Jaguars in the Pantanal

Spent a couple weeks in Brasil last month along with a week in The Pantanal and was very fortunate with my Jaguar sightings. Here are a couple samples.

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I've been waiting to see these for quite some time!

So glad to see you had success on your venture, and that you were finally able to post some Jaguar images for us.

Thanks!

EDIT: It'd be nice if you could post the gear used EXIF info for each shot (especially focal length used), and maybe tell us a little about each of these opportunities.


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Bogino wrote in post #18765837

Hosted photo: posted by Bogino in
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forum: Wildlife

Both are nice, but I like this one a lot!

Very nice

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18765842
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I've been waiting to see these for quite some time!

So glad to see you had success on your venture, and that you were finally able to post some Jaguar images for us.

Thanks!

EDIT: It'd be nice if you could post the gear used EXIF info for each shot (especially focal length used), and maybe tell us a little about each of these opportunities.


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I agree. Being a photography forum, I'm surprised by the number of photos posted without EXIF info.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18765842
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I've been waiting to see these for quite some time!

So glad to see you had success on your venture, and that you were finally able to post some Jaguar images for us.

Thanks!

EDIT: It'd be nice if you could post the gear used EXIF info for each shot (especially focal length used), and maybe tell us a little about each of these opportunities.


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Happy to try and provide EXIF infor if I knew how to do that. (I'm not a Pro like many of you). If you could provide a link or information on how to do that I'm happy to oblige.
Also--please clarify what you mean about "each of these opportunities".

Thank You.

Bogino wrote in post #18766707
Happy to try and provide EXIF info if I knew how to do that. (I'm not a Pro like many of you). If you could provide a link or information on how to do that I'm happy to oblige.

It's not really so complicated. . All you need to do is to tell us the gear you used and your basic settings, such as:

Canon 7D Mark 2 with the Canon 70-300mm L at 226mm.

Taken at 1/200th of a second at f5.6 and 800 ISO.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about providing a link .... it's just you telling us what you used for each shot, that's all.

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Bogino wrote in post #18766707
Also--please clarify what you mean about "each of these opportunities".

Well, you posted two photos, so we know that you had at least two opportunities to photograph jaguars .... perhaps several more. . It would be really interesting to hear "the story behind the photo".

Perhaps discuss how you searched for them - on foot, via boat, via car, etc.

Then maybe discuss the situation when you first saw the jaguar - what it was doing, how far it was, what obstructions were between you and the cat, how it responded to your presence, etc.

Then perhaps tell us what you did to get yourself in position for the photo - did you stalk through the vegetation to a point where you finally had a clear shooting lane?, or did you wait quiet and still for the cat to come out into the open?

You know, just basically tell the story and the details behind it all. You had what seems to be an amazing adventure, and I'd be very interested in hearing all about it! I'm sure others would be interested, as well.

Of course, if you care to post more photos, we would LOVE to see them, as well!


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18766719
It's not really so complicated. . All you need to do is to tell us the gear you used and your basic settings, such as:

Canon 7D Mark 2 with the Canon 70-300mm L at 226mm.

Taken at 1/200th of a second at f5.6 and 800 ISO.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about providing a link .... it's just you telling us what you used for each shot, that's all.

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Well, you posted two photos, so we know that you had at least two opportunities to photograph jaguars .... perhaps several more. . It would be really interesting to hear "the story behind the photo".

Perhaps discuss how you searched for them - on foot, via boat, via car, etc.

Then maybe discuss the situation when you first saw the jaguar - what it was doing, how far it was, what obstructions were between you and the cat, how it responded to your presence, etc.

Then perhaps tell us what you did to get yourself in position for the photo - did you stalk through the vegetation to a point where you finally had a clear shooting lane?, or did you wait quiet and still for the cat to come out into the open?

You know, just basically tell the story and the details behind it all. You had what seems to be an amazing adventure, and I'd be very interested in hearing all about it! I'm sure others would be interested, as well.

