The sun was slowly setting when I came across this troop of kangaroos (also known as a mob or a court) in northern Tasmania. I liked in this shot that I was able to capture the main room in profile, two looking forward, one hopping and even a joey in a pouch — a lot to take in without any detail in any of the faces. These are eastern grey kangaroos, known locally as foresters. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 400, f/16 at 1/2000th of a second.
While on safari, a lot is made of the traditional Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). There’s also the Little Five (lion ant, leopard tortoise, rhinoceros beetle, elephant shrew and buffalo weaver). And then there’s the “Ugly Five.” Rounding out a list that includes the warthog, vulture, wildebeest and hyena is this handsome guy, the marabou stork. I suppose it doesn’t help that marabou storks are patient scavengers and often seen hanging around garbage dumps. They are very large birds — among the largest in the world with a wingspan of 11 feet — and are nicknamed the Undertaker due to their resemblance to an old slumped figure wearing a cloak. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm FP lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
I only saw two of these Uakari poison frogs while in Peru earlier in the year. I had hoped to capture some wide angle macro shots, but the conditions weren’t right and the two frogs were a bit more camera shy than most tree frogs and poison dart frogs that I’ve photographed in the past. I resorted to my 105mm macro and flash to capture this one. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.
I mentioned this woolly monkey before. His mother and father both spent time in captivity. That said, he was born in the wild, was never in captivity and never fed by humans. But he has a natural trust of people and would often come around the lodge and perform for us. Here, I caught him taking a break from all the play. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second, Godox fill flash.
On our Kenya trips, we see two species of giraffe, the Masai giraffe in the south and the reticulated in the north. This is the latter. Reticulated giraffes have darker patches of color, which are more geometric shaped with well defined edges. Although it looks like this young one was trying to hide, it was doing what they do — eating thorny acacia tree branches. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.
I took this one on Sea Lion Island in the Falkland Islands back in 2014. The trick to getting a nice starburst is to place the sun on the edge of a foreground object and use a very small aperture. I also like to add a little detail to my silhouettes when I can. That slight amount of light on the sand and penguins gives the shot a bit more depth. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 78mm) ISO 800, f/22 at 1/500th of a second.
I had previously posted a wide shot of the four cheetah cubs playing king of the hill on a termite mound. Here’s a closer look. These two were looking down on their siblings who were running in circles around the base of the mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
Where there are predators, there are always a few jackals lurking around. This black-backed jackal was shadowing two lions, waiting for them to make a kill, and then hopefully leave a few scraps behind. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
It was about this time back in 2017 when I visited Silver Salmon Creek up in Alaska. The coastal brown bears would forage mostly on the marsh grasses, but would also come out to the shoreline at low tide and try their best to catch coho salmon. Obviously, this mother was successful and she brought the fish back to her two cubs who were waiting not so patiently on a nearby sandbar. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.
We had been viewing a few lions in the Masai Mara when I looked around and saw this Africa jacana catch a frog. With their long toes and claws, they can walk across floating vegetation to grab unsuspecting prey. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.