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

On my recent business trip to Los Angeles, I was able to get out to the desert for a day over the weekend. The ocotillo cactus were blooming and showing their bright red tips. Native to our Southwestern deserts, ocotillo can bloom during spring, summer and sometimes fall, usually after a good rainfall. The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds and carpenter bees.
Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 400, f/22 at 1/160th of a second

I suppose I should have posted this on Friday, but better a day late than never. Rabbits are perhaps the most visible mammal that I encounter on my visits to wild, and not so wild places around the country. I literally see them everywhere. This particular cottontail was photographed in Badlands National Park early one spring several years ago. Happy Easter everyone.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second

This sea otter didn’t seem to want to have its picture taken. I was in Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California (just north of Monterey), one of the best places in the country to see these furry sea mammals. It’s also a great place for harbor seals and sea lions.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second

Yesterday I posted a cormorant up on the cliffs at El Matador State Beach in Malibu. Here’s a shot from down below at the water line. You can actually see two more cormorants perched on the distant rock to the right. I used a tripod and a two second exposure to blur the movement of the incoming waves as they circled the foreground rocks.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 50, f/20 at 2 seconds

Here’s one from this past week in California. I was in L.A. for work but was able to sneak out for a few hours here and there, including this quick trip up to El Matador State Beach in Malibu. This is a very popular spot and, at times, difficult to photograph because of all the people. That being said, it is also most likely the reason that this Brandt’s cormorant had no apparent fear of me. I was able to photograph it from about a foot away with the fisheye, capturing the beach and sunset in the background.
Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 200, f/22 at 1/200th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash unit

I’m currently in Los Angeles for work, but had a free day on Saturday so headed to the desert in search of wildlife, wildflowers and everything else I love about the California desert. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite have the luck that I did about a year ago when I captured this black tailed jackrabbit on an unusually hot day — even for the desert — in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second