Recently, I had another monkey photo walk with a 70-300mm lens: Not far from my guesthouse, there’s a street popular among monkeys and, on clear days, brightly lit by the sun before it slips behind the mountain.
You can observe perfect silhouettes of macaques on the street there - a great spot for a photographer.
Sharing shots from this walk and thoughts.
Thoughts like... ...I think, if monkeys could create commercial enterprises, they would specialize in the circus business, obviously:
Naturally born acrobats and clowns, that's why.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Come one, come all, to witness the greatest spectacle on Earth at the illustrious Grand Circus of cuckoo acrobats and evil clowns!
Some of them would probably also work as influencers on social media and even trade on crypto exchanges. However, circuses would be the main niche - and sports as well.
Thailand would have a pile of Olympic golds if monkey wrestling were an Olympic discipline.
The defeat is inevitable?! However, the contender executes a perfect muzzle grab and scores 5 points!
Another potential monkey job, less exciting, for monkey men with an industrial inclination:
The cable industry.
This was my destination:
It was a bit cloudy at the moment, but wait for the next shot:
If you are interested: a Nikkor 70-300mm on a Nikon full-frame DSLR, with aperture priority, 185mm, f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 800. 6.3 isn't random - this lens gives the best shots at 2 stops from the lowest (is this magic or optics, I don't know).
Yeah, baby, show me monkey gallop!
What these shots lack is interaction. But look at this scene:
Here, you can see monkeys in motion and a bond between them and feel the danger of traffic thanks to the background. You can also see both phases of the monkey run: the wide jump and the push. And such a detail as toes gives an extra point to the picture.
A little self-praise never hurt anyone. 😄
A rush to safety!
They are fun to watch but tough. I enjoy observing them through the lens, but I have no desire to interact beyond photography. Their tendency for violence among themselves and their eagerness to use their teeth doesn’t make me a big fan of macaques — I prefer being friends with cats, lol.
It was a sunset walk, so it didn’t last long. I went to the guesthouse and bought fruits on the way to keep myself full a bit longer.
All photos were taken with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 by the author on March 31, 2025, in Songkhla, Thailand