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
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