As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Stewart Island for New Years! Stewart Island, or Rakiura, is New Zealand's "third island", off of the bottom of the South Island. Some 80% of the island is Rakiura National Park and there are only about 400 human residents, so the place is teeming with wildlife...
An Afternoon at Orokonui
On a bright summer day at Orokonui,
I saw bellbirds and robins and kaka and tui.
Tuatara and takahe step to and fro,
Like small dinosaurs from eons ago.
If you come here at night, you can hear ruru hoot,
And you may see a kiwi (the bird, not the fruit).
These creatures and more deserve your attention,
Since they could vanish without good protection...
Wasatch Winter Wildlife
A few weeks ago, I was looking back through some of my old photos from our family ski trips, and remembered that there’s loads of wildlife in the ski area we used to visit every year. ... They have some of the world’s best snow, plus some of the ski area is part of the Wasatch National Forest, so it’s a protected area with lots of trees and meadows – and wildlife...
Thesis Status: Complete
A Little Too Close for Comfort
The soft, steady thudding of my hiking boots slowed to a halt. The trail wasn’t particularly steep or difficult, but when you’re surrounded by the world’s largest trees, you’ve just got to stop and look sometimes! This early in the day, the woods were relatively quiet and still. Birds chattered and branches rustled in the slight breeze, but there were no other people around – just me and my parents. They hadn’t stopped, so after a minute, they disappeared behind the next ridge. I glanced around, and then froze. Turns out that I wasn’t alone after all...
Silver Linings of Chernobyl
Just Some Photos I Like
Turkey Talk
Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. But being an American living in New Zealand makes Thanksgiving a bit of a challenge – especially getting hold of a turkey. There’s just not that much demand for it here, which means if you want a nice big turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, you have to special order it from a farm several weeks in advance. Throughout this whole Thanksgiving prep process, I’ve been wondering about turkeys – wild ones, that is...
Early Wildlife Photography and Art
My time is a bit short this week folks, so I don’t have a nice long post for you today. But I’ve been doing some reading about the origins and history of photography – particularly wildlife photography, of course. It’s pretty interesting stuff! I thought I’d share some of the cool things I’ve been reading about...
Lion Tales from Kruger National Park
If you’ve read the “About” page on this site, or the very first introductory blog post, you’ll know that this whole wildlife photography thing started for me on a trip to South Africa in March and April of 2013 – specifically in Kruger National Park, which is along the eastern border with Mozambique. Last year, I wrote a short book about Kruger...
The Chesapeake Bay
I grew up in the suburbs of Maryland, between Washington D.C. and Annapolis. That meant that I lived within a half hour’s drive of the Chesapeake Bay, as well as four of the 150+ rivers that flow into it. My parents and I would occasionally go sailing, renting a boat for a few days out of Solomons Island at the mouth of the Patuxent River, or from Rock Hall on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. I hunted for fossils...
The Ethics of Wildlife Photography
It’s hard for me to overstate how much I love wildlife photography. But I would never prioritize photography over the wellbeing of an animal. While it's great to get pretty, awe-inspiring shots of wild animals, it's extremely important to be sure that we're not bothering the animal when we photograph them – or worse...
Clever, Curious Kea
The New Zealand Bird of the Year contest in full swing! Hosted by Forest and Bird, people can vote for any of 55 bird species that call New Zealand home. Of course the bird with the most votes wins, but pretty much all of them are winners, since the contest is all about raising awareness and funds for conservation...
The Wildlife of Wyoming
I recently traveled to Wyoming to see the total solar eclipse across the US on August 21. Since I currently live in New Zealand, this was a bit of an ordeal... But it was 100% worth it. If I had only seen the eclipse and nothing else, it still would’ve been worth it. But luckily, I did get to see more than the eclipse – a lot more...