This elephant was reaching to the top shelf for a little something to eat. Photo taken in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second

This one goes out to my young friend Rourke (rumor has it that Rourke is a big fan of the hippos). This rather rotund specimen was none too happy with my close approach. In Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, it’s possible to explore parts of the park on foot and I was at river’s edge with my guide for a few quick shots before quickly getting back to the relative safety of higher ground. Hippos have a well earned reputation for being among the most dangerous creatures on the continent and the last thing I wanted to do was get their attention.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second

I photographed these two African grey parrots in a city park in Entebbe (which is one of the largest cities in Uganda). These parrots are prized as pets because of their incredible ability to mimic human speech. Unfortunately, they are listed as vulnerable in the wild due to harvesting for the pet trade.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/640th of a second

This baby mountain gorilla was photographed in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southern Uganda. Mountain gorillas are a critically endangered species and are barely hanging on in the wild. At the time of my visit in 2009, there were only an estimated 700 left throughout their range in Uganda, the Congo and Rwanda, but the most recent data from 2012 shows a slightly more optimistic figure of 950. Perhaps conservation efforts are starting to pay off and the numbers are on the rise. I certainly hope so as I would love to go back to this place some day.
Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/50th of a second

Grey crowned cranes are fairly widespread throughout Africa but still a prized sighting. I saw these two while driving through the local villages and farmlands of southern Uganda. The crowned crane, locally called the crested crane, is the national bird of Uganda and appears on the flag.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/200th of a second

When I went trecking for chimpanzees in Uganda, getting good photos proved more difficult than I had thought. More often than not, the chimps were high in the canopy of very large trees, with a bright white sky as a backdrop. That being said, I was able to get a few decent shots. I kind of liked the way that in this particular shot, the fig eating chimpanzee is emerging out of that field of black that dissects the composition.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second

This one is from Kibale National Park in Uganda. I saw thirteen different species of primates on that trip, including this red-tailed monkey. Wish I had a little bit better lighting conditions, but I did the best I could given the situation and the bright sky in the background. I don’t know much about these monkeys, other than the fact that they have red tails and they were featured in the popular BBC youtube series, Funny Talking Animals — Walk on he Wild Side (click here).
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm), ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

Chimpanzees can be difficult to photograph in the wild. They spend most of their time high in the canopy set against the bright white backdrop of the sky. After several days trying to get decent shots, I finally came upon a troop closer to the ground. This female saw me through the opening in the tree before scampering off to higher ground.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/100th of a second

When I was going through my gorilla shots last night, I came across this image of a black and white colobus monkey that I had originally overlooked. I like shots like this that show a lot of the animal’s environment — in this case a giant tree in Kibale National Park. Kibale is well known for its primates and is home to thirteen different species, including chimpanzees.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

This is an old one that has yet to be posted to the blog. It’s from my gorilla and chimp tracking trip to Uganda back in March of 2009. At times it was very difficult to get clean looks at the gorillas in the thick forest, but all the foliage also provided nice framing when a gorilla’s head suddenly popped into a clearing. This guy was staring up at a silverback who was high in a tree.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second (-1/3 stop ev)