Of course, if you care to post more photos, we would LOVE to see them, as well!

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I shot virtually all my photo's in Pantanal with my 7D Mark II and my Canon 100-400mm Version II. I also had a 6D Mark II and 2 other lenses which I wound up barely using at all. Most of the jaguar images were shot with ISO around 300 - 350; f/5.6 (give or take) and speed around 500. Generally the weather was cooperative. Hardly any rain at all, partially cloudy most of the time and sunny some of the times.

I spent 8 days in the Pantanal and 5 of those were specifically jaguar tracking on a small boat. In the Pantanal it is not permitted to go on foot. I also chose to pay a few extra $$ and go "solo" with just my guide rather than in one of those group tours. There was a bit of anxiety the day before I arrived in Cuiaba (gateway to Pantanal) as my scheduled guide contacted me to let me know he would not be able to go with me since he needed to have emergency gall bladder surgery and would therefore have to have one of his colleagues take me. This made me nervous since I knew nothing about my newly assigned guide. In any event, things happen for a reason and in hindsight I was very fortunate to have wound up with an Outstanding guide (born and raised in Pocone) who really knew his sh*t. As a result, during our 5 days on the river we saw more jaguars than I had thought I would (probably 7 - 9 in total. We traveled the Cuiaba River and its smaller connecting rivers typically starting around 7:00 am until about 4:30 without taking a break for lunch. Most of the jaguar tour operators take their guests back to their lodges for lunch so there is a 2 to 3 hour window when you can be on your own with no other boats in sight (not that there are that many to begin with). In our case on 1 occasion there was a brief thunderstorm during lunch hour so we pulled over underneath some trees and waited it out (about 20 minutes). When the storm passed the wildlife in general seems to come to life and we spotted 1 lone jaguar walking along the riverbank and we were able to track him/her for over 30 minutes (including watching the jaguar cross the river) with no one else around. It was great. In most cases we were able to get to between 30 to 50 feet of the jaguars at the closest. The most challenging part as far as photography was the obstruction of high grass and trees. It required a lot of patience to capture those few moments when the jaguar was completely out in the open. Because the Pantanal is a refuge and the jaguars and other wildlife are protected the cats don't seem to be the least bit afraid of people. Over the years, the cats have come to realize that people are not threatening so it makes spotting them a lot easier. Once you get out of the Pantanal that is a very different story and spotting jaguars (or other big cats) is very difficult. Besides the jaguars there is an unbelievable array of birds and other mammals. One of the biggest thrills was capturing a Giant Anteater carrying her baby on her back. My guide, who has lived there his entire life was doing flips when we saw that (I was the one that actually spotted the Giant Anteater). It wasn't the excitement of seeing the Anteater but the rarity of capturing one carrying a baby on its back.

Rather than post a lot of different pictures on this forum (I think the limit is only 2 per thread) I'm providing a link to "Pantanal 2018" which has about 80 images, including a few of Iguassu Falls where I chose to relax for a few days.

Hope this is what you were seeking Tom.

https://bogino.smugmug​.com/Pantanal-2018/

Bogino wrote in post #18767417
Rather than post a lot of different pictures on this forum (I think the limit is only 2 per thread) . . .

More than two are allowed if viewers ask for more. I'm asking! Do you have that anteater handy?

The limit per post is two if uploaded, eight if embedded.

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Bogino wrote in post #18767417
Hope this is what you were seeking Tom.

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Oh, yes, it certainly is!

Ever since you told us several months ago that you would be doing this trip I have been very interested. . I couldn't wait to hear about it and to see the photos you were able to get. . Sounds like a really wonderful time that you had in a very unique venue. . A wildlife photo trip like no other!


Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us about it.


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That's really something special. Nothing about how anteaters care for their young had ever crossed my mind. A solitary anteater just doesn't seem very parental.

Exceptionally beautiful ! My favorite & a true jaguar in his element. Absolutely love his dangerous eyes.

Fantastic

Wow! Really nice pictures, I like the second one close-up look!