Borneo or Kalimantan (5/13)

As a child, I was mesmerized when seeing my the first Orangutan with their beautiful reddish color and human like behavior.  So, the Orangutan was certainly on my bucket list of animals to see and hopefully photograph.  To view these animals in the wild, there are only a few parks in the world that offer opportunities.  One of those parks, Tanjung Puting National Park, has one of the highest densities of Orangutans in the world.  We were met in at the airport by our guide and transported directly to a Klotok, which is the traditional wooden boats used by the locals for jungle safairs.  We spent over a week touring in the jungle from this boat and stopping at known viewing locations.  As you can see the images captured of the mother and young were very special.

 The below image turned out to be extraordinary.  When looking at the eyes magnified on the computer, you can see the reflection of the jungle. 

In the below photograph, the female allowed a close approach with a memorable position by the baby.

As you can see the stoic alpha males had very interesting faces.

Another monkey observed on the trip was the Proboscus.  You can see by it's pronounced nose, it is named appropriately.

Lots more images over on my web site if inclined to visit.  Blue Skies.

Sri Lanka (4/13)

After being fortunate enough to photograph the African Leopard, I traveled to Sri Lanka in hopes of photographing the Asian or Sri Lankan Leopard.  We visited Yala National Park, known to have the densest population of leopards in Asia.  We spent a week and did not have a sighting in the first 5 days.  At last, the last two days of the trip we finally had some opportunities.  The leopards were scarce and always in thick brush, so the above and below images were some of the very few I was able to photograph.

This below image was captured at a very high ISO (6400) well after sunset.  The leopard went into the brush and turned to give us a look before going deeper.

Funny, every time the water buffalo below would go underwater and came back up, he had some visitors.  Flies would land on the head as it arose from the water and then the frogs would next jump on to gorge on them.

We saw a number of interesting birds during our safaris.  Below you see some of my favorite images, a Crested Serpent Eagle, Crested Hawk Eagle, Brown Fish Owl bathing and a Common Kingfisher.

Another special place to experience and photograph.  If inclined to look, some additional trip images are available on my website.  Blue Skies. 

India (4/13)

One of the animals on my bucket list was to see and hopefully photograph was a wild tiger.  After some extensive research, determined that India was the place to go and Bandhavgarh National Park was one of the best locations.  We spent over a week photographing in Bandhavgarh and things could not have gone better.  The above image of a tigress was my favorite of the trip and captured on our first evening!

One early morning, we discovered this tiger sleeping in the road.  We waited and when she decided to get up, she looked over in our direction and I was able to get a nice eye contact shot.

This fellow decided to relax along a pond shore. 

Every afternoon safari we checked on this waterhole for activity.  A bonus, when this tiger came in for a drink and bath on our last day! 

Wild peacocks were seen every day.  This male was displaying for a female.

We saw spotted deer every day as well. Enjoyed capturing these two males sparring.

Gray Langur Monkeys were common in the park.  This photograph of a mother and her young turned out nice when they were watching us intently. 

As you can see it was quite a special trip.  If inclined additional images my be see on my website.  I'll be leading a photo tour to Bandhavgarh next year.  Blue Skies.

James River, Virginia (3/13)

Spent yesterday afternoon with some of the members of my photo club.  We had a great time.  We went out on a pontoon boat had some special opportunities with both the Bald Eagles and Ospreys.  Blue Skies.

Kenya (3/13)

Lead a group of photographers to Kenya this month.  I could not have traveled with a better group of people.  Our photo opportunities were special.  As you can see with the above and below images, the lion circumstances were amazing. 

Great surprise when I was photographing this Cape Buffalo and a group of Red-billed Oxpeckers arrived and began to quarrel on the guys' head.  

When photographing this pair of Zebras, like the Oxpeckers, they also had a confrontation.  Lucky to capture the instant when one jumped in the air to bite at the other. 

Sometimes the first morning light in the Mara, during the dry season with the dust, can create some unique images shooting into the light.  In this photo you see a running Wildebeest calf. 

Some of the best Elephant photo situations we had were in Amboseli National Park.  Below are two sunset images.  The light rays provided a nice look to the photos.  In the second one, it appears as if the Elephant is bowing down to pay homage to Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.

Two of my favorite bird images from the trip.  What you see are an African Fish Eagle and a Grey-headed Kingfisher.

Funny expression from this baby Vervet Monkey.

On our last night of the tour, we saw this storm headed in our direction.  The locals refer to it as "black rain".  

Lots more images over on the web site if you are interested.  Blue Skies.

Florida (1/13)

I spent some time with family and friends in Florida in January.  Went to one of my favorite locations, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, for a few days with my buds to photograph.  In the past, I have seen glimpses or the rear end of a Bobcat running away.  This trip things were different.  We were on the tour road at sunrise one morning and stopped to chat with some new friends.  They mentioned that they had just seen a Bobcat cross onto an island.  As a group we waited, in hopes that the Bobcat would exit the island and provide a photo opportunity.  Well, lo and behold, after about two hours, he decided to walk off the island into the water and cross the tour road.  The eye contact and reflection in the soft light was special.  Good times! 

New Mexico (12/12)

I had hoped to post trip photos before now, my apologies. Made my winter annual trek to New Mexico, to the Bosque Del Apache NWR, with friends. It is as much a social thing as a photo trip. The photo opportunities were great this year from both a lighting and opportunity aspect. On the above image, the sunset light on the reeds as snow geese were coming in was perfect. No juicing the yellows here, this is just the way it looked. The below sandhill and geese photos are typical of what you can photograph at the crane pools and observation deck lake this year.

I was certainly pleased with these flight shots of the pintails at one of the pools along the refuge loop.

The waterfowl opportunities in town were the best yet. Knowing where to go and spending the time, resulted in some special wood duck images. How about the second photo of the hen grooming the male and his "Ah shucks" look.

Here are some other favorites from the trip (American Widgeon-1&2, Ringed-neck-3 & Hooded Merganser-4)

Blue skies and great histograms.