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Christopher Donovan Travel Photography

Idly staving off claustrophobia by recalling being very far away. Travel and wildlife photography

11/01/2021

Ten years ago today, I took this photo while spending my 40th birthday wandering the streets of Paris in freezing rain. The trip was a last minute solo whim; honestly, I didn’t want to acknowledge THAT particular birthday at all, so getting out of town seemed called for and suitably moody Parisian beauty was just the ticket. I’d never have guessed then that my 40s would the best decade of my life, not only because of the incredible travels (of most interest to my followers here!), but because I met and married the love of my life and then, just under the wire at the grandfatherly age of 49, had a gorgeous daughter (who singlehandedly offset much of the general terrible-ness of 2020). I’d love to be wandering Paris with the family now— a year ago, I wouldn’t imagine spending this day in Philadelphia—but hunkering down with them still feels pretty great.

29/05/2020

Spray Park Trail, Mount Rainier National Park. July 27, 2014. F/4 at 75mm at 1/125 sec, ISO 100.

Before departing for this day hike, I figured to go relatively light, and left the zoom at home. Of course that meant a close encounter with a Grizzly, and many ideal photo ops unrealized. I do love this one, though, taken when encountering her a second time on our way home, with the landscape bathed in fading light.

21/05/2020

Sunset at Chobe National Park, Botswana. June 28, 2014.

This photo from my first visit to Botswana sums up the safari experience for me; watching the sun go down at the end of a magical day, sipping on a gin and tonic, listening to the sounds of the bush. As I recall, as I took this there were kudu sprinting about, elephants meandering near the river, and baboons heading up into the trees to spend the night. It was a long and spectacular day, and I made sure we made a Chobe stop when I took wife Margaret on her first trip to Africa.

Time to resurrect this page, which I haven't posted to since way back before our last long road trip out west... which, turns out, will likely be our last ramble for quite some time! Even before Covid hit, this was going to be a slow period for travel for us (though I did have to cancel my first visit to Rocky Mountain NP in April); now I'll definitely be in reminiscence mode for quite some time, no matter that things are (prematurely and unwisely) starting to open up. With our academic year ended, I'd usually be just about to head out... somewhere, so photographic memories have never been more valuable to me. And I should have free time to post!

06/11/2019

Alpenglow, Grand Teton National Park. June 3, 2016. Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L. F/8 for 1/640 sec at 330 mm, ISO 4000.

In early summer 2016 my wife and I went on an extraordinary, wildlife-centric tour of Yellowstone and Grand Teton arranged by Natural Habitat Adventures. Afterwards we stayed behind in Grand Teton to relax and hike at our own pace, much needed after the rather intense tour schedule. We stayed in a cabin at the beautiful Jenny Lake Lodge, an ideal location to hike the trails near the lake, and I took this shot walking on the lodge grounds with the the longest lens I had available as pink clouds draped the peaks.

02/10/2019

Red Panda at the Philadelphia Zoo. March 15, 2014. Canon EF 100-400 4.5-5.6L, F7 at 400mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 100.

This Sunday I was back at the Philadelphia Zoo with a group of college students; we take them once a year, and I always enjoy capturing some shots in the process. Zoos are complicated for me-- part of me reacts against animals being kept in captivity, but I respect the vital conservation work zoos do and of course I never would have been drawn to wildlife without a plethora of experiences at this particular zoo as a kid; that's an essential role if we want to inspire new generations to care about preservation, right? While my wife and I certainly plan to photograph red pandas in China one day, I'm sure I'll never top this pic, which is probably my favorite zoo photo ever. I'm not sure how I got it, seeing as I didn't come close to a decent shot of one of these adorable but energetic critters this weekend.

23/09/2019

I've let this page languish for too long with work and life insanity but let's get it rolling again as fall comes around. So here's a fall recollection.

Shenandoah National Park. October 25, 2015. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L lens, f8 at 1/80sec at 21mm, ISO 100.

My wife and I visited Shenandoah for the first time shortly after we got married in 2015, and it quickly became a go-to place for us. Only that first trip was at the height of fall color, and this was more or less our first majestic view of the park, shot quickly and handheld. It's certainly not the sharpest capture but I like the feel of it.

