It’s been a few years since I’ve posted one of these beauties — truly one of the most interesting looking, shall we say, creatures on the planet. At least the female is spared the potato looking nose. I saw quite a few of these guys hanging out in trees along river banks in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo, Indonesia.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second

The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant. Still, at 4 tons and 21 feet long, they aren’t exactly petite. This individual was a working elephant, used by the mahouts in Sumatra, Indonesia, as a means of transportation through the jungle. I was able to photograph them while they were playing in the river and getting one of their daily baths.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 25mm) ISO 400, f/11 at 1/400th of a second

This Asian elephant was enjoying a mid-day dip in a river near Tangkahan National Park in Sumatra. These elephants are the largest land mammals in southeast Asia, although still not quite as big as the African bush elephants.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second

It’s been awhile since I posted an orangutan, so here’s a double shot of two of them — a mother and her baby from Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesia. Both photos were shot wide angle at 17mm (I just backed up a bit for the first) so you can see how comfortable they were with my presence.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/250th of a second

I’ve posted a few shots of this guy before, sometimes referred to as the Sulawesi dwarf cuscus and sometimes the small Sulawesi cuscus. The point is, it’s small, it’s a cuscus and it’s from Sulawesi. This photo shows the opposable claws — the three on the left that oppose the two on the right and enable the cuscus a firm grip while climbing trees.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/50th of a second

Ugly, yes. Charming, definitely. But you’ll have to take my word on the charming part. These guys are sort of the garbage collectors of the rainforest. They follow orangutans around and collect the food scraps that the red ape’s toss aside. If was fun to watch them, in all their ungainly charisma, as they fumbled their way through the forest. And that beard. Just spectacular.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 190mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second

This black-crested macaque seemed to be posing for me as I snapped away. I’ve posted many shots of these monkeys before and as you can see, they can be very human looking at times. Photographed in Tangkoko National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 75mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second

Also known as the crab-eating macaque, these monkeys have a long history of living alongside humans. In the past, they’ve been seen as both pests, and as sacred. They are now best known for their role in medical research. I met this young macaque just outside my bungalow while staying in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo, Indonesia. My next post will be next Wednesday as I’ll be taking a long weekend to go visit family.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second

I met this mother orangutan and her baby on my trip to Borneo back in 2009. Within Tanjung Puting National Park, there are several former research centers so even though the orangutans are wild, they are used to human presence and quite habituated. Frame filling shots like this were relatively easy.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/7.1 at 1/80th of a second

I met this Asian palm civet late one night while wandering around outside of a small village in Sumatra. I have no good reason as to why I was wandering around in the dark outside of a small village in Sumatra, other than the fact that I was hoping to meet creatures like this Asian palm civet. Civets are sort of the raccoons of Sumatra (and many other regions of southeast Asia) although they aren’t related at all. Spotlighting alone is always a challenge, as I have to shine the light from my headlamp on the subject in order to gain focus, while working with flashes to light the subject. Luckily, this guy stayed around just long enough for me to get a few shots.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 500, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, two SB-900 flash units