Marine iguanas were my favorite animal that we encountered in the Galápagos Islands. They were on every island that we visited but were slightly different in size and color depending upon which island the species evolved on. They spend most of the day lounging on the black lava rock of the majority of the islands, but head out to sea when they want to eat the vegetation found beneath the surface of the water.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/4000th of a second

In honor of Prince, I’m going to make this an all purple week, starting with this hummingbird — a velvet purple coronet. I took this one in the cloud forest of Ecuador, and the flash really brings out the iridescence in the wings. Without flash, they appear almost black. You can see a nice bit of purple just below the throat.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units

I know invertebrates aren’t everyone’s favorite, but for the bug lovers out there, here’s a hercules beetle I photographed in the cloud forest of Ecuador, not too far from Quito. These guys are really big. Hard to tell scale, but this one was about six inches long.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/60th of a second

This butterfly is known for its see-through wings, but in this photo I liked that I was able to capture the tips of its antenea, while the rest of the butterfly remained out of focus. There are many clearwing butterflies in Central and South American, this one was photographed in Ecuador. Its scientific name is methona confusa.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400 (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

There are eight giant tortoises visible in this photo. They were enjoying a drink and a swim at a water hole in the Santa Cruz Highlands of the Galapagos Islands. There were several others milling about too, outside of the range of my wide angle lens. It was a lot of fun hiking through Santa Cruz’s open pastures alongside these enormous animals — the largest of their kind in the world and one of the longest living vertebrates in the world. They have an average lifespan of more than a hundred years. Biologists aren’t quite sure of the exact lifespan because data wasn’t collected that long ago, but a captive individual is known to have lived at least 170 years.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1600th of a second

Continuing with the Halloween theme for this week, here is an insect wearing a stick costume. I photographed this lanky fellow in the cloud forest of Ecuador, about two hours drive from Quito.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 1600, f/14 at 1/125th of a second

Another in my series of bird-heads-comically-staring-straight-at-the-camera. This little ball of feathery greyness is a juvenile red footed booby, photographed on Genovese Island in the Galápagos Islands. As the bird ages, it will become more white in appearance.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/100th of a second

Sally lightfoot crabs can be quite spectacular when all that bright color is set against the black lava rock that makes up much of the Gálapagos Islands. This guy was trying to hide but not doing a very good job of it.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second

Giant tortoises are the oldest living land animals on earth — which I figured was appropriate as I turn 50 today — not yet halfway there if I was the average tortoise. This Galapagos giant tortoise was photographed in the Santa Cruz Highlands in the Galapagos Islands. Happy birthday to me.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second