India - "Into the Spotlight" -Bengal Tiger - This Tigress literally walked right to this spotlight of evening sun as it filtered through the trees.
India - "Morning Walk" - Gray Langur - The backlighting of this image really pops against the shaded background.
India - "A Quick Glance Up" - Bengal Tiger - Eye contact can really make or break a shot like this. Lucky for me this male tiger gave me a quick look as he walked right at us.
India - " Two of a Kind" - White-crested Laughingthrush - These stunning birds were some of our favorites in India.
India - "Woody" - Lesser Yellow-nape Woodpecker - Woodpeckers are some of the most striking species in the bird world and this one is no exception.
India - "On the Stalk" - Bengal Tiger - This young female is making a stalk on a young spotted deer. In the end she was unsuccessful but still thrilling to see!
India - "Dinner for the Kids" - Brown Dipper - This Dipper had a nest stashed in the rocks at the edge of this river. We got to spend time watching as it brought food to its young, mostly invertebrates. It was lucky indeed when it brought in this minnow!
India - "The Snarl" - Bengal Tiger - This Tiger was making a face at the ranger who was passing closely on the back of an elephant. Yes... they still do that in India!!!
India - "What a Stunner" - Himalayan Monal - This was the bird that inspired our pre trip to the Tibetan plateau for birds on this trip to India!
India - "Among the Jagged Peaks' _ Himalayan Tahr - Looking down from it's rocky perch is a Himalayan Tahr a type of goat that lives in the mountains.
India- "A Pretty Perch" - Himalayan Monal - We were lucky to have some snow during our visit to the Himalayas. This motivated the Monals who usually spend most o their time on the ground to roost up in the beautiful moss covered trees
Yellowstone - " Relocating" - Bison - Bison herds are always on the move - even more so in the winter when they are on a constant search for accessible grazing.
Yellowstone - " Takeoff" - Red Fox - Fox were everywhere in the park this last year. We spent a good amount of time taking photographic advantage of this bounty of stunning subjects.
Yellowstone - " Takeoff" - Red Fox - Here is the end of that pounce. Fox jump up and push through the snow to catch voles as they scurry about beneath the cover of the snowpack.
Yellowstone - "Old Man Winter" - Bison - The Bison often hangout around the thermals where they can stay warm and food is more accessible. This makes for some beautiful frosty subjects on especially cold days.
A coyote with Red Fox
Tanzania - "First Light" - African Lion - This handsome fellow was quietly watching the sun as it just broke over the Eastern horizon. Making for some very magical light! But as you all will see from the exposure information below what I call a "Hail Mary Exposure".
Tanzania - "Good Morning World" - Leopard Cub – On our last day we were given a very special treat! This young (3–4-month-old) Leopard cub spent the night about 30 feet up in a tree. He is on his way down the tree and paused for a few moments to check us out. This cub and its sibling were being raised in a cavity at the base of the tree.
Tanzania - "Four Flamingos Fluffing Feathers" - Lesser Flamingoes – DM – A group of flamingoes is of course called a flamboyance? Well of course it is! These four were part of a group of a few hundred on the lake this morning. Beautiful light with nearly dead calm winds provided for a great opportunity with these beautiful birds. DM - Digitally Manipulated Image – I cloned out some very distracting air bubbles from the surface of the water.
Tanzania - "I Can Totally See You Behind that Camera" - Leopard - We spent an amazing hour with this young male leopard. We watched him ride out a thunderstorm with 60 MPH wind twenty feet up in a tree and then come down and hunt a steinbock (unsuccessfully). After the failed hunt he came over and had a "studio session" with us on this log for quite a while.
Tanzania - “Strange Hunting Buddies” - European Roller and Black-shouldered Kite – On the great rolling plains of the African savannah a good perch from which to hunt can be a hard thing to find. Sometimes you have to share! In this case this probably works because these two don’t actually compete. The roller eats insects, and the Kite dines mostly on rodents and reptiles.
Tanzania - “A Walk Along the Beach” – African Lion – This is the same Lion as the image above. After he enjoyed the sunrise, he got up and walked about a half a mile along the shores of a lake. We were able to position the vehicle directly in front of his path and let him walk right toward the camera, shooting from the window provided a nice low angle we were able to reposition a number of times for different backgrounds and a total of 548 images of a lion walking directly at us!
Costa Rica- "Icon of the Jungle" - Red-eyed Treefrog - It is so much fun to go out at night and find these flashy frogs around the ponds.
