Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila).

Location: Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Villager Portrait.

On the way to Kidepo Valley National Park we stopped for a few minutes in a small village to allow another vehicle traveling with us to catch up. We didn't even get out of the jeep, but in that time a bunch of local people crowded around us to watch us. They didn't ask for anything or try to sell us anything, but rather just checked us out; just pure innocent curiosity.

This is not something you encounter often in this region of the world - it's pretty heavily traveled by tourists, UN and NGO workers and religious zealots (aka missionaries) and most locals have seen enough of all of these to not have much innocent curiosity about them left. Historically, most visitors to Kidepo Valley park fly in and out, thus the rough overland route to the park, which we were taking, wasn't frequently traveled and it allowed us to interact with these local villagers in this way.

I was initially reluctant to point my camera at these folks, but when my safari-mates in the jeep with me started to and the locals didn't object I started shooting. I recall the initial flinch they all made when I pulled out my telephoto lens (did they think it was a gun or weapon?), but didn't otherwise seem to mind my shooting these candid photos of them. No doubt they didn't know quite how closeup I was able to get.

Location: Orom village, Northern Uganda

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium).

Location: Buttercup, Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 100mm f2.8 IS Macro

Feeding time.

For ages now, wild Hyenas have come to the city gates to get fed meat scraps by hand. What 'by hand' actually means, however is obviously open to interpretation! Clearly, this stick-in-mouth method was intended to increase the drama for the watching tourists.

Location: Harar, Ethiopia

Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS

Hunger.

The trail head for the popular trek to Mt. Roraima sees groups of people nearly everyday, coming and going. As such, it's usually the last (or first) place for a meal for the groups. There was a small but determined pack of dogs there, trying to ease into the queue for handouts.

This dog totally caught my eye, both photographically and emotionally. He eagerly ate the little bit of food I gave him.

Location: The Gran Sabana, Venezuela

Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS

LAVA LAKE CRUST PATTERNS.

Location: Nyiragongo volcano, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Lens used: 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Washing.

Girl washes her hair by a river.

Location: Rural Northern Madagascar

Lens used: Canon EOS M w/Canon 22mm f2.0

A perfect 9.975.

For years, I've had a sunrise scale of 1 to 10 that I've utilized to give perspective and a point of comparison to the sunrises we see at work while slope grooming. I'm of the mind that such a thing as a perfect '10' is impossible - to give one is to claim that nothing will ever be better. I choose not to think that way and always hope that tomorrow's sunrise will be just a little nicer.

This one from a few years ago still lingers in my mind, however - not only was it vibrant, it was very long-lived. It went on for over two hours. Still, I can't give it a perfect '10' (but it was damn close). Call it a '9.975'.

For the longest time I was disappointed in having a ski lift in the foreground of this shot, but I've now come to realize that landscape and scenery shots need a solid foreground element and I have become thankful that I included the Cascade Express terminal and towers in this one.

Location: Bottom Gingivitis, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 17-40mm f4.0

Empty.

The immense salt pans spread out behind my local Afar guide. Our Land Cruiser and the faint driving track are visible in the distance on the left.

Location: Dallol, Denakil Depression, Ethiopia

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Portrait.

Miss Durgi Kunwar.

Location: Joshimath, India

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Lilly.

White Lilly petals closeup.

Location: Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Rui), Chile

Lens used: Canon 100mm f2.8 IS Macro

Peppers.

A woman sorts peppers at the town market.

Location: Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS

Cotton Candy Mountain.

Mount Jefferson above a layer of pink morning clouds.

Location: Nate's Other Way, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS

Souvenir.

Marsha with a huge Crab.

Location: Kuna Yala region, Panama

Lens used: Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS

Bottom.

At 155 meters below sea level, Lac Assal is the lowest surface point on the African continent and the second lowest in the world. After the hypersaline ponds found in Antarctica, Lac Assal is the most saline body of water on the planet - it's more salty than the much more well known Dead Sea. No life exists in its waters. Small particles of salt float on its surface and salt-encrusted formations are seen along its shore. Small-scale salt mining takes place in the vicinity.

Location: Lac Assal, Djibouti

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Jump ball.

Location: Canaima, Venezuela

Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS

Good Morning.

