It felt like a kangaroo day today. This field in Tasmania was full of eastern grey kangaroos, locally known as foresters. I was only at this national park in the far north for one night and thankfully the sky cooperated. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/60th of a second.
I’ve posted a few images of bowerbirds in the past. There are several species. This is a male regent bowerbird. Females are more uniformly brown. Males also give bowerbirds their name, given rather sophisticated architectural skills when it comes to attracting a mate. According to Wikipedia, “regent bowerbirds are known to mix a muddy greyish blue or pea green ‘saliva paint’ in their mouths which they use to decorate their bowers. The male builds an avenue-type bower consisting of two walls of sticks, decorated with shells, seeds, leaves and berries. Regents will sometimes use wads of greenish leaves as ‘paintbrushes’ to help spread the substance, representing one of the few known instances of tools used by birds.” So that’s kind of cool. Photographed in Queensland, Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second.
Rainbow Lorikeets are fairly common birds in Australia, but they can be difficult to photograph because they’re usually high in the treetops. I was able to get this pair out in the open for a quick moment. Photographed years ago in Noosa, Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.
The Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo is one of the more rare and odd mammals that I’ve come across in my travels. They are generally nocturnal but I spotted this one early one morning just outside the town of Yungaburra in eastern Australia. As the name suggests, they spend most of their time in trees. There are fourteen different species of tree kangaroo that live in the forests of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia. The Lumholtz’s is the smallest of the species and one of only two that live in Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second.
I think I took as many photos at night in Tasmania as I did during the day. So much life comes out as soon as the sun goes down. One of those species is the brushtail possum. This mother and her joey posed for a few portraits before moving on into the forest. Using two flash units off camera and to the side, allowed me to capture the possums without any eyeshine. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/14 at 1/250th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
Wombats spend the majority of their waking hours eating. And all they eat is grass. They are so focused on the task of munching down as much as they possibly can that it can be a challenge to photograph them with their heads up. So for this image, I got below the grass. Photographed at Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, Australia. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.
The sun was setting on a scorcher of a day on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. This young eastern grey kangaroo had wandered off from his mom and was intrigued by the clicking of my camera. Hopefully this post makes it through. I was hacked and have been having issues with my email settings, etc. (note I’m going back to my old email address of sean@seancrane.com). Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/8th of a second.
This is a male Australian king parrot. Individuals can vary in color, but they’re all pretty brilliant with the bright red feathers on the breast and head, and the green and blue on the wings. Photographed at Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second.
There are four species of echidna. This is the short-beaked, which can be found throughout Australia and portions of New Guinea. It’s the most widespread native mammal in Australia. Unlike many other Australian mammals which are marsupials, the short-beaked echidna is a monotreme. Monotremes are one of the three main groups of mammals on earth, along with placentals and marsupials. But there are only five living species of monotreme — the four echidnas and the platypus. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they lay eggs. I photographed this echidna somewhere in central Tasmania. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.
I first posted this photo about 10 years ago. That original image was a bit too soft in the eyes. But with the advent of a software plugin called Topaz Sharpen AI, I was able to correct for the blur when re-processing. Topaz AI works like magic on certain photos to bring back very natural sharpness, while on others it’s more hit and miss. There needs to be a reasonable amount of sharpness in the first place. As for the koala, it was photographed at Hansen Bay on Kangaroo Island. In Australia, of course. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.