Galápagos giant tortoises are impressive creatures. First characteristic of note is their immense size. They can reach nearly 900 pounds and grow to six feet long. Also impressive is their life span. They live well into their hundreds, and one captive individual even made it to his 170th birthday. I photographed this guy at a pond in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the archipelago. There were about ten tortoises cooling off during the heat of mid day.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/14 at 1/320th of a second

I photographed this tayra in Ecuador two years ago — a difficult task because I was in thick cloud forest and also tayras happen to be very skittish around humans. They are mustelids and in the same family as weasels, otters, and ferrets. I was only able to get a few decent shots before this guy and a friend disappeared into the forest.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

I photographed this flamingo on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos flamingo is a subspecies of the greater flamingo. There aren’t many of them in existence (only about 500 in the entire Galápagos archipelago) so I was lucky to spot this one.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

Here’s a rarity from me — nature with no creatures attached. Just a simple shot of a fern frond before unraveling. I was shooting tree frogs at the time on a drizzly night in the Ecuadorian cloud forest.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 200, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-90 flash units on a circular flash bracket

Here are my favorite reptiles again — the Galápagos Islands marine iguanas. These two were lounging on the lava rock on La Fe Island, posing as a single two headed beast.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/400th of a second

This rufous motmot took advantage of a spider web. It was bad news for both the moth and the spider as the motmot made away with the spider’s dinner. I photographed this one in the cloud forest of Ecuador at a place called Mashpi.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/320th of a second

This Galápagos sea lion didn’t seem to want to have his picture taken. The location is a great little spot on Santiago Island where the sea lions, Sally Lightfoot crabs and marine iguanas (many of which you can see in the background) all hang out together on the black volcanic rock.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/2500th of a second

Things started normal enough…

… but perhaps because she seemed more interested in taking a sip of water than with what was going on behind her…

…she ended up with an unceremonious flipper to the face on the dismount. We encountered these two questionable love-birds in an inland cove on the island of Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands.
Top photo: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second
Middle photo: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 110mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second
Bottom photo: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 140mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/125 of a second

I usually don’t like to post photos that show the hand of man, but every now and again I make an exception. Thus is the case today with these two yin and yang hummingbirds. They are both velvet-purple coronets and they were hanging around a feeder near our cloud forest lodge in Ecuador, along with several other species of hummingbird.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash

Time to show the invertebrates a little love. I spotted this cool little weevil beetle while hiking in the cloud forest of Ecuador. Not sure of the exact species, but always nice to be able to use natural light in combination with my macro lens (more often than not, I’m using the macro to photograph frogs and other small creatures at night).
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 1600, f/4.5 at 1/50th of a second