Quolls were my favorite animals from my Tasmania trip last year. I saw two species, the spotted quoll, and this guy, the eastern quoll (although, as you can see, he is also nicely spotted). Quolls are carnivorous marsupials, like Tasmanian devils, and are almost strictly nocturnal. The eastern quoll comes in two colors — a dark brown, almost black like this guy and more of a lighter beige color.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 500, f/6.3 at 1/200th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash off camera and on a tripod to my right

Here’s another photo from a Tasmanian island. This time it’s Bruny Island and the subject is a Bennett’s wallaby joey in its mother’s pouch. The joey is the normal coloration of Bennett’s wallaby whereas the mother is a rare white morph. I saw a handful of these white wallabies while on Bruny Island, always mixed in with the brown.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

The Cape Barren goose is native to southern Australia, including Tasmania. There were tons of them on Maria Island — just off the coast of Tasmania — where I photographed this one. They are a rare species of goose and rather large, weighing in at up to 16 pounds. An interesting fact about Cape Barren geese is that they have the ability to drink salt of brackish water. This allows them to stay on offshore islands throughout the year.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second

I met this spotted quoll just outside of Cradle Mountain National Park at a captive breeding center for the critically endangered Tasmanian devil. There are two species of quoll in Tasmania, the eastern and the spotted. Like devils, quolls are also carnivorous marsupials. It was getting very dark when I took the photo so I had to crank the ISO up to 6400.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 6400, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second

For this photo, I got up close to the wombat and used a fisheye lens to get as wide a view of its vast environment as I could. I also wanted to get in all those stormy clouds above the distant mountains.
Nikon D800 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

I was able to capture several shots of this white wallaby out in the open, but there was something about this particular shot of the wallaby deep in the woods that I really liked. This is a rare white morph of the Bennett’s Wallaby. Bennett’s wallabies are common on Bruny Island in Tasmania, but it’s still unusual to see anything other than the usual brown variety.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/100th of a second

While in Tasmania, I spent an afternoon driving up to Ben Lomond National Park, which is in the northeast corner of the state. The light wasn’t great, but a fisheye lens can be quite forgiving, and I was able to capture this almost aerial view of the mountainous landscape.
Nikon D800 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/800th of a second

This wombat was scurrying along as the sun hit the horizon late one afternoon. I was on Maria Island, a bit of a Noah’s Arc of Tasmanian wildlife, just off the southeast coast.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/400th of a second

Here’s another Bennett’s wallaby from my Tasmania trip. These guys are active during the day, but are even more active at night. I captured this shot well after the sun had set over Narawntapu National Park on the extreme northern coast. I used a slow shutter speed and high ISO to record the ambient light, while using a flash to freeze the wallaby.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 98mm) ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/30th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash