Giant tortoises are the oldest living land animals on earth — which I figured was appropriate as I turn 50 today — not yet halfway there if I was the average tortoise. This Galapagos giant tortoise was photographed in the Santa Cruz Highlands in the Galapagos Islands. Happy birthday to me.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second
“THE VEST” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second
“THE BOA” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/640th of a second
“THE HAIRY BELLY BUTTON” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/500th of a sec
“THE HIRSUTE” — NIkon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second
“THE PASHMINA” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 210mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/500th of a second
“CHAPS” — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 125mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second
King penguins molt after two years of age — basically this means they lose their baby feathers, underneath which they reveal their adult plumage. As you can see, they don’t all progress at the same rate. It was comical to see the half-molted penguins. They looked as if they were partially dressed in varying degrees of clothing, from a furry vest, to a feather boa, to well, that last guy appears to be in chaps.
Using a warm white balance and shooting in the general direction of the sun produced the golden tones in this image. These two white rhinos were grazing early morning in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Lewa is one of the best places in Kenya to see both white, as well as black rhinos.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second
As a kid, I was a big fan of the “Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp” television show. I had the lunchbox and everything. Little did I know the abuse that Hollywood chimps and other show animals suffered in the name of entertainment. I finally got to see chimpanzees in the wild when I went to Uganda in 2009 and it was a great thrill to see them in their natural environment. This guy was photographed in Kibale National Park in southwest Uganda.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400m lens (at 330mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
This one goes out to everyone at the Sierra Club Photography Committee of New York. Thanks for having me as your guest speaker tonight. It was a lot of fun sharing my photos and stories from the field. This species of goose is a common sight in the Falkland Islands. For this exposure, I got the camera on the ground to effectively blur out the foreground and background tones of green and yellow vegetation.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second
These two cubs (and a couple of others at the base of the tree) were having a good old time climbing up and down and up and down. As I’ve mentioned before, black bears can be either quite dark like these two, or more of a brownish color. Some are even almost blond.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
Like yesterday, here’s another sunset shot, but with a completely different animal in a completely different part of the world — a prairie dog in the Badlands of South Dakota. I liked that there are three almost evenly distributed colors in the composition. I used a graduated neutral density filter to hold the color in the sky while exposing for the foreground.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second
My favorite time of the day on Sea Lion Island in the Falklands was just after sunset when the last of the penguins were heading in from the sea, the orcas were patrolling the shoreline for sea lions and seals, and the receding surf created saturated reflections of the gentoos as they scurried back to their respective colonies.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 1000, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second
This is a bit of an unusual post for me because there are no animals, and the hand of man is in the landscape. Even so, I always liked this one from my Madagascar trip. The tree in the background is a baobab. In the foreground are young sisal plants, part of a sisal plantation. Unfortunately, many of the original baobabs (and other native forests) were cleared for crops, cattle and other farming. At least a few of the old trees still remain. There are eight species of baobabs in the world — six occur on Madagascar, one on mainland Africa, and the other in Australia. I’ve often said that Madagascar is my favorite exotic location and I vow to get back some day. When I do, I’d like to visit the southwestern coast where most of the baobabs can be found.
Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 100, f/6.3 at 1/100th of a second
It’s been a while since I posted anything from the California tide pools. I photographed this bat star in the seagrass a few years back in Montana De Oro State Park in Los Osos, along the central coast. It’s hard to think of sea stars as animals, let alone fighters, but they will often battle each other when crossing paths. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this guy flex his muscles, as any would-be challengers were nowhere to be found.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/16 at 1/20th of a second