This is an eastern grey kangaroo mom with her joey, locally known as foresters in Tasmania. Sometimes it seems that joeys just can’t fit in the pouch anymore and random arms, legs and tails start to poke out. This photo was taken at the end of a great day in Narawantapu National Park on the northern coast of Tasmania.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/50th of a second
The welcome swallow is a bird native to Australia and a few of the nearby islands. I had seen a few of them in flight while in Tasmania, but failed to get a good action shot due to their small size and rapid movement while in the air. I was happy (or at least pacified) when I finally saw one perched and was able to grab a quick take-what-I-can-get photo.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second
Bennett’s wallabies are pretty common on Bruny Island in Tasmania. I photographed this one early in the morning, just outside of my lodge. As you can tell, they don’t scare easily.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
This is the first platypus I had the pleasure of photographing. It was my first trip to Australia back in 2006. Platypus can be notoriously shy and elusive creatures so I was quite excited when I not only captured a photograph of this guy, but actually habituated him to my presence after about an hour or so of sitting by the edge of a pond in Flinders Ranges National Park on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. There was no one else around for the entire hour/hour and a half that I spent with the platypus. He/she kept diving and resurfacing, never still for a moment, making it a challenge as I was shooting with a 600mm manual focus lens back in those days.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second
Macropods are any of the marsupials in the kangaroo family. Pademelons are very small macropods. This mother and her joey were foraging along the side of the road in Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania. I used the light from my car’s headlights to illuminate the animals as daylight quickly turned into night.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/40th of a second
A koala spotted through the eucalyptus leaves on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/45th of a second
Here’s one from my first trip to Australia back in 2006. I saw a few different species of kangaroo on that trip, including the red kangaroo. This mother and her joey were grazing late in the day near Flinders Ranges National Park in the state of southern Australia. My old manual 600mm f/5.6 lens really created a nice smooth bokeh when the conditions were right with all that out of focus foreground and background and the soft late day light.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second
It has come to my attention that yesterday was “Wild Koala Day.” I figured better a day late than not at all. So here is a koala that I met back in 2007 on Kangaroo Island in Australia. He/She was enjoying a eucalyptus snack… Like always. Hope you had a great day, koala, and that it was appropriately wild.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm lens, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second
Robins are sweet little birds. They come in many color varieties, including a fiery, orangish-red. Meet the flame robin — a little guy that I had the pleasure of meeting on Bruny Island in Tasmania. That brilliantly colored breast can really light up the otherwise dull colors of the forest.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
This spotted little yellow monster was photographed in Daintree National Park in the tropics of northeast Australia. It will eventually develop into a four o’clock moth. I took the shot well before I had a macro lens but rather, travelled with a close up filter that I screwed onto the front of my 80-200 lens. An inexpensive and easy-to-carry solution for grabbing the occasional close up.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm with Canon 500D close up filter) ISO 100, f/16 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon D-600 flash