Taking Photographs of Animals can be a Tricky Proposition

On June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Blogging, Hiking4 Comments

We have seen many different animals throughout our travels, some of them more interesting than others. As we prepare for our safari, we know that we will come home with many more animal photographs than what we even have today. We are always on the lookout for motion in the trees that surround us, the rustling of bushes, or even shadows moving across the ground so that we don’t miss out on a possible animal sighting. Many of the animals are cute and adorable, some colorful, and others perhaps a little strange or even dangerous. Taking photographs of animals can be tricky at times and sometimes it all comes down to a little bit of luck.

Monkey on the Rocks of Halong Bay, Vietnam

It obviously helps to have a telephoto lens, but that also comes with its own set of challenges. It can be difficult to go from the naked eye to the camera and get it to the location where you just sighted the animal. Another interesting thing that we found from several of our trips now is the trick of using binoculars and a cell phone to capture a photograph. The binocular acts as a telephoto lens for the camera on your phone and the images are often as good as those captured with a digital camera.

Up Close and Personal with Monkeys in Panama

One thing that is clear is that you don’t have to go to exotic locations to captures photographs of animals in the wild. There are obviously birds of all different kinds wherever you travel, but it isn’t surprising to see snakes, lizards and other creatures as well. There are also places that have allowed the animals to remain in the wild at certain tourist locations like the monkeys in Gibraltar or even the wild donkeys in South Dakota. All it takes is a little patience and a willingness to take several photographs so that you just might get the one that you were looking for. Do you take photographs of animals in the wild?

Bird Along the Trail to the Top of Gellért Hill in Budapest

Colorful Details of a Hummingbird Moth in Our Backyard

Fascinating Birds Can Be Found Everyplace

On March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge4 Comments

We’ve been fortunate enough to get into nature in many different places and there are certainly some colorful and interesting birds in the jungles of South America as well as the forests of North America. Birds, however, can be found almost everyplace. Although birds like pigeons and black birds are the most common, it doesn’t mean that you won’t find some more unique ones wherever you live. Like many people, we have a birdfeeder in our back yard to attract different varieties of birds and we enjoy watching them throughout the year.

Bird in the Mountain Village of Telluride

We aren’t necessarily bird watchers, but we do keep our eyes out for birds whenever we are out and about, especially hiking. During our trip to Ecuador, we had two specific opportunities to go in search of birds. The first was our trip the top of the canopy of the Amazon Jungle where we saw macaws and several other colorful birds. On the following day, we took a boat out to a “clay lick” where different varieties of parrots flocked to enjoy the minerals that are found in the clay.

As we mentioned, though, you don’t have to be in the jungle or forest to see interesting birds. We have seen birds in the trees of Budapest, found them in parks of the city, and sometimes in the trees of our hotel. We have so many hawks where we live in Colorado that we consider them to be as common as the black birds and pigeons that we see wherever we travel. We aren’t sure what the most unique bird that we have seen would be, but we certainly enjoy all of the various varieties. It isn’t always easy to capture a photograph of them as they often fly away just as you pull out your camera to catch their image. What is the most unique bird you have seen and were you able to capture it in a photograph?

Hoatzin (Stinky Turkey) in a Tree above the River in the Amazon

Hiding on the Shores of an Amazonian Tributary

On February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, South America5 Comments

When we stayed at the ecolodge in the Amazon Jungle while we were in Ecuador, we canoed on a tributary of the Amazon river every day. The plants that line the water are very dense with a variety of reeds, branches, and hanging vines. The entire time we were in the jungle, including while in our canoes, we had to constantly scan the foliage around us as you never knew when you would see some of the many different animals that live there. The animals are very adept at camouflaging themselves amongst the leaves and branches, so mostly you spent your time looking for any kind of movement and then the guide would stop the canoe and we would use binoculars or zooming in on the camera to find what animals were hiding in the trees. We had to look up into the trees as well as the edges of the water because in addition to the birds, monkeys, and sloths that were in the trees, there were anaconda snakes, large black caiman, and river otters that love to hide in the reeds along the shore. Here are a few of the photographs that we took as we canoed to and from our ecolodge in Ecuador.