The white-necked jacobin (also known as the great jacobin or the collared hummingbird) was just one of the many beautiful hummingbirds that I saw while in Trinidad at the Asa Wright Nature Center. This is the male of the species. The females are more uniformly green. A hummingbird’s wings can flap at up to 80 times per second, so I used a reduced flash setting to help freeze the action, with only slight ghosting of the wingtips from ambient light.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 500, f/11 at 1/250th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units at 1/16th power

This is the tufted coquette, my new favorite bird. I figured I’d post two shots — one in flight and one perched because this tiny hummingbird seems to take on somewhat of a different appearance while doing different things. The tufted coquette is one of the smallest birds in the world at only two and a half inches. It is often mistaken for a large bee as it moves quickly from flower to flower. I took these two shots at the Asa Wright Nature Center in the northern mountains of Trinidad.
Top Shot — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/11 at 1/250th of a second, two Nikon SB900 flash units set manually to 1/16th power
Botton Shot — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/250th of a second

The following is a photo essay that I wrote a few years back celebrating the diverse, yet universal nature of motherhood. Click on the photo to open the article in a new browser window (might take a few seconds) or right click to download as a pdf. And all those mothers out there, especially my own, have a great day on Sunday.

Some of you know my friend Shardae. She comments a lot on this blog. She also alters my photos from time to time and posts them to her Tumblr blog. Today’s effort I found particularly amusing (posted below). To see more of her “alterations” click this link. All but the puppy were originally posted here.

Another friend of mine, Justin, has a different approach. He koala bombs my photos. What’s a koala bomb, you ask? See the second photo below, and check out many more at this link.

Last week I posted a landscape shot from Mount Rainier in late summer when the high alpine wildflowers were still in peak bloom. Here’s a tighter shot from that same trip of a red fox in amongst the flowers. It was getting pretty dark by the time I took this photo (well past sunset). I used a very slow shutter speed when the fox stopped moving for a few seconds.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/15th of a second

As many of you know, my day job is as a creative director for a New York advertising agency. One of my accounts is the National Park Service. Today is the launch of our new campaign “Find Your Park,” which will help to redefine what a Park can be — not only places of unspoiled natural beauty where furry beasts like to roam, but also places of historical significance, places of recreation, places of remembrance and more. I, of course, prefer the unspoiled-natural-beauty parks. One of my favorites being Mount Rainier in Washington state. If interested you can watch a commercial that sums up the campaign at this link (you might recognize some of the photos from previous posts to this blog). Or you can check out the campaign website at findyourpark.com.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 1/25th of a second

This upland goose was minding his business as he walked along the shoreline with his goslings on Carcass Island in the Falklands…
Then, suddenly a kelp goose (all white) came out of nowhere and went after the goslings. Dad quickly squared off as the youngsters ran to safety with Mom (you can see the last two goslings to the right of frame)…
Dad made a nice move to the right of the kelp goose…
Then applied a few quick jabs to the midsection…
The kelp goose was overmatched and fled the scene…
Order restored, Dad joined Mom and the kids to continue on their way.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 400, f/14 at various shutter speeds of 1/400th of a second to 1/800th of a second

When it comes to kicking back and taking it easy, southern elephant seals are skilled practitioners of the art. Their big, blubberous bodies were lazily strewn across the beach and bay of Sea Lion Island in the Falklands. Early one morning, I caught these two juvenile seals doing their best to do nothing in a shallow inlet.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/250th of a second

This southern sea lion wasn’t quite buying what I was selling. Still, he posed for a few quick shots before taking his business elsewhere. I was hiking along a remote coastline on Carcass Island in the Falklands where these sea lions are usually pretty timid. I had to be very still while photographing this large male. The males, as I mentioned in a previous post, really live up to their name with that mane of thick lion-like hair.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) f/6.3 at 1/800th of a second