31/07/2019

Blue-footed b***y, North Seymour Island, Galapagos. December 31st, 2016. Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L lens, f/8 at 300mm for 1/500 sec, ISO 100.

This was a new year’s eve in style, taking in splendid Galapagos wildlife, including excellent sightings of charming bo***es and imposing frigate birds on North Seymour, one of the closest and easiest to access islands from Santa Cruz. Galapagos is a photographer’s paradise in that the wildlife plays tourists little mind— and here I was able to take my time to catch some of the sea color from waves crashing against the rocks on which the bo***es were perched. This was the cover photo of Audley Traveller magazine in summer 2018.

06/07/2019

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. June 13, 2013. Canon 24-105 F/4L. F/8 at 32mm for 1/400 second at ISO 100.

I haven’t posted for a bit because I was on vacation in Acadia National Park. My family didn’t do National Park trips growing up so I’ve been late to the game on those; I’ve still only been to 15 to date but my wife and I have been prioritizing them recently. My first visits were outside the mainland— cruises to Hawaii and Alaska. Glacier Bay was perhaps when I first fell in love with the beauty of the parks— on my first time through, I was awed not only by the glaciers and mountainscape but the streaks of blue sky reflected in the clear water (grizzlies, mountain goats and bald eagles don’t hurt either).

I hope some of you got out to the National Parks over the 4th!

14/06/2019

Hyena in early morning light, Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa. June 25, 2014. Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L lens. F/5 for 1/800 sec at 214m, ISO 100.

This is one of my favorite hyena shots, taken on my first trip to South Africa. Sabi Sands is a private reserve bordering Kruger and the sightings are frequent and at close quarters. It was a very different feel than the more sweeping landscapes I had found in Tanzania, more intimate if less poetically grand. Our first encounters each morning were of hyena, by far the most underrated of the predators (I'd guess the forthcoming "live-action but really animated" Lion King remake won't do them any favors either!). I love them, bone-chilling laugh aside, and I appreciated seeing them often on that trip, watching them on the hunt as well as coming home to their cubs. The early morning light here was glorious, though their features were sometimes lost in the shadow and I had to constantly adjust the exposure.

11/06/2019

Spring in Yellowstone. May 30, 2016. Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, F.5.6 for 1/500 sec at 300 mm, ISO 1250. Instagram crop.

Here's an example of a photo that works much better in instagram format, viewed on a phone. It's quite a bit blurry as the bison and calf were in full trot and we were in a vehicle heading in the other direction. I have plenty of better bison pics, but this was a great moment to commemorate-- it was my wife Margaret's first trip to Yellowstone, and this pair greeted us immediately upon our entering the park (after a few days in Grand Teton). After these two passed us, snarling traffic as is the norm there, we were able pull over and marvel at the majestic sight of a larger herd fording the river.

07/06/2019

Sunset from Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. November 17, 2018. Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L. f/7.1 for 1/250 sec at 70 mm. ISO 100.

Last fall we took our first trip to GSM and caught the tail end of misty fall color... and then got wrapped up in a sudden snowstorm. Because of snow closure, we couldn't get out to the celebrated view at Clingmans dome for a bit... until our final night at the park, when the roads obligingly re-opened just in time. We didn't watch the sunset from the observation tower (we were with our dog, and chose to obey the rules on that even if no one else seemed to!), but it's hard to imagine the view being any more stunning. Some of my favorite shots were zoomed into the horizon (this is with the cropped sensor 70d), instead of trying to capture the wider view.

Have a great weekend everyone!

04/06/2019

Polar bear cub, Manitoba. November 4, 2017. Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, f/5.6 at 1/160 sec at 100mm. ISO 250.

One of my favorite wildlife encounters was this inquisitive cub who paid us a warm greeting (pretty much the only thing warm about Manitoba in November!). The Churchill Wildlife Management Area is an ideal a place as possible to spot polar bears, as they congregate to await the freezing of Hudson Bay, after which they venture out on the ice for hunting. Visiting is done in enormous polar rovers, though as arranged through Natural Habitat Adventures there is plenty of space available to store gear and move about. This was our first of many close sightings, and it couldn't have been better (my wife Margaret was even able to get a great shot of this youngster with her phone). I wrote a little more on the trip for NatHab at https://www.nathab.com/blog/capturing-character-polar-bears/.

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