Here are a couple of photos of purple sea stars to close out Prince week (apologies to the purple honeycreeper who will have to wait until the next purple week). These guys are also called ochre sea stars, and as you can see, they aren’t always purple — some have a bright orange coloring while others are different combinations of the two colors. Like the sea urchins I posted earlier in the week, they were photographed in Olympic National Park in Washington.
Top Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 25 seconds
Bottom Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 6 seconds

I don’t post many flowers, but seeing as it’s day four of Prince week, and I photographed these purple harebell flowers in Minnesota, it seemed only appropriate. I was on my way back to Minneapolis after photographing black bears in the northern part of the state, when I stopped for a short hike. I didn’t see any wildlife on that hike, but did see quite a few spring flowers.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second

For day three of Prince week we have the purple gallinule. The purple gallinule is a swamp hen in the rail family. They breed along the southeastern United States and tropical regions of Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. I captured this one on a walk along Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park in Florida.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 320, f/4.5 at 1/400th of a second

For day two of Prince week, we have the purple sea urchin. These guys live near the shoreline in the Pacific Ocean from Ensenada, Mexico up to British Columbia in Canada. This shot was taken in Olympic National Park in Washington. Interesting fact of the day: purple sea urchins are important in biochemical research, because believe it or not, even though they lack a head structure, they share 7,700 genes with humans. Many of those shared genes are involved in sensing the environment. Oddly enough, they also have almost the same life expectancy as humans at just over 70 years.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/400th of a second

They’re common, I know, but I still love to photograph raccoons when they are cooperative enough to pose for a shot. This one was photographed in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

Pelicans are always fun to shoot, especially in flight. I got out to La Jolla on a recent business trip to San Diego and spent a morning watching them coming and going on the steep cliffs on the north edge of town. This guy was obviously coming in for a landing after a flight out to sea.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second

I like to shoot at landscape locations well after the sun has set. Especially when there is water and clouds to record with a slow exposure — this one being 13 seconds. Another great thing about sticking it out is that all the other photographers leave. El Matador is such a popular location that it can be difficult to get photos in the best spots.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 13 seconds

Sandy Stream Pond sits at the base of Mount Katahdin in Maine’s Baxster State Park. It’s a great place to spot moose grazing in the shallow water. They love the nutrient-rich grasses that grown on the bottom of the pond. This cow had just surfaced with a mouth full of the good stuff.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second

Black foxes, also know as a silver fox, are actually just a color variant of the red fox. They are said to make up about 8% of the red fox population. I found this one at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, scurrying around amongst the alpine wildflowers just before the sun went down.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second