This Sulawesi dwarf cuscus was a challenge to photograph due to the mixed lighting conditions of the deep shadows caused by the thick foliage and the bright highlights caused by the rising sun. For this particular image, I set my camera to expose for the bright areas and waited for the cuscus to pop its head into the light. These guys are pretty rare and only exist on a few islands in Indonesia. I was lucky to see this one. Cuscus are marsupials and are a type of possum.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second
I just found out that the following seven images were selected for inclusion in this year’s North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) award showcase. A total of 100 images are selected each year. All seven will appear in the Showcase print book and will be featured at the 2013 Nature Photography Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. I’ve previously posted all these photos before, but thought I’d get them up here on the blog again.
Bat Eared Fox Pups, Masai Mara, Kenya
Polar Bear and Sunrise, Seal River, Manitoba, Canada
Orangutan Mother and Newborn, Indonesian Borneo
Yacaré Caiman, Pantanal, Brazil
Red Lechwe, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Mountain Gorilla Mother and Baby, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
Orangutan Pointing at my Head, Indonesian Borneo
When it’s getting late and I’m too tired to search through my files for a photo of the day, I can always count on an orangutan. In this case two of them. These guys were swinging through the jungle in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo.
This will be my last post for two weeks as I head out on vacation this weekend (a non-wildlife trip for the first time in a while — island hopping in Croatia — but I’ll still try and bring back some interesting shots).
As for the ever popular creature above, I posted a similar shot with a tighter crop of this tarsier a while ago, but I think I like this wider crop and lighting better. This is one of the shots that I took with a long exposure to use ambient light and the light of the moon, rather than flash (the tarsier was still just long enough to get the shot). Enjoy, and check back in a couple of weeks.
I’ve posted several pictures of black crested macaques in the past. Here’s yet another shot of these amazing monkeys. They are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) which is the worldwide authority on the status of all species. They live in the same forests of northern Sulawesi, Indonesia as the tarsiers that I often post. The macaques rule by day and the tarsiers take over at night.
When it gets late at night and I’m tired and I haven’t posted the photo of the day yet, I can always count on an orangutan. I remember being impressed by this young lady’s well combed hair — and that’s about all I have to say. Enjoy.
Okay, I know I just posted a spectral tarsier last week, but I saw this photo and… well, look at those lips on that little guy. Again, this is the mother and her baby. In last week’s shot, the mom was carrying the baby tucked under her arm. In this shot she has the baby in her mouth.
Tarsiers babies aren’t all that much smaller than their parents when they are born. The mother will often carry the baby in her mouth, or tucked under her arm — as is the case in this photo. The mom will find a safe place, leave her baby there, and then go hunting for grasshoppers and other insects.
For all you orangutan fans out there, here’s another quick break from the Kenyan action. This young guy was one of the very human-friendly orangutans living in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo.
Again, I offer up one of nature’s truly handsome creatures — this time a little more of a close up so you can really appreciate that face. The male proboscis monkey is also known as the Dutch monkey, or simply Dutchman, as the native Borneans felt that with the large nose and belly, the monkeys looked an awful lot like the Dutch colonizers.
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This Sulawesi dwarf cuscus was a challenge to photograph due to the mixed lighting conditions of the deep shadows caused by the thick foliage and the bright highlights caused by the rising sun. For this particular image, I set my camera to expose for the bright areas and waited for the cuscus to pop its head into the light. These guys are pretty rare and only exist on a few islands in Indonesia. I was lucky to see this one. Cuscus are marsupials and are a type of possum.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second
