Friday seems like as good a day as any to post another lion cub. This little one hails from the Central Kalahari Desert in Botswana. He/she seemed to be feeling ferociously confident — albeit hiding behind the safety of mom and dad.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
This bighorn seemed to be paying his respects to the powers that be. He was actually just getting up after a lengthy rest. In the background you can see the characteristic eroded buttes of Badlands National Park.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
This is one of the many tree frogs that I met on several night walks in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. I’m not sure of the exact species (if you do, please let me know). He was a little guy, but seemed to have a big personality as he boldly peered into the front of my macro lens.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 200, f/16 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
I photographed this tayra in Ecuador two years ago — a difficult task because I was in thick cloud forest and also tayras happen to be very skittish around humans. They are mustelids and in the same family as weasels, otters, and ferrets. I was only able to get a few decent shots before this guy and a friend disappeared into the forest.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
I caught this meerkat late in the day making a dash across a patch of sandy ground. Meerkats are always aware of raptors, jackals and other predators lurking about and they much prefer grassy areas to hide in as opposed to more barren desert. That being said, they’ll risk the exposure to hunt for scorpions, their favorite meal.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
As a wildlife photographer I can’t help but assign animals to my various friends and family members. Certain people just seem like certain animals. My friend Justin, for example, is a koala. Something about him screams marsupial. Another friend, Jon, is a puffin. He just is. My sister Kerry, well, she’s clearly a burrowing owl. She always has been and always will be. Tomorrow Kerry gets married. The lucky guy is Charlie, so by association, I guess he gets to be an owl too. This one goes out to them. Congratulations and see you tomorrow. (Incidentally, tomorrow also happens to be one year since I married Karen, a lovely combination of a white tailed fawn and a cow — you know, a cute cow. Like Elsie. Happy Anniversary Baby.)
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 550mm with 1.4 teleconverter) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1250th of a second
On Tuesday, I posted a photo of a baby black crested macaque and commented on the green eyes. This is the adult and as you can see, those eyes eventually turn a bright orange. These monkeys have such amazing faces — very human yet very cartoony at the same time. Here is the link to Tuesday’s post where you can see how much their look changes over the years.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second
I photographed this flamingo on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos flamingo is a subspecies of the greater flamingo. There aren’t many of them in existence (only about 500 in the entire Galápagos archipelago) so I was lucky to spot this one.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
I’ve always been a big fan of the primates, but perhaps my favorite monkey is the black crested macaque. I had the pleasure of spending time with a troop of them for two mornings a few years back on my trip to Indonesia. They are considered critically endangered and exist only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. This young male was resting in the forest. His green eyes will turn a vivid orange when he becomes an adult.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/80th of a second
Sprawled face down in the sand, this black tailed jackrabbit seemed exhausted by the desert heat — which, as I mentioned in a post last week, reached 122 degrees. Those long ears, in fact, are an adaptation to the extreme conditions of the desert. The large surface area of each ear is loaded with blood vessels that release heat and thereby cool down the core body temperature of the rabbit. I, of course, was also face down in the sand enabling a ground level perspective. My ears, however, had little effect on my core body temperture.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/100th of a second