Frogmouth large hawk-like bird in the Philippines 1024x768 电脑背景图 天鹅 这是一座位于旧金山的艺术宫殿，这是一个你意想不到的让你能拍到很多漂亮照片的优美环境。我看到这一对天鹅在附近游泳时，我把相机装置好在岸边。由于有许多动物，你的确一定要耐心等到刚好的那时刻（除非你很好运气遇到能懂的你的指令的）。有许多次好的摄影机会，但每次都有点不如意，所以我耐心的等待着，慢慢的左右移动着摄像机追踪它们的动态和循着它们调动着镜头。半小时之后，我终于等到了那时刻足够我拍得这张照片当它们停止不吃海藻和互相凝视着对方的时候。 1024x768 电脑背景图 Mountain Goat a mountain goat posing long enough for me to setup and capture his profile. 1024x768 电脑背景图 白头鹰 以前我没见过白头鹰，当然也没料到在印第安纳州会见。我正开着车，公路的两便是成片的树林，这是鹰常栖息的地方。我通常会扫望一下天空看看是否有鹰飞翔在附近。一天，我看见一只绝对超大的黑影俯冲而下，它比任何我所见过得鹰远远大的多，因此我把车停好在路边，开始探个究竟。当离得不很远时，我得知那是一只白头鹰，它正好安静的停在一棵树上。我把车重新停泊好为了充分利用好这个斜坡，然后把三角架定好在最高点，用长镜头捕捉到了这一幕。 1024x768 电脑背景图 Tree Nymph 2 Malaysian butterfly also known as Ricepaper butterfly. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Peacock the amazing colours and complex patterns hosted by a lovely peacock 1024x768 电脑背景图 Lioness i'm keeping my distance and using my longest lens as this female hunter is sizing up lunch. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Turtle resident of Indiana wetlands 1024x768 电脑背景图 Crocodile southern Florida 1024x768 电脑背景图 Baby Owl This is a Great Horned Owl at about 3½ weeks of age. Quite a darling little puff-ball of feathers sitting there wondering what the guy with the camera is up to. The mom isn't due back for a couple hours so I have a chance to capture this cute creature for everyone to enjoy. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Blue Morpho 1 Such a strong blue is a rare colour to be found in butterflies which makes the Blue Morpho an excellent find. This vibrant blue is very visible to their predators and so they rarely rest with their wings open to display these alluring colours. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Mantis A very excited neighbor boy brought this to me one day and wanted to know if I wanted to shoot it. I went inside and got a good macro lens and started to set up next to a nearby boulder. The young man coaxed the mantis from the carrying stick onto the boulder and I began getting ready. To my surprise, it made a very nice pose, turned its head to face me, and just sat there patiently while I took readings and captured this shot. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Giraffe 1 1024x768 电脑背景图 Eye of the Feather I was surprised to discover many wild peacock birds nesting in the tall grass of southern China. Later I learned they are native to the area an were imported to the states long ago. This, of course, is a closeup of its tail-feathers while it lay wondering what I'm up to. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Tigré of the Jungle This is a young Tigré, or jungle version of a tiger that only grows to be the size of a large dog. This one is about one year old and is stalking some nearby movement while I remain motionless with my equipment rigged in a small tree. I had a most entertaining encounter with its father the night before.... I was sleeping in a native hut which consists of an elevated wooden platform with some poles to support a roof made of dried leaves. Needless to say, there's not much to keep out wildlife with the ability to climb. I woke to a very intimidating low growl from the throat of a mature Tigré. Hoping that if I remained still, it would simply pass without interest - I was wrong. After leaping onto the hut floor and examining this new terrain, it wasn't long before it was on top of me and being a nuisance. Realizing that sleep was going to be impossible with this guy prowling around, I decided to get up and deal with the situation. It had hopped off me and was making itself comfortable in the middle of the floor. Remembering a little bit of house cat knowledge, I wondered if that trick of picking them up by the back of their necks worked on the larger species. So I carefully made my way closer and slowly reached down, got a fist full of fur, and began lifting him from the floor. All was going well; his front legs appeared limp and he appeared relaxed - well, at least until I got his hind legs off the ground. Suddenly, before I could blink, he had reached back with one of his large paws, grabbed my arm that I was lifting with, and twisted around forcing his release. His strength and speed were very impressive and I quickly let go. Standing there next to me, I'm sure it was wondering what I was going to do next - I was also. The reason I was in the jungle was to shoot a variety of Peruvian blankets using the natural surroundings. I grabbed one of the thick mat-like blankets and threw it over the Tigré. Then quickly started to roll him up into a harmless ball. No sooner did I complete this task, his strength again impressed me as he was quickly wiggling his way out of my trap. I managed to get the bundle to the edge of the platform and unrolled him back off into the jungle so we both could get some rest. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Diamondback About mid-day through a long desert hike, I came across a great find - this diamondback - and had to stop for a quick photo. I sat down and prepared my camera which gave the snake some time to get used my presence. As long as I remained nonthreatening and maintained slow and gentle movements, I have managed to go without incident on a number of potentially dangerous creatures. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Desert Tortoise closeup of a tortoise emerging as desert temperatures become more tolerable just before sunset in Arizona 1024x768 电脑背景图 Blue Morpho 2 While traveling through western Brazil, I occasionally caught glimpse of a large and brilliant blue butterfly (Morpho Peleides). Although i often looked for them on land, i only managed to see one fluttering over the open Amazon. After a couple days, I was informed that their blue is highly visable to their predators, so the Blue Morpho butterfly usually keeps their giant wings folded up to display the more camouflage type brown pattern. