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Amazon outtake

Amazon outtake

Marty’s photo of the day #4202: This is an outtake from the photoshoot for the cover of my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents. Yes, that is a real tailless whip scorpion on my forehead. They are mostly harmless, but having them crawl all over my face for the photoshoot tickled. […]

Lion on the Zambezi

Lion on the Zambezi

Marty’s photo of the day #4172: Deb and I watched this lioness and four of her companions hunt Cape buffalo along the bank of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. We didn’t see a kill, and after about an hour had to continue our journey downriver. I shot this photo as we canoed on by. This […]

Playing with humpbacks

Playing with humpbacks

Marty’s photo of the day #4168: Of the many adventures Deb and I had while traveling all seven continents for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, the one that provides the most vivid memories was an incredible two hours in a Zodiac along the coast of Antarctica—playing with three humpback […]

Wandering albatross

Wandering albatross

Marty’s photo of the day #4154: I will use a short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, to explain this shot: Even though we were hundreds of miles away from any significant landmass, our Drake Passage voyage was never boring. I spent much of my time outside on […]

The bulky camera that could

The bulky camera that could

Marty’s photo of the day #4111: For the last month or so, I’ve been exclusively posting photos I took in the United States. It’s time to return to posting photos I took all over the world. I shot this white-lipped tree frog in Queensland, Australia, twenty years ago. At the time, digital photography was in […]

Holding up the world

Holding up the world

Marty’s photo of the day #4063: I’ve been posting a lot of photos from Montana lately, so I think it’s time to go back and post some photos from around the world for a while. Here’s one from Antarctica. The following excerpt, from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains […]

Whip-scorpion photo shoot

Whip-scorpion photo shoot

Marty’s photo of the day #3978: For the cover of the first edition of my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, my wife, Deb, took over two hundred photos of me with tailless whip-scorpions crawling up my face. Even though we switched covers after the first edition sold out, traveling back […]

The Red Ape Trail begins here

The Red Ape Trail begins here

Marty’s photo of the day #3940: This is the waterfall Deb and I had to climb up alongside to begin our epic backpacking trip with the Iban tribe in Borneo. The two of us were only the third outsiders to ever hike the Red Ape Trail (an old Iban hunting trail). Our adventure included losing […]

The best way to do Europe

The best way to do Europe

Marty’s photo of the day #3820: When Deb and I traveled to Europe for my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” we had no GPS, no cell phones, no hotel reservations, and no plans at all other than to meet a friend mid-trip in Switzerland for two days. We started in […]

Marty Essen signed book special!

Marty Essen signed book special!

Signed books make great holiday gifts! Beginning today, I am offering a signed book special. Here are the prices: Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents: $19.95 Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico: $19.95 Time Is Irreverent: $14.95 Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not […]

Dogs make the trip!

Dogs make the trip!

Marty’s photo of the day #3768: When Deb and I traveled the world for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I loved all of our adventures. Even so, our least exotic trip, to the top of Canada, always gives me the warmest feelings when I think back about it. That’s […]

Villefranche de Conflent

Villefranche de Conflent

Marty’s photo of the day #3710: Let’s take a peek through the wall of an ancient walled city in France. The following excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, further explains what you are seeing: We retrieved our car, drove back into France, and spent the rest of Sunday […]

It’s not in the book!

It’s not in the book!

Marty’s photo of the day #3700: I shot this humpback whale photo along the coast of Antarctica. I was going to write that this photo also appears in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, but when I double-checked, it wasn’t there! Yeah, I had selected a different humpback whale photo […]

Peel River Ferry

Peel River Ferry

Marty’s photo of the day #3661: This is the Peel River ferry crossing, one hundred miles before reaching the village of Inuvik at the top of Canada. When Deb and I were here as part of my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” our dogs Kate and Annie joined us. It […]

View of Spain

View of Spain

Marty’s photo of the day #3658: I took this photo in western Spain. This excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains the shot: Where Deb and I were hiking, the valley floor was at approximately six thousand feet and the surrounding mountain peaks varied between seven and eight […]

Senator George McGovern and me

Senator George McGovern and me

Marty’s photo of the day #3653: For the 4th of July, I thought I’d share an excerpt from my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer. In this excerpt, I talk about creating and publishing my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents. And yes, it […]

Elephant on foot

Elephant on foot

Marty’s photo of the day #3592: When Deb and I went to Zimbabwe to complete the last chapter in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I was determined to see the country on foot, not from the back of a Range Rover. The reason was for moments like this, when […]