Here’s another look at the white wallaby with brown joey that I got to know on Bruny Island in Tasmania. In this shot, the joey had just crawled out of the mother’s pouch. You can see that the joey does have quite a bit of white coloration on the stomach, no doubt inherited from mom. I took this photo about fifty yards from the accommodation I was staying at (Inala Cottage). I was able to spend a lot of time with the wallabies so they were quite comfortable with my presence and I was able to get a few intimate shots like this one.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second

As I mentioned in a previous post, the landscape of Tasmania is extremely diverse — especially for an island that’s only about the size of Georgia or West Virginia. These two photos were taken at Cradle Mountain National Park in the north central mountains. The top shot is a boardwalk along the Waterfalls Walk. The entire track is boardwalk and leads to two waterfalls. The bottom shot is a river along a track appropriately called The Enchanted Walk. Both photos highlight the mossy forest typical of Cradle Mountain. It feels as if dwarves and elves might be hiding just around the corner.
Top Photo: Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 1 second
Bottom Photo: Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 64, f/20 at 5 seconds

More Tasmania. I can’t help it. It really was a great trip. In this photo, it appears as if these two forester kangaroos have come to some sort of a mutual agreement and have just closed a deal. I love photographing kangaroos because they have so much personality and you never know what they might do next. This is another one from Narawntapu National Park on the northern coast.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second

Much like the magnificent frigatebird and the resplendent quetzal, the superb fairy wren is a rather immodestly named bird. You can see why, however, with its bright blue feathers and upright tail. It is actually a fairly common bird in many parts of Australia but still a treat to see and photograph. I encountered this one in Narawntapu National Park on the northern coast of Tasmania.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/4000th of a second

I took many pictures of wombats on my trip to Tasmania. Many of those shots were taken with my fisheye and wide angle lenses, showing the wombat in its environment. Others were taken with the sun’s rays spilling over the horizon with beautifully colored clouds in the background. But with an animal as endearing as a wombat, sometimes a simple, straightforward portrait is all it takes.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

A Bennett’s wallaby joey taking a peak at the world from the comfort of mama’s pouch. You might remember the white wallaby I posted recently. This is the same species in the more common brown color.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second

I saw quite a few waterfalls while in Tasmania. Most of them I hiked to in the middle of the day when the sun was high in the sky and conditions weren’t very conducive to photography. This waterfall, however, called Pencil Pine Falls, I was able to photograph early in the morning. It was easily accessible via a short walk from the visitors center at the entrance to Cradle Mountain National Park in the central mountains of Tasmania.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 100, f/18 at 5 seconds

There are over fifty different species of macropod that occur in Australia and neighboring New Guinea. Macropods include kangaroos, wallabies and similar large-footed hopping marsupials. Of those, only five occur in Tasmania — the forester kangaroo, Bennett’s wallaby, bettong, potoroo and this guy, the Tasmanian pademelon. Pademelons are smaller than wallabies, which are themselves smaller than kangaroos. This baby pademelon was very small, only about a foot tall. I liked the way that it kind of looked furious that I was taking its picture. Pademelons are solitary and nocturnal and it was just before sunrise when I took this photo.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second

I posted an eastern quoll a few weeks ago. This is a spotted tail quoll, the other quoll that lives in Tasmania. I took this one at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary just outside of Hobart.

The platypus is a very hard creature to photograph. First, they are quite rare. Second, they scare very easily. But the most difficult thing about them is that they are almost always spotted on the surface of water. Sometimes very reflective water. I always like to get the camera on the ground to get eye level shots of smaller creatures, but in the case of the platypus, that makes it very difficult to see the majority of the body. Still that’s what I did for this shot. I also got plenty of shots from a higher angle, where you can see more of the platypus. I’ll post those shots soon, but for now, I kind of liked this angle of this most unique creature. As I’ve mentioned the last couple of days, WordPress is really killing my images by softening them after I post. Please click on the image to see the full resolution, and much crisper focus.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second