I was, obviously, directly above this spectacled caiman as it lurked in the muddy waters of the Yucama River in the Pampas region of Bolivia. I remember it being a scorching hot day, and I was enjoying just a hint of a breeze as I stood on a small bridge that spanned the river.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/1250th of a second

This is a very small frog. Probably not much more than an inch in length. I photographed it several years back on a trip to the Bolivian Amazon. Back then, I didn’t have my macro lens yet and was using a screw on macro filter on the end of my 70-200mm lens — a pretty good low cost, low weight solution to get decent close ups of small things.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 180mm) with Canon 500D macro filter, ISO 200, f/6.3 at 1/4th of a second

I spotted this female red howler monkey in a clearing in the forest in Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon. Howler monkeys are renown for their loud calls, which can be heard up to three miles away.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/50th of a second

For the final day of Halloween week (and the final post for awhile), we have the convict tree frog. This guy is also known as Troschel’s tree frog, but with those nice black stripes on his sides and his orange prison uniform, I prefer the former. He’s also very Halloweeny, so he has that going for him too. Photographed in Madidi National Park in Bolivia, this one goes out to my friend Dawn on her birthday today (hope you like orange frogs). Happy Halloween everyone. I’ll be putting the blog to rest for the next couple of weeks as I take a break to travel to Tasmania. Hopefully I’ll have a bunch of strange and wonderful new creatures to share when I get back.
Nikon D300, with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) with Canon 500D close up filter attached, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

This is a tufted capuchin monkey, otherwise known as the brown capuchin. He was photographed from a small boat late one afternoon on Lake Chalalan in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park. These monkeys are known for being extremely intelligent and in parts of Brazil are commonly called Einstein monkeys.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second

The red howler is a subspecies of howler monkey found only in Bolivia. I photographed this one from a canoe on Lake Chalalan in Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/320th of a second

Night monkeys are the only truly nocturnal primates in the Americas. This guy is an Azara’s night monkey and was photographed in the Pampas region of Bolivia. Night monkeys are primarily frugivores. What is a frugivore, you ask? A fruit eater, of course. As you can see, this guy is enjoying a nice mango-looking piece of juicy goodness, and seems to be quite pleased with it. Word has it they also will eat the occasional flower, leaf or insect, but for the most part, it’s all about the fruit.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

There are several different species of caiman that live throughout Central and South America. One of the most common is the spectacled caiman, otherwise known as the white caiman or the common caiman. It gets its name from the bony ridge between the eyes that resembles a pair of glasses. This particular spectacled caiman was enjoying the early morning light along the Yucama River in the Pampas region of Bolivia.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

This little white-lined leaf frog was enjoying a pleasant evening in the Bolivian rain forest and was kind enough to pose for a few photos. As with most of my macro/nocturnal photography, I was using a two flash set up, which can sometimes give a bit of a studio look. The venemous pit viper that was watching from about twenty feet away, however, made it quite clear that this was not a studio.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 175mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units on a Really Right Stuff bracket, Canon D500 close up filter

The mouse opossum is, in fact, the size of a mouse. But it isn’t a rodent at all. It’s a marsupial, and more closely related to a kangaroo than a rat. There are 55 different species of mouse opossum in Central and South America and they are all nocturnal. I came across this one well after dark while camping in the Pampas region of Bolivia.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 200, f/6.3 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units