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Marty’s photo of the day #4996: My general rule for wildlife photo editing is to reject any shot that takes more than a few minutes of work. This one of a spotted eagle ray took longer and is still far from perfect. I’m sharing it mostly for the circumstances behind the photo. Deb and I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4994: Here’s a second photo from yesterday at Freezeout Lake (45 miles northwest of Great Falls, MT). The official migrating snow goose count yesterday was 51,500 (down from the peak of 63,500 a day earlier). Last night, when Deb and I went over all the photos I shot, she commented […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4993: Deb, Nellie, and I just returned from an overnight adventure. Yesterday, we drove 200 miles north to Great Falls, Montana, where we stayed in a hotel. Then, this morning, we got up before sunrise and drove another 45 miles to Freezeout Lake. Twice before, I’d made the Freezeout Lake […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4976: This was my favorite moment of last month’s Galapagos Islands trip. There are strict rules about not touching wildlife. However, the animals don’t have any rules. I was on my knees, photographing a group of Galapagos sea lions, when this pup grew curious about me and crawled across the […]
Eve, the world’s most famous rainbow boa, has died. Reaching 25 years of age, she was an old snake. And my favorite. She arrived via Federal Express on the day of the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Then she was just a foot long, curled up in a tiny container. By the time she […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4936: A while back, I posted a mediocre photo of a royal angelfish, explaining my failed efforts to capture a quality image of a species that seemed determined to thwart me. Then, while going one more time through the thousands of photos I took last year in the Raja Ampat, […]
I love the challenge of underwater photography—even when some challenges ultimately fail. I’ve been an above-water wildlife photographer for most of my life, but an underwater photographer for only nine years. Those nine years include about seventy times in the water and three different cameras. Each time, I feel like I’m getting better at my […]
In the Belize chapter of my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I tell a story about getting up before sunrise for a solo rainforest hike. When I accidently hiked into an enclave of orb weaver spiders, I humorously called them “Belizean fangs-o-death.” Ever since that moment, all orb weaver spiders, […]
Whether I’m walking in a rainforest or floating over a coral reef, I love seeing unusual creatures that appear to be from another planet. This is a crested nembrotha, which is a type of nudibranch (sea slug). It’s easy to imagine a giant spacefaring version of this nudibranch attacking a red-shirted crewman in an old […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4922: When Deb and I booked ten days sailing on the Katharina, the two main attractions were the possibilities of snorkeling with whale sharks and observing birds-of-paradise. We accomplished the whale shark snorkel early in the trip. The birds-of-paradise took more work. Twice, we went on sweltering rainforest hikes to […]
Even though our ten days sailing the Raja Ampat on the Katharina was an unforgettable experience, one of the best things Deb and I did was extend our New Guinea visit by adding five days at the tiny two-cabin Raja Ampat Eco Lodge. There, the staff took great care of us, and we bonded with […]
During the past ten years, Deb and I have snorkeled in the Sea of Cortez, off the coast of Bonaire, off the coast of Belize, and in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea. Some were organized outings with other snorkelers, and others were on our own. One thing we’ve found is that we enjoy […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4917: I remember the first time I tried snorkeling. It was early in Deb’s and my marriage, and it didn’t go well. One thing I remember from my brief time in the water was all the incredible colors, brighter than I’d ever seen before. Now that I’m comfortable snorkeling, I […]
Many of the smaller islands in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea are “bat islands.” I shot this series of photos as we approached one of those islands. It was teaming with flying foxes. Since we were returning from a stop at a waterfall, I only had my underwater camera with me. I would […]
If you’ve read my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, you know my history of not getting along with water. It goes back to a cigar-smoking childhood swimming teacher I had when I was about ten. His methods included holding the heads of his students under the water. To […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4902: Our accommodations at the tiny two-bungalow Raja Ampat Eco Lodge were quite wonderful. However, squeamish people might object to the open design that allowed rainforest visitors inside. During our five-day stay, Deb and I rescued nine land crabs that sneaked into the bathroom through a drainage pipe. Some, like […]
What would a tropical adventure be without a snake story and photo? One of the reasons Deb and I chose to spend our final five days in Indonesian New Guinea at the tiny Raja Ampat Eco Lodge was because the website promised good herping (searching for reptiles and amphibians). When we spoke with the owner, […]
Deb and I got to swim with bottlenose dolphins last month. Getting up early, we took the dinghy from The Katharina to an area where the dolphins were known to hang out. For most of the time, the dolphins were shy. They sank into the murky water and only surfaced when necessary to breathe (photo […]
When Deb and I stayed at the tiny two-cabin Raja Ampat Eco Lodge on the island of Waisai (Indonesian New Guinea), one of the recommended hikes was a precipitous and slippery climb through the rainforest to a panorama. Much of the hike had ropes for us to grab, keeping us from bloodying our shins if […]
This is the story of Deb’s and my six-million-dollar speedboat ride and one-and-a -half-million-dollar tip. When we booked our trip to the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea ten months in advance, we were warned to be flexible. That was good advice. Between January and October, our international airline tickets got canceled, forcing me to […]
