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
Just now, as I was sitting at my desk trying to decide whether to post a pelican or a snow monkey, I received an email from NANPA, the North American Nature Photographer’s Association. The results (at least the initial results) of their yearly photo contest are in and this year six of my images were winners, so I figured I’d post those instead. I don’t know yet where they all placed, but the first three (a black tailed jackrabbit, a spider monkey, and two giraffes necking) are somewhere in the top 120. The bottom three images (a bighorn in the Badlands, a bighorn in Yellowstone, and giant tortoises in the Galapagos) are in the top 250. All but the necking giraffes have been posted to the blog before, so I’ll just give camera info for that shot.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/400th of a second
Two rhinos found themselves caught up in the middle of a herd of cape buffalo on a rainy day in Kenya. I used a slow shutter speed of only 1/6th of a second to create a blurred sense of movement, while keeping my focus on the head of the rhino to the left.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 200, f/25 at 1/6th of a second
I just realized that in nearly five years of posting photos to this blog, I’ve never posted a gazelle. I guess it’s because they are so common on a safari to east Africa that they get overlooked. Even so, they are lovely little creatures, certainly worthy of attention. This mother and her calf were playing on the plains of the Masai Mara early one morning — the dew on the grass still present before burning off.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/125th of a second
Baird’s Tapirs are the largest land mammals in Latin America. They aren’t particularly aggressive, however, and act more like a docile cow as they forage in the rain forest. This one had no idea that I was lying on the ground just in front of him and he kept coming toward me, nose sniffing the ground, searching for fresh leaves to eat.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second
Australia is full of great night creatures, including many different species of possum. This is a green ringtail possum that I encountered one night on a spotlighting hike in the Atherton Tablelands of Queensland.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
I photographed this male waterbuck in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. The waterbuck is a large African antelope that dehydrates easily in hot weather and therefore spends most of its time in and around sources of water.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second
I’ve posted a few different shots of this particular tiger before so you might recognize her. Seemed appropriate today, however, to post one more as the Tigers and the Orioles square off tonight in Game 1 of baseball’s American League Divisional Series. Good luck to both sides.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) f/4 at 1/160th of a second
It just seemed like kind of a duck day today. This female mallard was coming in for an icy landing with a few of her friends walking below. I was in the town of Delta, British Columbia, just south of Vancouver. (Good luck today Dad).
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/1000th of a second
Galápagos giant tortoises are impressive creatures. First characteristic of note is their immense size. They can reach nearly 900 pounds and grow to six feet long. Also impressive is their life span. They live well into their hundreds, and one captive individual even made it to his 170th birthday. I photographed this guy at a pond in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the archipelago. There were about ten tortoises cooling off during the heat of mid day.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/14 at 1/320th of a second