Archive for the ‘Wildlife’ Category

My Guide and Spider Monkey Calling Extraordinaire (1/320 at f/4.0, 85mm ISO 200)

Spider monkey picking a fruit (1/40 sec at f/5.6, 280mm, ISO 250----ouch!)

Spider Monkey Eating (1/30sec at f/5.6, 280mm at ISO 250 too slow!)

Spider Monkey w/baby 1/320 at f/5.0, 280mm at ISO 250

Lens selection for any trip can be a headache.  What to take and what to leave behind are always the nagging questions.   Typically, I travel with my 16-35mm, 24-70 and my 70-200.  However, on my last few trips my 70-200 hadn’t been getting much love, so I debated leaving it behind to lighten my load (and considering my bag was searched in airport security because it surpassed their “maximum density” allowance, it maybe have been a good idea).  But, at the last minute I scrambled to make room and threw  it in the bag.    I even decided to throw in the 1.4 extender for good measure.  Of course  I’m really glad I brought the lens because  later that week I had an opportunity to photograph spider monkeys in the Mexican jungle.  Now,  I know most photographers never want you to see all their bad shots but today’s blog is just about that….all my bad shots from this shoot.  I ran around the jungle for two hours, swatting at mosquitoes, walking with my guide as he made these super cool monkey calls by blowing into his fists.    There I was with my 70-200mm lens w/1.4 extender on, scanning the trees along with my guide looking for any signs of life.  My anticipation was growing, but at the same time I was thinking that this was all a hoax and there weren’t any monkeys in these woods.   It wasn’t until 45 minutes into the walk that we finally ran into a few families of spider monkeys feasting on fruit.   Well, if I had one word to describe the scene it would be “fast.”  I felt like I was in a Donkey Kong game.  These guys were moving so fast that my camera was shooting faster than my card could write (note to self, time to upgrade memory cards).   Autofocus wasn’t working for me because of the dense foliage. And of course, because I was on the ground and they were up in the trees, they were always backlit, so exposure was an issue.   At the end of the excursion,  I finished with two or three shots that worked.  I mean, I didn’t even know I was going to be shooting monkeys when I left for this trip-  let alone the Wizard of Oz’s flying  monkeys.  I shot nearly 400 frames and less than 1% of the photos were decent…but listen, sometimes that’s what happens.  So, with that said, I hope you enjoy the video…it’s sort of a reminder to myself that we’re not perfect.  Especially, when shooting crazy monkeys!

Gallatin River Grizzly

Gallatin River Grizzly

Bear with me, (play on words), whileI tell you a little bit about my weekend.   There are many things I love about Montana…the list is very long.   Besides photography, one of the things I really enjoy doing while I’m here is fly-fishing.   My best friend got me into the sport many years ago and I’ve never looked back (thank-you Monte).  Needless to say, we’ve fished some interesting locations.  Throughout the years, I’ve heard countless stories from fellow fly-fisherman about their run-ins with bears (specifically grizzly) but over the past 15 years I have yet to see  a grizzly or black bear near a stream.  I truly was starting to doubt their existence  until yesterday.  We were fishing a stretch of the Gallatin between the Yellowstone  National Park and Big Sky when we decided to take a little lunch break.  It was good timing because a big storm blew in just as we packed things up.  We drove into Big Sky and grabbed a quick sandwich, and as we were heading back to the Yellowstone Park, there was a grizzly only a few hundred yards away from our fishing hole.   Luckily, I had my 70-200 lens and was able to snap a few photos.  I  had left my 1.4x converter at the cabin, so I had to make due.  The following shots were taken at nearly 300 yards.  I had to sharpen the image to add a little detail.  To give you and idea of how far away I was I’ll give you the before and after photo.   The photos are  far from being wall hangers, but sometimes it’s all about making memories.  And yes, grizzlies do exist, and they do like to hang out on fishing streams!