Costa Rica - "Golden-browed Chlorophonia - This is one of the most beautiful birds that we see and although we are not able to photograph it on every trip to Costa Rica it is certainly a treat when we can.
Costa Rica - "Home Building" - Resplendent Quetzal - We were able to spend a couple days watching as a pair of Quetzals built a nest in a tree near one of our lodges.
Costa Rica - "A Lifer" - Red Thighed Dacnis - While I have seen this spectacular bird a few times I have never been able to get any good shots of it. On this trip we had a fruiting tree near our room where we had a flock of birds feeding for a few days, Including this beauty.
Costa Rica - "Dancing with Death" White-necked Jacobin and Yellow Eyelash Viper - CC - Eyelash Vipers will often hang out near flowers waiting for an unsupecting hummer to come by for a sip of nectar. This Jacobin was not fooled for a second though and he danced in front of the snake as if to say "I see you!"
Botswana - “Their Eyes are Bigger than their Stomachs” – African Lions, Botswana – These are the famous Elephant hunters of the Savuti Plains in Botswana. Here there is a very large pride of Lions that are known for hunting and taking down an elephant. Amazing!
Botswana - “Stop and Smell the Flowers” – African Jacana, Botswana – Okay this bird is not really smelling the flower in fact it likely does not even have a sense of smell! It is most likely looking for a juicy bug to have for breakfast.
Botswana - “Who Goes There?” – African Lion Cub, Botswana – We spent the morning with this cub and its eight siblings/cousins. It was a lot of fun and I can tell you many images were made as these young lions played and cavorted with each other. This one took a break for a moment to watch something in the distance.
Botswana - “Breakfast on the Wing” – Black-backed Jackel and Dove, Botswana - While we were at this waterhole we did not see a successful hunt from this Jackel. It must work often enough as evidenced by all the piles of feathers around the waterhole.
Botswana - “Someone to Look Up To” – African Lion and Cub, Botswana – I think this young cub may have been having some aspirations of what he might grow into. I for one am rooting for him. To become the leader of a pride of lions is a long and hard journey and only the strongest and best make it to the top to pass on their genes to the next generation.
Brazil - “Under Mother’s Watchful Eye” – Jaguar and Cub, Brazil – This Young Jaguar does not have much to worry about in this world with such a great mother. We had the privilege of spending a half an hour with this family on this open beach along the Two-hearted River
Brazil - “An Intimate Portrait” – Toco Toucan, Brazil – The absolute riot of color on this bird is stunning. For this image I was able to slowly move in close enough to get this very tight portrait of the especially pretty bits of this amazing bird.
Brazil - “Defying Gravity” – Jaguar, Brazil – being lucky enough to have spent a fair amount of time now with Jaguars, it is always shocking to me how much they are like our domestic cats. They have the same curiosity the same playfulness and the same aloofness. It is something to see!
Brazil - “Ant Vacuum” – Tamandua, Brazil – The truth is they do not suck up the ants and termites that make up their diet. In fact, they have a very long and sticky tongue that they use to gather up their insect prey. But you must admit it made for a fun title?!?
Brazil - “Morning Stroll” – Giant Anteater, Brazil – This was such a special treat, these animals are mostly nocturnal. We go out very early in the morning in the hopes of glimpsing one on its way back to bed. As it was this was a mother, and she went and got her baby up and shared it with us as well!
Madagascar - “That Tail” – Ring-tailed Lemur, Madagascar – One of the more iconic species in Madagascar these lemurs often walk with that beautiful tail held high. This was an image that I had pre-visualized many time while in Madagascar finally the light and the background and the lemur all aligned and I was able to make the image in my head.
Madagascar - “What the Heck?!?” – Fossa, Madagascar – This unusual creature is a Fossa the largest mammalian predator on the island of Madagascar. They have a long tail used for balance as they spend much of their time in the trees. VERY cool to see!
Madagascar - “Hiding in Plain Sight” – Leaf-tailed Gecko, Madagascar – Camouflage is a defense strategy taken to a very high level with this creature! The only thing I would change about this image is to give it a sense of scale. I think most people would be surprised to find out this guy is about 10 inches long.
Madagascar - “Gotcha” – Chameleon, Madagascar – The Chameleon uses its very long very very fast sticky tongue to catch small prey. It deploys this unusual weapon very quickly. That was one of the many challenges of creating this image.
Madagascar - “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” – Verreaux’s Sifaka, Madagascar – This amazing lemur lives most of its life in the trees leaping from trunk to trunk in the forest. When on the ground it moves by leaping sideways on its’ hind legs. It is spectacular to get to see the “Dancing Sifakas”