Posts in Category: wildlife
Maine! Apple eater
Eastern Chipmunk, Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — There are lots of fallen apples in the old orchards at Laudholm Farms right now, and the Chipmunks are having a feast. They are so busy eating that they play little attention to passing humans, even those with cameras who very likely stop for a few photos. Or more. OM Systems OM1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 6400 @ f6.3 @ 1/1600th.
Colorado! Mule Deer in the Morning
Mule Deer: South Valley Park, Denver, Colorado, USA, July 2023 — We went for a hike yesterday, early, at South Valley Park, about 30 minutes from my daughter’s home in Centennial. Early is relative. Toddlers in tow. We were not completely out of the car yet (it takes a while when traveling with two in car seats), when my daughter, who was suiting up in the baby carrier, cried out “look Everleigh, look!” and pointed over my shoulder. This buck Mule Deer had just crossed the parking lot and was, at that moment, running up the stairs in the trail above. I managed a few shots as it headed off the trail toward greener pastures up the canyon. Not a big “rack” (set of antlers) by Mule Deer standards…and still, from the look of it, in “velvet”…still growing. Everleigh did get to see the “reindeer” and this photo is for her. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my animals modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Colorado! Thumper.
Eastern Cottontail: Centennial, Colorado, USA — I asked my granddaughter Everleigh to help me pick a photo for this morning’s post. I suspect this is the patriarch of the bunny clan that lives in the housing developments around my daughter’s home in Centennial. He was taking is his ease, warming in the morning sun in the middle of a residential street, and was not bothered by us on the sidewalk at all. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 and 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th and 1/800th.
India! Sambar Deer
Sambar Deer: Rathambore Tiger Reserve, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Again, Rathambore National Park is home to a wide variety of wildlife besides the tigers. These are the large forest deer of India and southeast Asia…the Sambar. We came on this small group late in the afternoon at the end of our third unsuccessful tiger drive. They almost made up for it 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 469 and 390mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th to 1/800th.
Wildlife of Keoladeo National Park: Golden Jackal
Finishing up, I think, the wildlife posts from Keoladeo National Park, in Bharatpur India, this is a Indian Golden Jackal, a handsome wild canine common throughout Asia and into Europe. It is most closely reflected to the wolf and coyote, and, in fact will cross breed with Asian Wolves and domestic dogs. It is about the same size as the North American Coyote, and favors river bottoms and agricultural areas, as opposed to foothills and mountains. Sony Rx10iv at 238mm equivalent. (It was right beside the road.) Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Deer and Antelope of Keoladeo
Deer and Antelope of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India, March 2023 — We can’t leave Keoladeo without showing off the ungulates. We have here the Chital or Spotted Deer, a group of females and a single male; then two shots of female Nilgai, one shot of a male Nilgai or Blue Bull, a male Sambar Deer, another male Nilgai, a family of Sambar, and what might be another Blue Bull and his harem. All taken with the Sony Rx10iv at or near 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos.
Maine! Busted!
Raccoon: Kennebunk Maine, USA, June 2023 — We have been bringing our feeders in overnight for the past week, because of this bandit! During last evening’s rain, with Carol out and the kitchen empty, he evidently decided it was safe for a raid while the feeders were still up. The temptation of sunflower seeds was just too much for him as the chill of evening came on. The phone rang and I went to answer it, or I would not have known he was there. Busted! I got both the screen and the deck doors open for a few photos. He was very reluctant to leave any seed in that feeder and was determined to wait me out…but, since I was happy taking photos, I was not going anywhere. 🙂 OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom. Deck shots at 200mm equivalent. Tree at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving critter modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 25600 @ f5 @ 1/200th and ISO 25600 @ f6.3 @ 1/80th. -.3EV
Maine! Grey Squirrel (I see you!)
Grey Squirrel: Kennebunk Maine, USA, May 2023 — When you live in Maine you practice Animal Auto Focus on any wildlife available…mostly squirrels. 🙂 This squirrel did its “laying out flat on a branch” thing for me, and watched me inside my hide. He very definitely knew exactly where I was and was keeping track of what I was doing. We have two different framings here: 800mm equivalent and, using the digital tele-converter in the OM-1, 1600mm equivalent. In both cases the camera automatically kept focus on the eye. Program mode with my evolving wildlife modifications. (That is what the practice is all about.) Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f6.3 @ 1/500th. Minus .7EV.
India! Rhesus Macaque
Rhesus Macaque: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Probably the most common, and certainly the most often seen, of India’s primates, the Rhesus Macaque likes to live around humans. You find them at temples, at railway and bus stations, city parks, along busy village streets, mixing with the dogs, cattle, and motorbikes…anywhere they might get a handout. They are not, at least to my eye, very cute…and they can be quite aggressive. You do not want to be bitten by one. Large family groups, or troops of mixed matrilineal families are common. This is a male, though perhaps not a mature one, sitting on the boundary wall of Keoladeo National Park. The Rhesus has the largest range of any primate except humans…across India, China, and all of southeast Asia. For better or worse, it has been used extensively in medical research, especially in the development of vaccines and viral treatments. (Maybe “better” for us, maybe not so great for the Rhesus.) Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1 EV (left over from adjacent bird shots).
Tiger close-up
Tiger: Rathambore Tiger Reserve, Rathambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, India, March 2023 — A crop-in from a 600mm image taken from across a pond in Zone 10, for a portrait of Tiger. This is T 99, Aiswarya, a young 5 year old female who just had her first two cubs this year. The cubs were safely hidden in the brush and not to be seen. We found her right after entering the Zone on our afternoon drive and spent most of the afternoon watching her rest and move gently in the shade. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 ! 1/500th. Plus .3EV.