If you photograph wildlife long enough, eventually some of the species you captured were named something different when you captured them than they are now. This is the Gursky’s spectral tarsier, but when I photographed it back in 2009 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the Gursky part was not yet in the name. In recent years, the species previously known scientifically as Tarsius spectrum has been changed to Tarsius spectrumgurskyae because of observed vocalization differences and distinctly different pelage (the fur, hair or wool of a mammal). Perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about the tarsier. That said, they are one of my favorite wild species I’ve had the pleasure to photograph over the years. Also of note, I took this photo at night without flash, but rather using a very slow shutter speed, a tripod, and the light from a full moon. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1.3 seconds.
Here’s another one that goes back quite some time. I went to Australia in December of 2006. It was my first trip with a digital camera and I was blown away by the convenience of being able to change ISO whenever I wanted without having to back a roll of film carefully out of the camera. Or tell a developer I wanted to “push process” if I shot at a different speed value than that of the film. Everything got so much easier. Long lens auto focus and vibration reduction would revolutionize things for me yet again a few years later. And now, with mirrorless systems and their subject detection eye tracking, those old days seem pretty archaic. Who knows what’s next. As for the subject of the photo, this is a red kangaroo, captured in Flinders Ranges National Park in Southern Australia on a beautiful late afternoon. A low angle combined with a 600mm lens was a great combination for subject isolation. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/40th of a second.
I photographed this distracted hoary marmot years ago while I was hiking in the alpine tundra of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1250th of a second.
The Somali ostrich is one of the specialties of northern Kenya and one of the reasons we always like to pair the Masai Mara in the south with Samburu in the north when we plan our safaris. This particular ostrich appeared to be telling me something, but I’m not sure exactly what. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2500, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second.
Motmots are always great to see on my travels to the Neotropics. Most of them have a distinctive racket tip tail. This is the rufous motmot, photographed in the cloud forest of Ecuador. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/100th of a second.
This one goes back to my trip to Madagascar in 2007, shooting with my just-in-case emergency camera, the Nikon D40x. This is a Verreaux’s sifaka lemur who was hanging around our lodge at Berenty reserve in the extreme south of Madagascar. Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 26mm) ISO 100, f/9 at 1/40th of a second.
I photographed this canal zone tree frog in El Valle, Panama. Several of them were living in the ponds surrounding our lodge in the central area of the country. These guys are quite colorful and larger than most tree frogs. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 200, f/14 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units.
I went up to check on my camera trap Tuesday night on my birthday and discovered a rare northeastern ring-tailed lemur doing its thing. Thanks for the surprise Karen Crane. Back to our regularly scheduled wild sightings tomorrow.
Here’s one for the insect fans. Eastern lubbers are common throughout the southeastern United States. They are very large and colorful grasshoppers and if you’ve spent any amount of time in the south, you’ve probably come across one or two. I found these two in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Florida. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens, ISO 1600, f/3.2 at 1/500th of a second.
Sometimes you get so close to the elephants, you have to focus in on the details. We had this encounter in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy of Kenya last April. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second.
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If you photograph wildlife long enough, eventually some of the species you captured were named something different when you captured them than they are now. This is the Gursky’s spectral tarsier, but when I photographed it back in 2009 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the Gursky part was not yet in the name. In recent years, the species previously known scientifically as Tarsius spectrum has been changed to Tarsius spectrumgurskyae because of observed vocalization differences and distinctly different pelage (the fur, hair or wool of a mammal). Perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about the tarsier. That said, they are one of my favorite wild species I’ve had the pleasure to photograph over the years. Also of note, I took this photo at night without flash, but rather using a very slow shutter speed, a tripod, and the light from a full moon. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1.3 seconds.
