in Malibu. Here’s a shot from down below at the water line. You can actually see two more cormorants perched on the distant rock to the right. I used a tripod and a two second exposure to blur the movement of the incoming waves as they circled the foreground rocks.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 50, f/20 at 2 seconds
Here’s one from this past week in California. I was in L.A. for work but was able to sneak out for a few hours here and there, including this quick trip up to El Matador State Beach in Malibu. This is a very popular spot and, at times, difficult to photograph because of all the people. That being said, it is also most likely the reason that this Brandt’s cormorant had no apparent fear of me. I was able to photograph it from about a foot away with the fisheye, capturing the beach and sunset in the background.
Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 200, f/22 at 1/200th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash unit
About two years ago, I decided to add a fisheye lens to my camera bag. I wasn’t sure how much use it would get but it was light and easy to carry and I figured I’d pull it out every now and again to get a different perspective. For this shot of a leatherback hatchling racing for survival, the lens exaggerated the curvature of the horizon creating a sense of the great big world (or perhaps small world) that the turtle was heading into.
Nikon D80 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second
These four baby king penguins created a nice arrangement of shadows across the landscape of Saunders Island in the Falkland Islands — their downy fur picking up a nice bit of back light from the setting sun.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 25mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second