This lion mother and cub were part of a pride that I photographed in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. They had just come from an oryx kill and were filling up at a water hole near our camp. I like that you can clearly see the black stripes on the mother’s ears in this photo.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second
The tsessebe is a large antelope found in certain African countries, including Botswana where I photographed this one. It was early morning and a group of tsessebe were mixed in amongst zebra, foraging (and perhaps hiding) in the very long grass of the Okavango Delta.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
Of the five species of penguin that I photographed in the Falkland Islands, the macaroni was the least common (at least in the Falklands — worldwide they are the most numerous). I only saw a total of three. These two and a single penguin, both caught up in colonies of rockhopper penguins. Luckily, these macaronis were on the edge of the colony so I was able to get pretty close with my wide angle lens. As with most species of penguin, a mating pair shares the duty of sitting on the egg(s). In this shot, it almost looks like the one is ordering the other to get off the egg. They were actually in the middle of a shift change.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/2000th of a second
This one goes out to my friend Erik and all his friends back in Uganda. I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a troop of twenty three mountain gorillas in Uganda back in March of 2009. It remains one of my favorite wildlife encounters and I’d love to get back some day, either to Bwindi in Uganda, or to Rwanda. I was struck by the gentleness and familiarity of these giant apes, displayed here by this female in a very human pose.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second
This one goes out to my little sister Mo on her birthday today. Mo’s been a big fan of frogs since we were little kids. This particular specimen is a white-lipped tree frog. We had the pleasure of meeting in Daintree National Park in Queensland, Australia back in November of 2006. Hope you like it Mo. Very Kermit like. Happy Birthday.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) with Canon 500D close up filter, ISO 200, f/16 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units
Here’s another rare, non-nature shot (I need to shoot something between trips and the wildlife is hard to come by in my neighborhood whereas the cityscapes are not). This was taken in Brooklyn Bridge Park, looking toward New Jersey.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 2.5 seconds
These are male golden-headed manakins that I came across at a lek early one morning in Trinidad at the Asa Wright Nature Center. Manakins are sometimes called Michael Jackson birds because of their courtship display — it resembles the moonwalk as they slide forward and then backwards on their perches.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second
Pademelons are a very small marsupial related to both wallabies and kangaroos. Seeing one bouncing through the forest almost looks like a large rabbit. This mother and her joey emerged from the forest at the end of the day to forage on the open lawns of Lamington National Park in Queensland Australia.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second
This is one of those that you might have had to be there to appreciate. I was in Carrizo Plain, a large desert-like grassland about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. I had been in search of the elusive kit fox and having no luck. Suddenly the sky lit up with this colorful cloud formation, providing at least something to photograph before calling it a night.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/6400th of a second
With all the hummingbirds that I saw at the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad, you’d think I’d see a few nests around, but this was the only one that I could find. Sitting inside is a copper rumped hummingbird. She was flying back and forth, collecting material to reinforce the nest.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second