Geoffroy's Spider Monkey

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 13, 2016283 views8 comments

Costa Rica has four monkey species. The one I typically see most is the Geoffroy's spider monkey, which is common along the Pacific coast. Large and gangly, the spider monkey has the advantage of possessing a very long prehensile tail, which acts as a "fifth arm" and is a huge benefit with reaching to grab food or when commuting between treetops.

This youngster happened to be foraging right off the deck while I was taking a break between my tours in March. It was worth grabbing the camera and snapping a few shots at eye level.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/800th
f/5.6
(Hand-held)

Max

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on December 14, 2016 at 9:21 AM

Max,
Great shot of this remarkable monkey, devil

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Yun Gao on December 14, 2016 at 11:39 PM

I like very much that long tail which grabs the branch. Nice composition and habitat too, Lovely capture!

Registered on September 11, 2012, 267 Posts, 1621 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on December 17, 2016 at 9:24 AM

Hello Max,.. Nice to see this guy at eye level being relaxed while enjoying his treat,. The long expressive tail is an eye catcher and seeing it in full working position is great. The competing bright area over its shoulder and side is my only wish, to be lower still in intensity .

Thanks for sharing

Bill
www.billbickle.com

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on December 17, 2016 at 11:03 AM

Hi Max,

Love this one...that tail is great, the branches frame the subject nicely, detail on feet, hands, and eyes adds a lot...what's not to like? My only small nit is the minor distraction caused by the lighter "highlights" to the right of the subject...but rather than darkening them I think you could simply apply a light yellow-green tint to them.

thanks for sharing this one - really nice!

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on December 17, 2016 at 12:47 PM

Very nice framing of this subject Max. really digging this one. I do wish you didn't have the bright BG on the right to contend with, but you handled it nicely.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on December 17, 2016 at 6:44 PM

You guys are right about the distraction of the highlights.

Brad, when you say, "but rather than darkening them I think you could simply apply a light yellow-green tint to them," then we're talking about turning this into an illustration, right? I've certainly considered toning down overly-bright highlights a bit or raising shadows when detail is lost, but never considered "tinting," since I guess for me it takes things an extra step closer to manipulation/illustration (the same reason I don't like to clone out branches). It would be interesting to try that for print/art purposes though... not than anyone wants a monkey photo on their wall. enlightened