A young cheetah practices hunting on the plains of the Serengeti - Ndutu.
Being there is so amazing, real wildlife, real nature and more the awesome!


Cheetah Hunting - Tanzania
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1250s f/4.0 at 380.0mm iso800

Oxpecker at Work
Tanzania, Africa

ray@rsymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1000

Nature is tough, and the strong survive.

From 15 yards, my guests and I watch this 300 pound lion munch a 4 day old wildebeest, dead in seconds... but like any smart cat she decided to have some fun.

Giving the young wildebeest a false scenes of hope, she let it go for periods of time (5-10 seconds) at a time, but not allowing it to go far .. a good game of cat and mouse? Finally, after a few swats, and whines from the wee one, life ended, as
another life continues.

Real wildlife drama, so amazing that we saw three live kills during this tour in February.

Best regards.

Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/320s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000

I haven't been to India for a while, so my (obsessive) fix is to browse the images of the previous trips.

April 2015, our first game drive, around 9 am, and we meet an adult female with her 3 cubs. This is a female - Arrowhead.

She is performing a a sort of 'sniffing" called the the flehmen response. With the assistance of my buddy Dr. William Rapley, helping me determine the exact term, we found some websites go into detail on the how and why a cat (along with many animals) performs this recycling of air through a duct called "nasopalatine canals". These ducts cycle the air to the vomeronasal organ, which functions as an auxiliary olfactory bulb.

Basically, they are using this extra "sense" to monitor various chemical stimuli, such as pheromones. A way to determine the neighbors moods, or chemistry.

Normally, I do not get to scientific with my work, I just enjoy the beauty of nature. So with this interesting pose, I thought it worth while to investigate, and explain, she wasn't venting anger towards us, but she was doing her own bit of research.



Royal Bengal Tiger in India

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D800 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/640s f/4.0 at 360.0mm iso1250

After a quick look about for lions, we decided to venture into a forest that hosts so many bird species. 10 minutes into the woods, we catch up with 4 giraffes feeding on the lush green vegetation.

Awesome experience to have these beauties in close, and surrounded by green!

Maasai giraffe Portrait - Tanzania
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/320s f/8.0 at 400.0mm iso1250

A dusty windy day, as this cheetah picks a low profile to investigate a distance animals scent.

Cheetah Catches a Scent
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/8000s f/4.0 at 350.0mm iso1000

Love Africa!

East African Elephant
Tanzania, Africa

Less then 3 hours from the airport, we were in this park and shooting these amazing animals! What a great expreience!

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1250s f/4.0 at 380.0mm iso250

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ontario, Canada

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/2500s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso2000

Last one for now, maybe some Africa edits soon.
- somewhat different techs.

iso 12,800 is on the menu for the next trip.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ontario, Canada

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/2500s f/4.0 at 400.0mm iso1250

One more, last light!

These birds are soooo tiny!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ontario, Canada

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/8000s f/6.3 at 340.0mm iso6400

Awesome place to Hang out!

Our eye-level view of a busy osprey nest was brilliant!

This male Osprey is returning to his next for a visit to the family. Near Orlando Florida.

Osprey in Flight

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1250s f/4.5 at 400.0mm iso400

Love Florida!

A great place for action photography, testing the limits of the D850.

Purple Gallinule Landing
Orlando, Florida

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1250s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso500

I have a few more images of this scene, but most people will not appreciate them, the wee one did not have a good ending., but on the other side if this Lioness is pregnant, she will have healthy cubs.

All goo, fun shoot, real nature.

Lioness with Dinner
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/320s f/5.0 at 400.0mm iso2500

Some of the best fun with a camera is taking wildlife images
that prove to be extremely difficult.

I can't wait to get back to this place!

Black skimmer - Skimming
New York Coast

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D810 ,Nikkor 600 mm f/4 ED
1/2000s f/8.0 at 600.0mm iso2500

Daisy on the Beach
New York Coast - 2017

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D810 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/200s f/5.6 at 600.0mm

NYC Beach area, we travel east to find this colony of Black skimmers, Oyster catchers, and Common terns all nesting within a very short viewing distance.

Black Skimmer looking for a Snack
New York Coast

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D810 ,Nikkor 600 mm f/4 ED
1/3200s f/5.0 at 600.0mm iso1600

"I got a peaceful easy feelin"
Eagles

What a great place to enjoy the beauty of Nature.

Algonquin Forest
Ontario, Canada

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/3s f/9.0 at 360.0mm iso64

No Rest for the Young!

A tough life in the beginning, keeping on the move with the guard up 24 hours a day. This young Zebra need a break, using the adult females neck for a pillow.

Such a character animal. The opportunity to watch it from day one to adulthood would be brilliant!

Sleepy Zebra Colt
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1000s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso800

A Serengeti Lions Life

A short life in the big circle of the Serengeti. This 3-4 day old calf, disengaged from the herd and its parent female doesn't have a chance against the 400 pound Lioness.

