Photo of the Month July 2024

Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For July we chose an image taken on our Pantanal Workshop for Strabo Tours. The image was taken by Melissa Stanton while photographing jaguars in the wetlands of Brazil. Melissa is a travel and wildlife photographer and has a strong fondness for felines.

Congratulations to July 2024 ‘s featured photographer – Melissa Stanton

The Story… 

We came around the corner and the jaguar was walking down a log. Tom was yelling and dancing around. He is always so excited about cats. I figured I better get ready to take a photo.

It looked like the cat was thinking about jumping into the water. I turned up the shutter speed a bit so I could get it in focus, Then the cat jumped.

It was fun to watch him swim. Cats do not normally like water. To see cats swimming was really kind of cool. Everyone was so impressed with watching the jaguar jump. The jaguar was pretty close to us when it happened. It was definitely cool to see.

I didn’t know that I had such a good picture until I got home and looked at in on the bigger screen.

EXIF Data:

Camera: Nikon Z9

Lens: Nikon Z series 600 mm PF

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter: 1/5000 second

ISO: 1600

Mode: Manual with Auto ISO

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About Photographing in the Pantanal

It was great. It was relaxing to be in the boats, riding around on little rivers. Everywhere you looked there were capybaras or caimans or something else.

The drivers were very good at getting us close to the wildlife. We were close but we did not disrupt them.

We were ridiculously close to some of the birds and they did not seem to care. They knew they could just fly away. They also knew that we were not going to bother them so they just went about their business.

The birds were easy to capture. Many of them were perched right near the river. There was a lot of variety between the huge storks and the tiny kingfishers.

I was going through my photos and landed on the Road-side Hawk. I thought he looked so cute. He’s on one foot and is looking right at the camera. This created a connection which I really liked.

The Capybaras looked so chill. They sit around on the banks. Lucas, our guide, said they are stressed because of the jaguars but to us they seemed like the Chill Dudes of the river. The caiman would lie right next to them without a worry. They just look like fun animals.

It was a great trip, fun leaders and companions. I was glad I was able to do it!

Melissa’s Tips for Wildlife Photography

Tip 1

Try to be aware of everything. There were so many birds and animals that I needed to watch my shutter speed. I didn’t want to miss the shutter speed and end up with soft photos.

Tip 2

Shoot in manual with auto ISO. The light conditions changed all the time and using these settings made it easier for me to get it right.

Tip 3

The Nikon 600mm pf lens was amazing. It was very sharp and very light. For 70% of the shots on this trip it was the perfect focal length. A few times I was a little too tight and ended up focusing on just a part. of the animal

On Melissa’s Horizon:

Route 66

Greenland

Moving to Spain in 2025

Antarctica

Join us on a workshop this fall! Spaces Open in 2024:

Route 66: Albuquerque to Winslow, Arizona from Oct 23-27, 2024 Learn more

Route 66: Oklahoma City to Amarillo from Oct 18-22, 2024 Learn more

Bosque and White Sands National Park Workshop from Dec 8-12, 2024 Learn more

Enjoy the Olympics!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com