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Meerkat 2 Looks like these two are watching each others' back preparing for a mission. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Dolphin During my stay in the Bahamas, I had the opportunity to go off shore on a small recreational boat. The next morning, I met up with the family that was going on a day long tour around the various islands. I had little time and experience on the sea and it sounded like a relaxing time of ocean scenery and lots of sun. The day was certainly enjoyable although I didn't shoot much after early morning when the low sunlight created interesting colour in the surrounding water. I'm guessing around early afternoon, we stopped out in the middle of this crystal clear watery paradise for some snacks. Within a short time, a couple playful dolphins were showing off right next to us. After a few unsuccessful attempts to capture them in air, one was kind enough to pose close to the boat for this shot. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Malachite This is a stunningly beautiful butterfly; without doubt, my favorite of all. It's wings top-side are a perfect royal-green outlined with black and the underside a pearly-white and vibrant orange. I had some extra time before leaving Perú, and I decided to go on a butterfly hunt while in such an exotic area. It was not going well and I almost left empty handed. Later in the day, I found this Malachite hanging on the underside of a leaf with just enough sunlight peeking through the foilage to illuminate its wings. Not only was it a good find, but it remained motionless long enough for me to setup and capture a two-second exposure. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Baby Swan This cute little fella was raised on a large pond not too far from the studio. Never more than a few inches from Mom, the adorable youngster was swimming about, getting its share of seaweed from just below the surface. They both tend to stay away from the shore (probably for safety) and I haven't managed to coax them much closer. So this shot was captured through an 800mm lens to bring in the detail and expression of the young bird without disturbing the mom. 1024x768 电脑背景图 White Peacock commonly misunderstood as an albino, this White Indian Peacock appears just as lovely as it's multi-coloured friends. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Meerkat 1 a curious and seemingly friendly meerkat coming out to see what the guy with the camera is up to 1024x768 电脑背景图 Garden Spider This common Argiope garden spider has an intimidating appearance but is quite harmless. In fact they are helpful to gardens (hence the name) by catching many harmful insects. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Perched Monarch It was late summer and I had the itch to capture some butterfly images. The thought was certainly easier than the task. I gathered a couple of telephoto lenses and gear to set out on my mission. It wasn't long before I found a nice area with many subjects. I quickly discovered that these fluttering creatures of beauty don't stay still for long. I would spot one within a good shooting distance, just start to make a few adjustments and it would flutter off. I pickup my gear and follow it to a new site, I start preparing the perfect shot and away it goes again. Repeating this process for a hours, I am sure it thought, "who's this nut following me around with a camera?" It was an abnormally hot and sticky day and I had often wished I brought a little less equipment for the project. I was just debating on packing up and returning to the studio when finally the thing landed on a little leaf and stared down my lens. Its wings matched the field of Jewel Weed flowers we were in and the composure was great. Not waiting another moment, I thanked it for its cooperation and squeezed off a few frames. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Young Mountain Goat While hiking through the mountains in Mountana, I discovered this charming young mountain goat snacking on the local wildflowers. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Giraffe 2 i'm no giraffe expert, but i think the left one wants a kiss. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Clipper Butterfly Whenever I'm in the mood to photograph butterflies, I try to seek out large clusters of small deep-throated flowers. They seem designed just for the mouths of butterflies and during the right season, it can make for some great photos. Typically, I setup near these flowers with all my readings made in advance and hope for something like this beautiful Clipper butterfly of the Philippines to land in front of me. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Blue Morpho 3 It's not often that one can get down into a butterflies world before they fly off but that's what happened here. While a Blue Morpho was resting, I managed to circle around directly in front, and quickly set up for a unique perspective. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Snapping Turtle resident of Indiana wetlands 1024x768 电脑背景图 Alligator Florida alligator (fortunately uninterested in the camera). 1024x768 电脑背景图 Stealth Butterfly Toward the end of each summer, I try to go out and chase butterflies. Partially just to capture something delicate and enchanting and partly just to stay in shape by constant lugging equipment from spot to spot trying to capture close-ups as they flutter around in the wild. It's not often that one can get camera gear between a bloom and a feeding butterfly. With this unique perspective, the large and colourful insect has a more slimline stealthy appearance while it feeds on this zinnias nectar. