Here’s another one from the American west. This time South Dakota’s Badlands. The sun had long since set, but there was still just a bit of light in the sky when I came upon this bison on the horizon. There wasn’t enough light, however, for a silhouette, so I used flash to illuminate the bison and the foreground grass, while exposing for the night time sky. I used a very high ISO and slow shutter. If I hadn’t, the background would have been black.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 6400, f/2.8 at 1/13th of a second.

I like slowing the shutter speed down every now and again and panning to get more of an abstract look — especially when trying to convey motion. For this shot, I went even slower than usual at only 1/10th of a second. As I’ve mentioned before, pronghorn are second only to the cheetah as the fastest land mammal in the world. This herd of them was photographed last fall in Yellowstone National Park.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/10th of a second

Sea otters are most commonly spotted while in the water, but occasionally I have been able to photograph them while on land. This one was resting at the shoreline early in the morning and I was able to get a few close up portraits, highlighting the thick fur coat.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/800th of a second

These two mountain goat kids had been playing with each other for quite a while, unmindful of any adult supervision. Eventually, they looked up to see that mom and company had moved further up the mountain. I caught them hurrying to catch up as the sun dipped below the clouds near the top of Mount Evans in Colorado last summer.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 32mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second

This little black bear cub stopped to give himself a quick cleaning before continuing up the tree. As I’ve mentioned before, black bears can either be black, blonde, or cinnamon (like this guy), and many shades in-between.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/640th of a second

The Carolina anole is one of those animals — and there are lots of them — that goes by more than one name, including, in this case, the green anole, American anole and red-throated anole. It is also sometimes called the American chameleon, which is odd because it isn’t a chameleon at all, but it does have the chameleon-like ability to change colors. And in this shot, the little guy is giving me a chameleon-like stare down. This is another one from Fourth of July weekend down in Florida, this time at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second

Now that my mother has moved from Gloucester, Massachusetts down to Bonita Springs, Florida, I’ll be searching for spoonbills and gators when I go home for a visit rather than snowy owls and moose. This one was taken this past weekend out on Sanibel Island at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Odd name, but a great place for all kinds of birds, including roseate spoonbills and white ibis.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/2000th of a second

You don’t have to go far to see wildlife at Yellowstone. This bull elk greeted us before we even entered the park, just as the morning light was beginning to illuminate the higher peaks.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 800, f/3.5 at 1/400th of a second

The American marten is a weasel of the mustelid family and often times referred to as the pine marten. It is similar to the fisher, although smaller and lighter in color. This one was running around in the snow just outside of the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/800th of a second