This one goes back a few years when I visited Yellowstone at the beginning of the fall season. The bachelor herds were still high in the alpine tundra while the ewes and their lambs were at lower elevations. These two posed for a few nice portraits before getting back to grazing. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 2000, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.
We had a nice low vantage point on this hippo pool, which is unusual from a safari vehicle. We kept waiting for one of the hippos to show us those giant teeth but it was a relatively subdued group and they weren’t exactly cooperating. Finally this guy let out a bit of a half-hearted yawn and this was the best I could do. Photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya on our recent trip. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 3600, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
I’m starting to pull together a trip to Guyana for late January. In my research, I see I’ll have another shot at white-throated toucans. I’ve photographed them recently in Peru, and also on my first trip to Bolivia where this image was taken in Madidi National Park. Toucan tongues are a lot like a woodpecker’s tongue. It almost looks like a feather. The bristles along the edges help the toucan taste and catch food before eating it.Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second.
This woolly monkey was putting on quite a show for us and very nearly jumped into our canoe. We were paddling through the flooded rainforest of the upper Amazon basin in Peru when he came to investigate and say hello. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 78mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.
This silverback mountain gorilla was taking an afternoon nap in the ferns of Mgahinga National Park in the Virunga Mountains of Uganda. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens, ISO 2800, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second.
Sometimes called the southern spectacled caiman, these crocodilians are endemic to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. I photographed this one in the Pantanal of Brazil where some 10 million live, up considerably since the 1980s when they were hunted for their leather. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens. (at 350mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
The yellow-billed stork is widely distributed throughout sub-Sahara Africa. That said, they exist in greater numbers in East Africa. Interesting fact about these guys — they hunt by their sense of touch rather than sight. They’ll dip their beak into the water and start moving it around until it comes in contact with prey (mostly small fish, but they also eat crustaceans, frogs, worms, insects and the occasional small mammal or bird). Once prey is detected, a rapid snap bill reflex occurs and the beak slams shut, the stork raises its head and swallows. This stork was resting along a river in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 280, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.
Just a simple portrait of an olive baboon resting at the edge of a cliff in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. The sun was still relatively low in the sky and when the baboon turned his head slightly, his orange eyes were illuminated by the light. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second.
I’ve posted a few photos of this guy before — a rare dark morph of the southern tamandua. Also known as the lesser anteater. It was nice to have come upon him while he was actively moving from tree to tree looking for termites and ants. In this image, he stopped for a few quick scratches with those giant claws (check out the one oversized claw on that left hand). Photographed in the northern Amazon basin of Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/320th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
It was a lot of fun photographing these cheetah cubs as they chased each other all over the place in Samburu National Reserve. There were four of them and we saw them on three different occasions. This was early morning as the sun was starting to make its way into the sky. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.