I’ve only seen kinkajou a couple of times and only once was I able to get decent photos. I think this guy gave me a little extra time to grab the shot because he didn’t want to leave that giant white fruit. I was spotlighting on my own around my lodge in Pavones, Costa Rica. It can be difficult to shine a headlamp on your subject so that you can gain focus and then fire off you remote flash units, but I had just enough time to get it done. I got a series of shots, maybe four or five before the kinkajou moved on to other nightly delicacies. On a side note, kinkajou might be me favorite animal name.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 150mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second

This tadpole was fresh from the water. It’s an hourglass tree frog, also known as the pantless tree frog (I think I like the latter name better). I spotted the little guy on a night hike while in Pavones, Costa Rica.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) and Canon 500D close up lens attached, ISO 400, f/18 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

I’ve been in a frog kind of mood lately. And of all the tree frogs out there, none are quite as iconic as the red-eyed tree frog. I was lucky enough to see quite a few of these guys just outside of the lodge I was staying at in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. As far as tree frogs go, the red-eyed is pretty large. And obviously, spectacularly adorned with all that color. This guy was calling for a mate just after nightfall.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 116mm) with Canon 500D close up filter, ISO 400, f/20 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

Here’s another northern tamandua from Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. These guys are a medium-sized anteater with a prehensile tail. Unlike giant anteaters, tamanduas climb trees, where they spend about 40% of their time. They have a tongue that is well developed to lap up their favorite cuisine — which of course is ants — and they have an unusually long claw on both forefeet, enabling them to rip through wood to find those ants.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

Agoutis are fairly common in the rainforests of Central America. I guess you could say they are the squirrel’s of the rainforest. But although they might resemble their northern cousins, they are uniquely their own rodent. Just look at those shapely, slender legs. Squirrels can’t compete. I met this friendly agouti one morning in southern Costa Rica. He/she allowed me a few clicks of the shutter before retreating back into the forest.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/3.2 at 1/30th of a second

The tapir is the largest land mammal in Central and South America. They can weight up to 670 pounds. This one — a Baird’s tapir — was photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. They are usually shy of humans, but I remained very quiet on the forest floor and eventually he forgot I was even there.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 78mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/80th of a second

The common opossum isn’t necessarily going to win any beauty contests, but she does have a certain charm. I spotted this one on a solo, nocturnal hike in Pavones, Costa Rica. It’s always tough to get the shot when you need to position a light on your head just to aid in focusing, while also triggering two flashes. Luckily, the opossum stayed in one place long enough for me to do my thing. These guys are also known as the southern opossum, black-eared opossum or locally as the gamba or manicou.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-600 flash units

I was on a solo hike in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park when something told me there were coatis behind the roots of a fig tree…
I quietly got into position. And I think the coatis ended up being more surprised to see me.
Top photo: Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 150mm) ISO 1600, f/3.2 at 1/1000th of a second
Bottom photo: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 26mm) ISO 1600, f/4.5 at 1/200th of a second

It’s been awhile since I posted an insect of any kind, let alone a spider. This rather large specimen is a tropical orb weaver spider (her abdomen seemed to be about an inch or more in diameter). She appears to be floating in air, but that’s just because the shallow depth of field from my lens has thrown the strands of spider silk out of focus. This was actually shot at night with a dual flash set up, although the greenish background (out of focus foliage) gives it a bit of a daytime appearance. I was on a spotlighting hike through Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units

There seems to be some confusion surrounding the classification of brockets in Central and South America. They are a species (or several species as the case may be) of rainforest deer that range throughout much of southern Central America and down through the northern half of South America. This subspecies (or not) is the Central American red brocket, photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. They are mostly solitary creatures, preferring dense jungle habitat, and they forage on vegetation and fruits when available.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/50th of a second