Easily, the four very best photos...

[Gato Moteado]

...of mine over the last few weeks. I've had a chance to get in front of squirrel monkey troops right in front of my house. I don't even have to put shoes on to take these photos; the monkeys come to within 4 or 5 meters of the front of my house...I just walk around the wide concrete walkway that wraps around the house and shoot under the shade of my roof. The big challenge has been shooting with the 300mm and 500mm prime lenses without a tripod. A lot of shots are not keepers, IMHO, because of camera shake; but, I think the problem is too much coffee in the morning, so I started cutting back today and hopefully I can get some more nice shots in the next few days, before I have to travel.

Seeing the mothers with the babies is amazing. Sometimes the father will come over to the female and the three will cuddle. So, I've taken over 1000 shots, easily. I haven't finished reviewing them all yet, but these are the best of the bunch so far. I hope you enjoy.

[blm]

1. Wowza!

[Gato Moteado]

8. Not bad for a hack.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Your photos are incredible!

[Gato Moteado]

9. Thank you.

[Karadeniz]

3. Those are fabulous...!!!

[Gato Moteado]

12. Thank you.

[brer cat]

4. Great shots!

[Gato Moteado]

10. Thank you.

[Walleye]

5. Wow. Great shots! Rich color

[Gato Moteado]

11. Thank you.

[CurtEastPoint]

6. omg these are once in a lifetime photos! Where are you??? I LOVE THESE!

[Gato Moteado]

7. Thanks!

I'm on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

[CurtEastPoint]

13. I was gonna guess Costa Rica!

[usonian]

14. I hope you get a tripod, because

that Costa Rican coffee is so good!!

[Gato Moteado]

19. yeah, i have a few, but for mobility i'm trying to improve my...

..hand held shooting

[niyad]

15. Amazing. Thank you for sharing.

[Gato Moteado]

20. Thank you.

[MLAA]

16. These are National Geographic quality!

The last is absolutely wonderful!

[Gato Moteado]

21. thanks....nat geo hasn't called me yet....

...but, that's sure been my dream since i was about 10 years old.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

17. These are all great,

but that last one is killer!

[Gato Moteado]

22. yeah....i was so happy i didn't shake too bad on that one!

[LakeArenal]

18. Mother's Day.

[Gato Moteado]

23. exactly!

[panader0]

24. K and R! Very nice Gato. All the best!

[Gato Moteado]

27. Thanks, brother.

[GeoWilliam750]

25. Nicely done!

[Gato Moteado]

28. Thank you.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. Wow, my dear Gato! So Very Good, all of them. Thank you. ♥

[Gato Moteado]

29. thank you, peg!

[70sEraVet]

30. Yep. That monkey-sandwich one is one in a million!

Definitely the only way to shoot wildlife. Great work.

[Gato Moteado]

32. thank you...

...i get a lucky shot now and then.

[Mira]

31. I am

absolutely
not
beieving
these.
My mind is blown on so many levels. Each arrests my attention. Especially the third, no the first and then the last LOL.

Where do you live?

[Gato Moteado]

33. what is it that you don't believe???

anyway, thank you for the kind words.

i live in costa rica. these were all taken at my rain forest property on the southern pacific coast. i'm not lying when i tell you that i didn't even put shoes on to take these shots. when the monkeys come down (which is several times a day), i can see them and hear them from inside the house.....i just grab the camera and walk outside on the concrete walkway around my house, under the roof-line in the shade and start shooting. they come to within 4 or 5 meters of the house.

one reason these shots are nice (other than the expression of or interaction between the monkeys) is that the foliage is far enough back behind them, that shooting with the 300mm and 500mm prime lenses opened up to the widest aperture, from close range, the background turns to a nice, creamy, dark green canvas, allowing the subjects to pop out of the photo. i wrote a post about this kind of stuff a while back in here.

i'm working on creating areas for blinds to be setup so i can do this kind of work even more close up with my 105mm micro nikkor f/2.8 lens!

[Mira]

34. What I did not believe is

precisely what you are describing and how you achieved it. The photos look like ancient medieval paintings to me, since you were able to practically set the subjects on "black velvet".

I love
Costa Rica. Have been privileged to be there for three visits. all in the Lake Arenal area. I have climbed the volcano, have been in the hot springs baths, in the restaurant high above San Jose at night, I wondered how they find their way without street designations in that huge city. I have been on the swinging bridges in the jungle and heard the howler monkeys.

Huge and happy memories.
Thanks for answering!

[Gato Moteado]

35. Sounds like it's time for another visit....

...come see the southern Pacific zone. Corcovado National Park, on the Osa Peninsula (which I can see from where I am right now), is the most biodiverse place on the planet.

To answer your question how we find our way around the central valley:
Waze

So, I adjusted my in-camera and Ps exposure technique today because the white faces of the baby squirrel monkeys have been giving me problems...lots of good shots are lousy because the highlights on the faces were getting blown out, even on overcast days. so...

For this shot I underexposed by 1 full stop (using the +/- compensation which adjusted ISO accordingly because i use auto ISO) and then brought the shadows back with an exposure adjustment layer in Ps, carefully preserving highlight areas on the baby's white face, which would get blown out otherwise. what do you think?