Location: Top Vista Express chairlift, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon EOS M w/Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS

We have explosion.

Mount Yasur is billed as the most easily accessible active volcano in the world - from the truck park it's only a 5-10 minute walk up to the crater rim. Spending an evening or two up on the summit watching its Stromboli-like eruptions is unlike anything else I've ever experienced. Highly recommended.

One of the lava bombs exiting off the left of the picture actually flew out over the crater rim - where it landed was only about 50 meters from where I was sitting taking pictures. Yikes!

I realize scale in this shot is a little hard to judge, but the vent from which the lava is being thrown is about 250 meters below me and the lava bombs were going over my head - lets call it 300 meters (or nearly 1000 feet) of vertical spray in this photograph.

Location: Tanna island, Vanuatu

Lens used: Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS

Market vendor.

A market vendor enjoying her work.

The happy kid drawing on the wall behind her and the other 'balancing' elements of this shot really work for me.

Location: Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS

Light trails.

A super-long exposure caught the light streaks of the winch cat as it groomed this pitch.

Two separate exposures were blended together to get this image. Exposure time for the light streaks came in at just over 29 minutes. The other, shorter shot for the sky and moon, as registered in the EXIF data, was 20 seconds.

A big thanks goes to winch cat operator Ryan Dutton for his patience with me as I toyed with this shot and for keeping the groomed-passes so straight.

Location: Apollo, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Hopefully not lunch.

This man was sitting on the street in the sun, covered in flies, hacking apart this cow's(?) head with an axe. He stopped his hacking when he saw that I was going to take his picture - obviously he was looking for me to pay him some money which I didn't do. Eventually he resumed his work, but this was the only shot I ended up taking of him.

It probably goes without saying, but I really tried to avoid eating meat in Ethiopia.

Location: Harar, Ethiopia

Lens used: 24-105mm f4.0 IS

Blind woman.

A blind woman wanders the streets of the old town looking for handouts.

Location: Aksum, Ethiopia

Lens used: Canon 24-105mm f4.0 IS

First Pass.

Brent makes the first pass down a pitch in glorious morning light.

Location: Jigsaw, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS

Canary Island Raven (Corvus corax tingitanus).

Location: La Palma island, Canary Islands, Spain

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

A game of chicken.

A Prinoth BR500 bladin' and royin' right at me. (Thanks for not running me over, Dan).

Location: SCUD, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Elder.

An elder kastom (i.e. traditional) man with a headpiece, poses.

Location: Tanna island, Vanuatu

Lens used: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS

Blue-Footed Booby (Sula nebouxii).

Location: Isla de la Plata, Ecuador

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Las Geel.

Far and away the main touristic sight in Somaliland are the prehistoric rock paintings at Las Geel. 'Discovered' only in 2003 and located in a fairly remote spot in the Somali desert, they're in a remarkable state of preservation. Considered by many to be some of the best examples of prehistoric rock art in the world currently visitable by the public, they're by far the most amazing I've ever seen. It is said archeologists have since found other rock art sites in the region that better those found at Las Geel, but their locations are kept secret so as to not have unscrupulous or careless visitors vandalize or damage them.

Though most of the images are of cattle and livestock, humans and other animals can be found throughout the 6 caves with paintings in them. The colors are primarily reds and ochres but blues, whites and greens are found as well. Why the images were drawn in the characteristic and somewhat abstract style found throughout the caves is unknown, certainly to me but perhaps also to experts.

Though a subdued and low-key touristic stop, it was one of the most rewarding for me of my entire trip. And though the exoticness of visiting a country that doesn't officially exist may be one of Somaliland's main draws, Las Geel could just be reason enough on its own to go there.

Location: Las Geel, Somaliland (Somalia)

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Lion.

A lioness positively glows in some brilliantly-golden evening light.

Location: Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda

Lens used: Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS

Purple.

A closeup of [the backside of] a Agapanthus Lily bloom.

Location: Madeira, Portugal

Lens used: Canon 100mm f2.8 IS Macro

On the stoop.

Man sits in front of an ornate doorway.

Location: Fez, Morocco

Lens used: Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5

Airport.

When was the last time an airport made your jaw drop?

Location: Malé, Maldives

Lens used: Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS

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