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
Must be tough being a penguin and getting an itch on the side of your face. This little guy was doing his best to take care of the situation when we floated by. The location was Tagas Cove, on Isabella Island.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/1250th of a second
Here’s another look at a Sally Lightfoot crab — this one on Santiago Island. These bright orange and blue crabs create quite the contrast against the black volcanic rock of the Galapagos Islands.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/800th of a second
I saw several of these tiny rain frogs while hiking at night in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. On this particular evening, a steady mist was falling, making all the frogs quite content.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 200, f/14 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
Here’s another marine iguana from the Galapagos Islands. This photo was taken on La Fe, a tiny little place that we visited as a day trip while staying at a camp on the nearby, larger island of Santa Cruz. This was a great little excursion, as we had the island completely to ourselves. As I mentioned in an earlier post — although marine iguanas are present on virtually every island in the Galapagos archipelago, they have evolved slightly differently on each. On La Fe, they definitely had more of an orange appearance to their skin. This one looks like it’s the only individual around, but they were virtually all over the place, draped lazily over the volcanic rocks that fringed the island.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/1000th of a second
This one goes out to young Sophie Muller who requested some underwater action. We swam with these playful sea lions off the coast of Rabida Island in the Galapagos Islands. The underwater world in this location was much different than the other spots that we snorkeled. Absent was all the coral and the sea grass covered rocks. Instead, it was all turquoise water and red sand.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/9 at 1/400th of a second, Ikelite Housing and 8 inch dome port
I’m still waiting to hear about my eleven finalists in this year’s Nature’s Best/Smithsonian photo competition, but below are a few recent winners in other contests. Most you’ve probably seen before, but perhaps a few you haven’t.
The above image of bat eared fox pups that appear to share one furry body continues to do well for me. It will appear in the 2013 Africa Geographic Calendar and it also just placed in the National Wildlife Federation photo contest. Still not sure of where it placed — I’ll know come November.
The above two images placed in the top 100 in this year’s North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) Showcase Competition.
And the above three placed in the top 250 in the NANPA Competition.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/11 at 1/15th of a second
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 175mm) !SO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 82mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second
These four photos have all been posted before, but I thought I’d share them again as they were all finalists this year in the BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year competition. Unfortunately, none of them made the final cut, but still a nice honor to have four make it as far as they did in what is generally considered the world’s most prestigious photography competition for wildlife. The sea lion was a finalist in the “Art in Nature” category. The Lake Granby shot was in the “Wild Spaces” category. The maned wolf was in the “Endangered Species” category. And the leaf insect was in the “Animal Portraits” category.
I had a request for an underwater shot today. Hope this fits the bill — it’s at least a third under water. The subject is a starfish that was photographed on Rabida Island in the Galapagos Islands. Rabida is known for its characteristic red sandy beach, quite different from most of the rest of the Galapagos Islands. There were also quite a few sea lions at this location and you can see one up to the left there on the beach.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/18 at 1/200th of a second