Today I did a google search of some of my images and was surprised to find out that this photo of a young orangutan swinging through the trees was a National Geographic photo of the day — all the way back in February of 2010. It’s been in my Indonesian gallery but was never posted to the blog. I always liked that this one showed a bit more of the environment of Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/1250th of a second (-1/3 stop ev)
Along with the barn owl that I posted a while back, this little guy was Karen’s single favorite animal on the Galápagos trip. After our seven day cruise of the islands, we stayed in a beautiful camp for three nights on Santa Cruz Island — one of the few islands that is inhabited by humans. On one of the days we were there, we decided to hire a local fisherman to take us out on his boat to La Fe, a nearby island (the government allows certain fisherman to offer this service in order to supplement their income when not fishing). We had the little island all to ourselves and when we landed on its secluded beach, we were greeted by about ten or so sea lions, including this inquisitive pup. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second
I was at Boundary Bay in search of snowy owls for three days. All three of those days started out in heavy overcast, misty/foggy conditions. Mist can be death to photographs when trying to use a long lens for frame filling images. So I tried to work with the mist by lining up elements to create depth in the scene. In this shot, I was able to line the foreground owl up with the one in the background on the log and then further back the water. All in all, a more moody composition than if the sun was in the clear and on the horizon. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 1600, f/11 at 1/80th of a second
Yesterday a bat, today a stick insect. Why not? This guy was spotted creeping along a leaf in the cloud forest of Ecuador. The stick-like appearance is obviously camouflage. In addition to looking like a stick, they also walk in a jerky, back and forth motion, as if a piece of vegetation blowing in the wind. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/500th of a second (-0.33 ev)
This handsome specimen has been in my Costa Rica gallery for a while, but I just realized that it was incorrectly identified as a Honduran White Bat. It is actually a northern ghost bat — much larger and without the yellow nose of the Honduran species. This particular ghost bat would roost every day just outside of my lodge in south western Costa Rica at a place called Tiskita. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 320mm with Nikon 1.7 teleconverter) ISO 400, f/4.8 at 1/8th of a second, cable release and Gitzo tripod
Grevy’s zebras are an endangered species that live only in northern Kenya and a few small pockets of Ethiopia. They are the largest wild member of the horse family and can weigh up to 990 pounds. Stallions that are unable to establish a territory become free ranging and are called bachelors — which appeared to be the case here, as this guy was wandering solo across the short grasses of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm (at 95mm) ISO 800, f/20 at 1/60th of a second (2.33 ev)
Here’s another photo of a bobcat that I’ve posted a few shots of in the past. It was a couple of years ago and I was on my way back to the airport after a business trip in LA. I had heard reports of a bobcat sighting at the San Joaquin Nature Preserve in Irvine. I had about forty minutes to spare before I needed to be at the airport, so I decided to stop by the preserve. It turned out to be a good decision. I was able to get a nice series of ground level images as the bobcat cautiously passed in front of me on its way to hunt ducks in a nearby swamp. I liked the lick smack on this particular frame. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
The essence of the Galapagos Islands — a Darwin’s finch atop a marine iguana. There are fifteen different species of Darwin’s finches, and they were instrumental in the development of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. This particular bird is called a medium ground finch — not to be confused with the small or the large ground finch. All three ground finches (and for that matter all Darwin’s finches) are roughly the same size. The difference is in the beak — each beak having evolved in a slightly different manner thanks to the different food sources on the different islands. Likewise, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the iguanas are also slightly different depending upon which island they inhabit. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/320th of a second
I figured an animated gif might be the best way to illustrate the changing colors of a short horned chameleon (also known as an elephant eared chameleon). The first shot, when the chameleon was a nice colorful blue and green, was how I first encountered the animal on a night hike in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park. The next two shots show how the color of the skin quickly turned to brown as the chameleon reacted to my presence and flash. This change happened almost immediately as the shots were all taken within thirty seconds. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 200, f/22 at 1/60th of a second (-0.33 ev)
I was recently going through my California landscapes folder and I came across all these images from Death Valley. The six photos show the geologic variety of Death Valley’s floor. A couple of them I have posted before but I wanted to show them together with the new shots. From the top, it’s the mud-caked ground of Mesquite Flats. Next is the lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin. The third image shows the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats. The fourth is appropriately called Devil’s Golf Course. The Fifth is called The Racetrack and is home to the mysterious moving boulders. And finally, the sixth is another type of dried mud near Stovepipe Wells. Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 17-35mm, Gitzo tripod, ISO 200
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