Like many feline species, when they have a kill locked in, they will play with it for fun

Wildebeest Calf has its Last Dance
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/200s f/5.6 at 220.0mm iso1250

Driving by this scene was a mistake.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw this zebra up on the crest of the ridge, three times I said to myself, we should have stopped for that one.

The fourth time, and at least 100 yards past the scene I asked our driver to hold up and back up. Kicking myself, the zebra had moved closer, away from the ridge line, nearer to us. We fired a few frames regardless, ending up with this shot of which I can use as a reminder to be more sharp, and decisive.

Grazing Zebra
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/3200s f/5.6 at 210.0mm iso320

Imagine, up to 600 pounds of grass a day for some elephants!

That is a lot of groceries. A brilliant and superb animal, sensitive with a superb memory. The thing is, to try to describe the experience in words, or images, is near impossible. When we are out here, only yards away from these incredible creature, we can feel their presence inside our hearts.

They walk by, basically indifferent with the attitude, but once in a while they will turn and make eye contact, and say hello. usually in a very friendly manner. We can only offer our heartfelt respect, and hope for a long and healthy life without incident.

Remarkable creature, something the natural world would love for you to visit.

Life changing.

Elephants Dining
Tanzania, Africa

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/250s f/6.3 at 380.0mm iso2000

Brilliant early morning light, just north of Orlando we found a superb wetlands location. Miles of driving trails, with superb nature on both sides of the track. Early am, the light was excellent with the waders waking up and lifting off their overnight perches.

Some sweet backgrounds on this marsh were so much fun to shoot against. Looking fwd to returning!

thanks for looking!

Tricolored Heron in Flight - Florida
Orlando, Florida
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/8000s f/4.0 at 400.0mm iso800

Such a cool bird! Least bittern.

It's been 11 years since I have had a good chance with this beauty. Great fun

While we were shooting and tracking this Least, there were osprey crashing the water for fish, and snail kites picking off huge snails off the water, a green heron in the next swamp to our right, (50 yards), dragonfly's everywhere, tri-coloured heron, egrets, grackles, purple gallinule, common galinules and gators. what a place to shoot!

I was set up under a tree out of the sun, 10 feet from the waters edge, in a city park., walking paths, and parking 70 yards away. A gift! I have been shooting at this location at least 20 times, and have never seen such action!

Hope to go back soon., 3 full days of shooting - join me!!??

raymond

Least Bittern in Florida
Orlando, Florida

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1600s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso500

Such a cool bird! Least bittern.

It's been 11 years since I have had a good chance with this beauty. Great fun

While we were shooting and tracking this Least, there were osprey crashing the water for fish, and snail kites picking off huge snails off the water, a green heron in the next swamp to our right, (50 yards), dragonfly's everywhere, tri-coloured heron, egrets, grackles, purple gallinule, common galinules and gators. what a place to shoot!

I was set up under a tree out of the sun, 10 feet from the waters edge, in a city park., walking paths, and parking 70 yards away. A gift! I have been shooting at this location at least 20 times, and have never seen such action!

Hope to go back soon., 3 full days of shooting - join me!!??

raymond

Least Bittern in Florida
Orlando, Florida

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1600s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso500

Lots of hours hanging out at this nest site., so much fun to have them just less then 20 yards away!

We ended up in a lot of good locations besides this one, so I will keep editing and posting for a while., along with more from Africa. Love Florida!

Osprey Landing
Orlando, Florida

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/2000s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso800

Barred Owlet - Florida
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/100s f/4.0 at 400.0mm iso800

Barred Owl Chick
Raymond Barlow - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/250s f/4.0 at 400.0mm iso2000

Barred Owlet
Florida

ray@raymondbarlow.com

Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/320s f/4.0 at 350.0mm iso2000

Ok, if we wait long enough, all those photographers might
share some coffee!

Early am up and go in Tanzania, on our way to the airport we had one last visit with the young male and his partners.
We had about 3 hours of shooting time before we got on the plane in the Serengeti!

Three superb and beautiful females - one of them should be having cubs soon!

Lions having a morning Chat
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to Tanzania Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/500s f/9.0 at 400.0mm iso1250

Thanks to buddy, and local Orlando Florida photographer Jack Rogers for helping us find both the Barred owl chick shown here, and the superb view of the Osprey nest!

Great fun shooting with Jack, and brilliant opportunities!

Barred Owl Chick
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/400s f/4.0 at 350.0mm iso2000

All the comforts of home!
Amazing to watch this female, as she leaves her tiny chick in the nest, and heads out to some nearby trees for some nest building materials.

Love Florida!

Osprey Nest building
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1000s f/5.0 at 250.0mm iso800

An osprey is dropping off dinner to his family. Looking closely, you can see the hand off to the female, and the very young chick on the right side of the nest.

Looking forward to a return visit on April 24th, 2018.


Three Osprey and a Fish
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/500s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso400

D850 + my new 900 mm

with the cropping ability on this new camera, I consider my lens a 200-900mm. Extraordinarily versatile kit!

