To anyone who was following the news yesterday, or tuned in to any social media platform, it’s pretty obvious why I’m posting this shot today. This is the most majestic male lion that I have ever seen. His name was Notch and he ruled the Masai Mara. This one goes out to his counterpart down in Zimbabwe. Lion numbers, as well as all big cats, continue to decline in the wild. The fact that trophy hunting is still allowed in many African countries boggles the mind. But what’s even more unfathomable to me is the fact that certain humans actually derive pleasure out of killing these beautiful creatures — for sport, no less. I post everyday to bring the awesomeness of the wild world to the subscribers of this blog, not to make any sort of political statement. But after yesterday’s firestorm over Cecil the lion, I thought it appropriate to speak out today. It’s time to ban trophy hunting of all endangered species in all countries. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second
One of my favorite days in the Falkland Islands was when I spent an afternoon with a colony of imperial shags atop a steep cliff at the far end of Sea Lion Island. It was fun (and easy) to photograph them as they came and went, building their nests with kelp brought from the ocean below. This shag was landing empty handed but I liked the wing position as it touched down on its nest. I’m going to start uploading larger images. They’ll still be the same size on the page, but if you click, you will get a much larger file. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/7.1 at 1/1250th of a second
This is an old one from back in 2002 when I was living in my car (by choice) and drove up to Alaska. The great thing about Alaska in July is that nocturnal animals still come out even though the sun never sets. I went for a hike at midnight in Denali National Park and came across this North American porcupine doing his porcupiney thing. You can see those nice big, orange front teeth as the porcupine munches on the vegetation. I was shooting slide film back then and not recording film speed, shutter or aperture data. My camera was a Nikon F100 and the lens was most likely my 80-200mm in the 200mm range.
Trogons are among my favorite birds. There are many different species which live in tropical regions across the globe. The males are generally much more colorful but the females have that sturdy and exotic trogon-look that is characteristic of all species. The top photo is a female collared trogon from the cloud forest of Ecuador. The middle shot is a male black-throated trogon from Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. And the third is a green-backed trogon from my most recent trip to Trinidad.
Collared Trogon — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/100th of a second
Black Throated Trogon — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/60th of a second
Green Backed Trogon — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 640, f/4 at 1/100th of a second
This lion mother and cub were part of a pride that I photographed in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. They had just come from an oryx kill and were filling up at a water hole near our camp. I like that you can clearly see the black stripes on the mother’s ears in this photo. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second
The tsessebe is a large antelope found in certain African countries, including Botswana where I photographed this one. It was early morning and a group of tsessebe were mixed in amongst zebra, foraging (and perhaps hiding) in the very long grass of the Okavango Delta. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
Of the five species of penguin that I photographed in the Falkland Islands, the macaroni was the least common (at least in the Falklands — worldwide they are the most numerous). I only saw a total of three. These two and a single penguin, both caught up in colonies of rockhopper penguins. Luckily, these macaronis were on the edge of the colony so I was able to get pretty close with my wide angle lens. As with most species of penguin, a mating pair shares the duty of sitting on the egg(s). In this shot, it almost looks like the one is ordering the other to get off the egg. They were actually in the middle of a shift change. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/2000th of a second
This one goes out to my friend Erik and all his friends back in Uganda. I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a troop of twenty three mountain gorillas in Uganda back in March of 2009. It remains one of my favorite wildlife encounters and I’d love to get back some day, either to Bwindi in Uganda, or to Rwanda. I was struck by the gentleness and familiarity of these giant apes, displayed here by this female in a very human pose. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second
This one goes out to my little sister Mo on her birthday today. Mo’s been a big fan of frogs since we were little kids. This particular specimen is a white-lipped tree frog. We had the pleasure of meeting in Daintree National Park in Queensland, Australia back in November of 2006. Hope you like it Mo. Very Kermit like. Happy Birthday. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) with Canon 500D close up filter, ISO 200, f/16 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units
Here’s another rare, non-nature shot (I need to shoot something between trips and the wildlife is hard to come by in my neighborhood whereas the cityscapes are not). This was taken in Brooklyn Bridge Park, looking toward New Jersey. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 2.5 seconds
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To anyone who was following the news yesterday, or tuned in to any social media platform, it’s pretty obvious why I’m posting this shot today. This is the most majestic male lion that I have ever seen. His name was Notch and he ruled the Masai Mara. This one goes out to his counterpart down in Zimbabwe. Lion numbers, as well as all big cats, continue to decline in the wild. The fact that trophy hunting is still allowed in many African countries boggles the mind. But what’s even more unfathomable to me is the fact that certain humans actually derive pleasure out of killing these beautiful creatures — for sport, no less. I post everyday to bring the awesomeness of the wild world to the subscribers of this blog, not to make any sort of political statement. But after yesterday’s firestorm over Cecil the lion, I thought it appropriate to speak out today. It’s time to ban trophy hunting of all endangered species in all countries.
