BEASTS
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The young kids at where we were staying were always keen to let us know if it was wise or not to touch any of the often amazing-looking caterpillars that we came across. Most were fine to do so.
This one, found crawling across our picnic table one afternoon, got a chorus of head shakes from the kids. We kept our hands to ourselves.
Location: Los Llanos, Venezuela
Lens used: Canon 60mm f2.8 Macro
Humpback whale, fully breached.
Location: A couple of kilometers off the central mainland Ecuador coast
Lens used: Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS
Giraffe with the sprawling African savanna behind.
Location: Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Shaken, not stirred - an abstract look at a Warthog.
Save for the normal post-processing which all my photos receive, the effect on this image photo this isn't the result of any Photoshop trickery. It's actually from me trying to snap a photo from a moving safari jeep. Ordinarily a shot this blurred and distorted would have gotten deleted immediately, but the uniform shake on this one was enough to have caught my eye out in the field and I chose to save it. I'm glad I did for although its not a great wildlife shot, I've come to find it interesting and artistic all the same.
Location: Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Though they don't look like any of the images of 'dung beetles' that I found on the web, they sure looked like 'em there on the ground rolling along a ball of dung. One beetle was crawling forward to roll the ball underneath itself and the other was crawling backward to propel the ball away from itself.
It was one of the more unusual examples of evolution I'd seen. Very cool.
Location: Hampi, India
Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS
Water Buffalo are extremely common all across southern Asia. Though primarily beasts of burden, they are also commodities - a sign of wealth, a secure investment, part of a wedding dowry.
Photographically, they're very similar to cows - pretty boring. But for some reason, I really like the look this one's giving me.
Location: Ba Bể National Park, Vietnam
Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS
A freshly-emerged baby leatherback turtle squirms in my pudgy fingers. The little guys' flippers were remarkably strong.
He and his clutch-mates were taken to the local turtle center where they'd be safe until they could be released into the sea.
Location: Grande Riviere, Trinidad
Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS
Hermit crab, from down at its level.
Location: Berbera, Somalia (Somaliland)
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Flies are people, too.
Location: Hood River, Oregon
Lens used: Canon 100mm f2.8 IS Macro
A butterfly alighting.
Location: Nyaungshwe, Myanmar
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Nice profile shot of a small butterfly perched on a stem. I like the resulting bokeh.
Location: Nyaungshwe, Myanmar
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
A somewhat frazzled-looking jackal runs across a dirt road.
Location: Pench National Park, India
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Olive Baboon.
Location: Northern Ugandan countryside.
Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS
There was a whole troop of monkeys climbing around this particular road-side rest stop surviving on the refuse that all the bus passengers and drivers, in typical Indian style, just threw out. The whole scene was pretty gross, actually.
My shot of this young monkey misses all that, though. You can imagine that it's an idyllic wilderness scene instead.
Location: Kodaikanal, India
Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS
Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. Yes, rodents. Think cute guinea pig, rather than sewer rat or house mouse. I recall having a guinea pig when I was quite young, named "Ralph". He wasn't very cuddly. Kinda like a wild capybara, I suppose...though I've read that it isn't unheard of for capybara to be domesticated and made into pets. Now THAT could be interesting!
I don't know if this photo is of a male and female or simply of two same-gendered capybara of differing size.
I know I'm a little front-focused in this shot. I'm hoping it doesn't distract too much.
Location: Los Llanos, Venezuela
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
I caught this little guy crawling through the underbrush.
Location: Gaua island, Vanuatu
Lens used: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS w/Canon 1.4x extender
This young Boa Constrictor was making for the safety of the brush off the side of the road when we saw it. Not a dramatic photo in any way, but it was all I could manage with the opportunity I had.
Location: Los Llanos, Venezuela
Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS
Mid-day photography sucks. I knew the photo options would be limited when I went for my hike this day, but as one should always carry a camera just-in-case, I had my long lens with me when this deer silhouetted itself. If the light had been better, it could have been a quite good shot. As is, it's merely okay.
Location: Rowena, Oregon
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
A Roosevelt Elk.
Location: Redwood National Park, California
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Dragonfly perched on a small stick.
The softness in the photo comes from the glitched lens I was unwittingly using at the time.
Location: Ba Bể National Park, Vietnam
Lens used: 24-105mm f4.0 IS
African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana).
Location: Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
Giant River Otter pups (Pteronura brasiliensis).
Location: Near Porto Jofre (Pantanal), Mato Grosso state, Brazil
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS II w/Canon 1.4x Extender
Crab.
Discovering the names of crabs that live along the coast of the Horn of Africa is quite difficult, I've discovered. For now, I'll call this a 'ghost crab'. I'll change it later if I ever find out it's true name. It was the largest and most numerous of the four different varieties of crab I saw while walking along the beach east of town. I had several enjoyable hours of chasing, catching and releasing them.
Location: Berbera, Somalia (Somaliland)
Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS