This coachwhip snake was out hunting lizards when I came across it on a hike in the Colorado Desert of southern California. Of course, my first instinct when I see a small animal is to get down on the ground for a few pictures. Fortunately, the snake cooperated by raising its head up out of the bushes for a few seconds before continuing on its way.
Another black-tailed jackrabbit from Anza-Borrego State Park in southern California. The ears, of course, are for hearing but they also help to reduce and regulate body heat, enabling the rabbit to live in the hot conditions of the desert.
A couple of attempts at panoramics from my neighborhood in Brooklyn. I really can’t think of a place in the city that has better views than those just outside my apartment in Dumbo. For the top shot, I merged three HDR images into one (total of 15 exposures) and for the bottom I used 4 HDR images for a total of 20 exposures. Being a :3o second walk from my apartment, I’ve taken photos at this location several times but still haven’t quite gotten the shot I’m after. I’ll keep at it and post when I do.
Volterra is a classic Tuscan hill town, sitting high above the farmland below and encircled by a 13th century stone wall. Just below the wall in this particular shot you can see the old Roman Theater, which was built in about 10 BC but cut off from the city by the wall and soon forgotten. Eventually it would be covered in garbage, serving as the town dump, until being rediscovered in the 1950s.
Some sea otters are just cooler than others — like this guy that I photographed in Elkhorn Slough in the town of Moss Landing, California. I sat for about two hours at the end of a jetty watching the otters as they went about their business, slowly becoming habituated to my presence.
Here’s a young black-crested macaque with jazz hands. I’ve posted quite a few of these guys before. Their range is restricted to the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
Not much to say here, just a couple of Canadian geese swimming past the reflection of a lighthouse. This one was taken last spring down in Cape May, New Jersey at Cape May Point State Park.
Here’s another one from my recent trip to the desert. Cholla cactus in the foreground and ocotillo in the background in Anza-Borrego State Park in southern California.
Too many non-animal, Italian landscape shots in a row. Here’s a nice moment between two orangutans to break things up a bit.
Despite the fact that I hate the crowds, this was my third time back to Venice. Finally, however, I figured out the perfect way to visit; show up at 4 PM after all the day trippers and cruise shippers have gone for the day and then get out by noon the next day before they’ve all returned. It really is a great place at night when the buildings along the canals light up and you have room to move and really enjoy it. This shot was taken from the most famous of all the bridges, the Rialto Bridge, peering through its railings at the Grand Canal below.