This will be the last post for a few weeks as I head to the Falkland Islands first thing in the morning. Enjoy this mother cheetah and her cub for now and stay tuned for a whole lot of penguins upon my return.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second
Here’s another one from Saturday night, just outside our apartment in Brooklyn. This time I included some wildlife — the flock of gulls settling in for the night on top of the old pilings.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 180mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 13, 3, 6, 25 and 30 seconds
I was relaxing by a campfire at a friend’s cabin near Waterloo, Iowa back in 2008 when a couple of these gray tree frogs decided to stop by for a late night visit. I quickly grabbed my macro filter and a few flash units from my car and took a few quick shots.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm with Canon 500D close up filter attached) ISO 160, f/16 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units
Of the three different booby species that I photographed in the Galapagos Islands, the Nazca booby was by far the most common. This guy, in fact, was the first individual bird of any species that I encountered on day one in the islands. He seemed as curious about me as I was about him. Nazca boobies practice what is called obligate siblicide. What is obligate siblicide? I’ll let Wikipedia explain — “Mothers lay two eggs, several days apart. If both eggs hatch, the elder chick pushes its sibling out of the nest area, leaving it to die of thirst or cold. The parent booby cannot intervene and the younger chick inevitably dies. Two eggs are laid so that if one gets destroyed or eaten, or the first chick dies soon after hatching, the second egg will produce an offspring.” Life clearly ain’t easy for a young booby.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/8000th of a second
I very rarely take photos in my own backyard. And it just so happens to be the neighborhood that many consider the most picturesque in all of New York — Dumbo in Brooklyn. I vow to change that and get out a lot more when I’m not traveling around chasing down wildlife. This image was taken between Pier 1 and 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, where old pilings stick out of the East River. The recently completed Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center) can be seen to the right, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. I worked the location for about an hour, alternating between shots of the pilings and shots of the Statue of Liberty (which is just to the left of frame, cropped out of this particular composition). The light went from the fiery reds and yellows of sunset, to the cool blues of twilight. This 5-frame exposure was captured well into the blue period, just before I packed it in and walked the three minutes back home.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 400, f/14 at shutters speeds from 1 to 30 seconds
I’ve mentioned a few times before that the short rainy season is my favorite time to visit East Africa. Everything is beautifully green, and you get skies like this. No Photoshopping or colored filters used here, that’s what the sky looks like at sunset over the Masai Mara. Down in the corner is a silhouette of a lone hartebeest.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/80th of a second
It’s been a while since I posted a landscape minus any creatures. This field of alpine wildflowers was taken at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state a few years ago at the end of the summer. Most wildflower blooms in the country are long gone by mid summer, but at higher elevations at Rainier, late August can be the peak time.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/18 at .4 seconds
Gerenuks are obviously known for their long necks. The word gerenuk itself is from the Somali language meaning giraffe necked. This male was feeding on the small shrub in the background in Lewa, Kenya. I have seen photographs of gerenuks, comically standing on their hind legs, reaching for higher branches to feed upon. I was hoping to get such a shot with this guy, but he just wouldn’t cooperate so I had to settle for this portrait.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 550mm with Nikon 1.4 teleconverter) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second
I photographed these tent making bats on my second trip to Costa Rica, back in 2007. They get their name from the practice of constructing tents out of large leaves. Many bats will roost under one tent, sheltered from the tropical weather. These particular bats were roosting in the tree right next to my tent and were just getting ready to head out for the night. Contrary to the reputation of most bats, I find these guys quite charming looking with their furry little faces.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1.1 seconds
Okay, back to business as usual (by the way, thanks for all the kind words on Friday’s post). Here’s the snow monkey I was about to post. This Japanese macaque appeared to be intensely inspecting, and it seems admiring, his fingernails. Would love to make it back to this place one day, not far from Tokyo up in the mountains by Nagano.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 125mm) ISO 200, f/4.5 at 1/250th of a second