Nature Photography Adventures

Nature Photography Adventures We guide photography adventures to exciting nature photo destinations around the world. Welcome to Nature Photography Adventures.

We are focused on designing and guiding small group nature photography adventures and teaching photography techniques. Nature Photographers Bob Harvey and Diane Kelsay guide small groups of photographers to exciting and unique natural, cultural, and heritage destinations around the world. Our photography adventures strive to create a balance among wildlife, landscape, macro, and abstract photograp

hy, seeking the best each destination has to offer. You will note that we love dramatic light and know how to use it!

As some of you know, I have spent much of a lifetime finding my way deeper and deeper into the wilds, driven by both cur...
08/25/2026

As some of you know, I have spent much of a lifetime finding my way deeper and deeper into the wilds, driven by both curiosity and the desire to experience a world uncompromised by human endeavor.

Last fall a small group of us was dining halfway down the western rim of the Amazon basin, when a commotion caught our attention. Outside a fox-colored coatamundi was moving about, high in the trees. I made this image, and others, as it examined the flowers on a cecropia tree (they are tasty and rich in protein when at the right stage).

The local guides were observing, closely. This, they said, was unlike any coatamundi they had ever seen. Unlike any in the books or on the web. It was new to them - an unnamed species.

To find, in this day and age of diminishing habitats and very few "new to humans" places on the planet, a coati-sized creature wandering onto a lodge grounds - previously unknown to humans, is mind-boggling. And, so reaffirming!

It gives me hope!

This is not about beauty. This is about war!This sparkling violetear is defending turf - and it is built for just that!...
08/24/2026

This is not about beauty. This is about war!

This sparkling violetear is defending turf - and it is built for just that! If you are the target, it will face you head on and all those pretty feather "plates" will focus dazzling light into your eyes. The next step, when it means business is to flip out that purple feather below the eye - creating the sense of a bigger bird - and again flashing bright reflections. Then, the feathers on top of the head and those on the cheek can also pop up, again with dazzling reflections.

Imagine all of those reflections flying at a dizzying speed right at you!

I have watched and photographed amazing aerial battles with all armaments fully engaged. Stunning.

A Golden-Tailed Sapphire in flight.These hummingbirds seem to be beautiful from almost every angle. I could probably po...
08/24/2026

A Golden-Tailed Sapphire in flight.

These hummingbirds seem to be beautiful from almost every angle. I could probably post a new image every day for the next two weeks, just of this species, and I might need to identify them all. They have that many colors and that many "looks".

Ecuador, east of the divide.

Here's lookin' at me!This Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock paused from eating berries to gaze into my lens. You don't get too m...
08/22/2026

Here's lookin' at me!

This Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock paused from eating berries to gaze into my lens. You don't get too many chances for a head on portrait with these beautiful birds!

I have photographed both the Andean and Guianan species of the cock-of-the-rock genus. In my experience the Andean are shier and more elusive. While the Guianan are less shy and more curious.

For a treat, show up at their leks at dawn as the males compete for the females! The noise is amazing and the displays are outstanding.

-of-the-rock

Who says only male birds are beautiful?This is a female violet-fronted brilliant, deep in the forests east of the divide...
08/20/2026

Who says only male birds are beautiful?

This is a female violet-fronted brilliant, deep in the forests east of the divide in Ecuador.

No AI, no artificial light.

It's World Photography Day - and let's celebrate.We photographers shape the way people, all over the world, perceive the...
08/19/2026

It's World Photography Day - and let's celebrate.

We photographers shape the way people, all over the world, perceive the world around them and places they will never get to experience. Our designs captivate people and inspire them. And they tell them a lot about the mind (and skills) of the photographers themselves.

Get out there and make images that inspire others to have an interest in the natural world - and to take care of it!

This is a sparkling violetear from east of the Andes in Ecuador.

📷 📷

I have been reading a lot lately about how scientists are finding that hummingbirds are adapting much more rapidly to en...
08/17/2026

I have been reading a lot lately about how scientists are finding that hummingbirds are adapting much more rapidly to environmental changes than previously thought. Changes, like beak shape and length, that they assumed took thousands of years are really taking place in a fraction of that time.

Looking through my hummingbird images, it made me see them in a new light. Take the Peruvian Booted Racket-Tail in this image. How long did it take for those long rackets to develop. I do know, from time in the field, that youngsters have shorter rackets and they grow to full size by the time the birds are involved in reproduction. I can tell you that adult birds use those as rudders and can move them around to accomplish all sorts of moves!

Why did those boots show up - how long did that take - and why are this bird's boots orange while others are white?

The process of knowing about the subjects I photograph is, to me, as rewarding as designing the image or the challenge of catching just the right moment. Nature is an amazing set of subjects to work with!

Here's another tall vertical of a wild peacock in India. Different photographer - Diane. Different peacock in a differ...
08/16/2026

Here's another tall vertical of a wild peacock in India. Different photographer - Diane. Different peacock in a different setting. And an entirely different design.

One of the joys of photography in nature is to shut down your inner Xerox and let the designer in you come out. It not only stimulates your creativity, it tells us more about the animal, and it fosters a lot of fun!

This peacock was showing off for a lady. His display unfurled, he turned slowly. The full display suddenly became comp...
08/14/2026

This peacock was showing off for a lady. His display unfurled, he turned slowly. The full display suddenly became compressed. My shutter kept firing.

I chose this image, because the head was sideways. Facing the lady. Not me. That revealed the yellow green patch behind his neck. And it gave a sense of depth.

Later, the biggest challenge was the crop. I ended up cropping this image three ways - this is the most vertical. The others gradually took away parts of this image from the top and bottom. I like them all.

A note to photographers... When photographing peacocks in the wild (and presumably domesticated), don't assume that your "eye" focus will find the bird's eye! There are a lot of spots in this image that look just like what your camera is looking for!

Bandhavgarh National Park in India - standing on a rust colored clay bank.

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