The American avocet is a very graceful bird, with longs legs and a thin, delicate beak. I came across this particular bird late one afternoon in Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in north central Colorado. It was feeding in a shallow swampy area, providing a nice opportunity for reflections.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/320th of a second
I’m not sure of the exact species of this handsome little guy, but I photographed him/her while in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge last week. From a bit of research, I think it might be the great plains toad. Regardless, I’ve always been a big fan of toads. Not quite to the stature of a proper frog, but with an admirable underdog quality about them.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/4000th of a second
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my next big trip. I’ll be going back to Australia in early November. This time to Tasmania. It’s been almost ten years since my first visit to the country — my inaugural journey with a digital camera. At the time, I was shooting with a Nikon D200 and a manual-focus 600mm lens. It will be nice to have a second chance at kangaroos and all the other marsupials and monotremes with updated equipment and a more experienced eye. The above photo was taken on Kangaroo Island on that first visit — a young, aptly named, Kangaroo Island kangaroo, which is a subspecies of the western grey kangaroo. If anyone has been to Tasmania and has any advice, especially concerning wildlife, it would be good to hear from you. Thanks.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second
I’m always reluctant to post birds because I know I have a lot of subscribers who much prefer the fur to the feather. In fact, I’m traditionally a fur over feather type myself, but lately, I’ve really been embracing the birds. This is a shot I took a couple of years ago just after a client meeting in Orrville, Ohio. After the meetings wrapped I headed north to Cuyahoga Valley National Park where I captured this red-bellied woodpecker amidst the red of autumn oak leaves.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
Here’s another one from last weekend in Colorado. In this photo I wanted to show a bit of the alpine tundra and late summer wildflowers that blanket the ground at higher elevations where mountain goats roam.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/14 at 1/160th of a second
Here’s another one from last weekend at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near downtown Denver. Nothing special here. Just a regular old cottontail. But an angry regular old cottontail. And that’s the best kind of cottontail.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
This one goes out to my little friend Jackson who I met this weekend in Denver. Jackson likes penguins. This is a king penguin and her chick (lots of mothers and babies this week). The chick is prodding the mom to regurgitate food. You can see all the feathers on the ground from all the other molting chicks (under all that brown, the feathers are actually white). I like how the chicks look almost bigger than the full grown adults.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 140mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/160th of a second
Just east of downtown Denver is the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge — almost 16,000 acres of spectacular mixed prairie, wetland and woodland habitat that used to be a United States Army chemical weapons manufacturing facility. Following a costly environmental clean up program, it’s amazing that a site that was once contaminated with deadly pollutants is now home to thriving wildlife populations, including bison, coyote, owls, pelicans and both white tailed and mule deer. I photographed this mule deer mother and her fawn early Monday morning, just as the sun began to rise.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/3200th of a second
Just back from a long weekend in Colorado visiting friends. Of course, I also took my cameras and had the opportunity to get to a few of my old hotspots. These goats were photographed at Mount Evans, the highest paved road in North America — and one of the best places in the country to see mountain goats. You can see clouds down below in the background. More on these guys in future posts when I have time to process all the shots.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/3.2 at 1/2000th of a second
The maned wolf is graceful and yet a bit awkward at the same time. Often referred to as a fox on stilt, they are native to the central portion of South America — mainly in Brazil, where I photographed this one. They are mostly nocturnal and I used a dual flash setup and a ground level perspective to capture this image at night.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 200, f/8 at 1/60th of a second