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Happy Lama I came across this friendly creature high in the Andes Mountains. As I began a quick set up for a photo, she came closer and more curious and I couldn't help but notice a seemingly happy expression. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Scyphozoan I'm certainly not a marine biologist, but am informed that this is a 'Dactylometra Quinquecirrha' type jellyfish, so I'll take their word for it. Their tentacles are covered with stinging cells that attach themselves to anything that touches them and injects a venom into it's prey. Fortunately I didn't get the opportunity to experience this in action even though I'm told it's not fatal. My biggest problem capturing this image is that there is absolutely nothing stable to attach a camera to underwater. Tripods are useless, I'm moving, the camera is moving, the sea creatures are moving, all at different rhythms (guess I didn't need to bring the cable release). All in all, this was probably the most serene and beautiful creature I've ever witnessed; it's pulsating motions and delicate nature were extremely enjoyable. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Lunch at Zinnias On my annual butterfly mission, my luck was with me and I managed to capture these two butterflies having lunch on this zinnia. The late-summer colours of burnt-orange and pink with a touch of yellow make a pleasing combination fit for anyones wall. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Frog Nap a couple of tiny frogs taking a nap on a tree branch 1024x768 电脑背景图 Tiger Longwing Having such a small body and graciously long wings, the Tiger Longwing doesn't flap quickly like most butterflies. Instead, it creates a very pleasing and gracefully-slow flutter to navigate through the rainforest foilage in Brazil. It's a very different motion than what I was accustomed to, and I found it absolutely beautiful. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Rose Companion There is a large park and garden area that I enjoy spending time at and often browse the area with camera gear hanging at my sides. I'm there often and known by all the groundskeepers and gardeners. On my way out one day, a gardener friend was excitedly waving me over to come see something. I run to where she was working and am shown the tiniest of frogs that nestled itself between the pedals of a rose. The little guy seemed rather comfortable and ready for an evenings rest in his new secure home. It was early evening and less than ideal light but moments like this don't occur everyday. I bracketed several exposures, got a successful print, and donated a 'Ready to Hang' limited edition print to my gardener friend. If it wasn't for her, the unique moment would have only been preserved in her memory and not seen by others. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Modern Home While checking out the many ruins in Perú, I discovered a small family of jackrabbits that made their home amungst the fallen stones. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Tree Nymph 1 Another beautiful and large butterfly in Malaysia. It's wings are simply huge when they flap by. They're relatively common as long as you don't mind being perched motionless in the middle of a flower bed and waiting for one to land in front of the lens. They are more properly called a Ricepaper butterfly, but most locals know it as a Tree Nymph. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Curious Duck For many years, I lived next to a large duck pond just outside my back door and it was not uncommon to see me set up on a nearby bank. After some time, the local inhabitants seemed to accept my presence and felt safe to get closer for a better look like this curious duck. 1024x768 电脑背景图 White Peacock White Peacock butterfly in southern Florida. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Dragonfly rarely does an insect stay put long enough for us to go through our setup process, but this large dragonfly was very trusting and didn't move while we choose a good macro lens, took light readings, test exposures, and finally this shot. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Blue & White Longwing Although they really are not blue, I saw these "Blue & White Longwings" in the light jungle just outside of Iquitos Perú (north-eastern Perú). They flap their lengthy wings rather slowly almost as if they were flying in slow-motion. It almost appears that it wouldn't provide enough lift for them to stay in the air. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Tarantula This furry creature crossed my path while I was hiking in the Urubamba Mountains in Perú. Having never seen a tarantula in the wild, I immediately started getting ready for a shot. Didn't want to risk the time of setting up a tripod, so I was hovering over the critter freehand. It stopped and I continued to get closer and closer for a more detailed view. As I was making my final adjustments, only inches away, I briefly wondered if the thing could jump - after all, it did have eight legs. Thankfully, it didn't make any such maneuver, or I certainly would have jumped high and far. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Frog resident of Indiana wetlands 1024x768 电脑背景图 Great Horned Owl I found this young Great Horned Owl in early spring while it was still cool on most days. She took to me well and never seemed to mind my presence when I came by her section of woods. In this shot she's about six weeks old and loosing most of her puffy baby feathers. This is certainly my favorite of all animals and it was a pleasure coming across one in the wild. 1024x768 电脑背景图 Crustacean Meet "Crusty" the sand crab on the coral-sand beaches of Guam. He was kind enough to not move while I setup my gear in very close proximity and capture this macro shot. 1024x768 电脑背景图