Osprey coming in for a landing on a nest in Florida.

Brilliant opportunity! a dream come true!

Osprey Dinner
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/400s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso400

Using the D850 magnification.

Heavy crop, and I am sure glad I didn't bye a 600
or an 800mm lens. 200-400 vr1 is all good.

The Talons of an Osprey
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/400s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso400

Love Florida!


We waited a bit for this chance.. and wow, the best possible light along with the whole fish in stead of the usual "headless fish". Luck was with us once again!!

Thanks to Jack Rogers for all the help in Florida!

Osprey Nest in Florida
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1600s f/5.0 at 210.0mm iso1250

Real Nature in Florida

Osprey feeding a brand new chick!
Love nature and wildlife in Florida.

Osprey Feeding Chick
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/250s f/5.0 at 400.0mm iso400

Well that is Just About Enough!

Superb lions engaging in population growth.

Hopefully for the survival of the species, and not the survival of the moron hunters and their sick hobby.

Love Africa.

Feline Lovers
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to Tanzania Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1600s f/6.3 at 400.0mm iso1250

Just booked!

Back south on Wednesday morning, up and gone around
2:30 am! Hope I get a couple hours sleep!

Here is a shot from our last tour to FLA, a Red-bellied woodpecker taken near Orlando. This bird was preparing its nest right beside a dock used for fishing boats. About 12 feet from the dock!

Standing as still as possible, the woodpecker carried on with its business, virtually ignoring us, and doing quite a nice job cleaning out the bottom of the nest hole.

Hoping the Purple gallinules are busy in nesting, and maybe some spoonies nesting to at the alligator farm at St. Augustine - just north of our hotel a few hours drive! We should see some wonderful coloured plumage, and so many birds!

Should be fun with the D850 this time, a great birding test for the camera. - real nature in superb Florida!

Looking forward to all the tolls too! (ouch!) .

Red-bellied woodpecker
Raymond Barlow Photo Tours to USA - Wildlife and Nature

ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D810 ,Nikkor 600 mm f/4 ED
1/8000s f/4.5 at 600.0mm iso1000

Red squirrel - Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada

A speedy little rodent dancing in the rocks and trees hunting for seeds, and nourishment. Following this guy with my 200-400 + D850 combination was challenging, which very quickly becomes my favourite kind of photography!

If it's easy, it is definitely boring.


Raymond's Ontario Nature Photography Tours
ray@raymondbarlow.com


Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/1000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1000

This is an eight image story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill. 1 of 8

The same cheetahs that we had for an earlier event decided to move into a thick bush very early in the morning looking for some food. The three of them split up and worked the territory like all the pros. With so many other safari trucks around it was difficult to keep track of all three animals.

They worked in and out of the bush, seemingly searching for something specific. The hunt was on!


It was so fast and quick, I turned to my right and saw the youngest cheetah cub with a wildebeest baby in her jaws. Very unfortunately, the angle we had was directly into the rising sun.

This is an eight image story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill! 2 of 8

The Cheetah had the young wildebeests by the throat and was strangling and very quickly decided to drag it into a safer location near some thicker bush. The first dozen shots were so directed into the sun it was more or less a waste of time. Fortunately, when the Cub dragged the kill to our right, the sun angle was not so effective and we had a great, point blank view of the kill.

This is an eight image story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill. 3 of 8


The Young animal appeared to want to keep the kill all to itself. It was beginning to feed while keeping watch for its mother and sibling that were not too far off in the distance. We could hear the two cheetahs screaming and looking for the younger cub but to no avail.

The young cub did not respond to the calls, hoping that it could have the kill for itself being quite selfish.

This is an eight story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill. 4 of 8


The elder mother and sibling soon caught on to the sounds of the chewing of flesh crunching of bones and the noises made by a feeding cub. They stood back and carefully moved in making very sure that there was no other animals around as they might be interested in joining in the feast.

Once they saw the coast was clear, they moved in very quickly to enjoy the feast.

This is an eight image story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill. 5 of 8

All three of the cheetahs feeding and gorging on the kill, they looked very hungry as their bellies were quite narrow. The two younger cubs worked from the back and the mother started midway down the young wildebeests body tearing off flesh and feeding.

This is an eight image story with a cheetah family hunting for a kill. 6 of 8


Periodically the mother would pop up and look around for intruders. Lions, hyenas, other cheetahs and several other sorts of predators could be looking invade the feeding site.

The cheetahs were very keen and aware of their surroundings at all times, even the young ones pop up and have their guard up looking in all directions.

Then things got ugly, lots of blood and gory views for at least 15 minutes.
They feed quickly as they know how often that their kills are stolen, especially by hyenas. At this time during the migration there was a lot of wildebeests families moving through. So the wildebeests would be dropping their calves very often in the area. These young babies were basically defenseless.

The young wildebeest calf’s wander away from the herd and become vulnerable, as this one was very much alone when it was killed.