MarkBarbieri
Semi-retired
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
- 6,172
I know I just posted zoo pictures a couple of weeks ago, but I went back and shot some more today. I attended a Meetup there with the Woodland Photography Group. A cold front rolled through last night (I swear it was down in the 50s in the early morning), so the animals were very frisky today.
My first visit was to the tiger cage. I always catch them napping, so I wanted to see if I could catch one up and about in the early morning. I got lucky and found this guy pacing.
My next stop was at the lion area. Jonathon, the male, was snoozing, but the ladies were awake and pretty active.
After that, I dropped by the new chimp habitat. I don't have much luck shooting chimps. They are just so darned ugly.
After the chimps, I went over the check out the giraffes. One of the problems I always run into at the zoo is having enough reach. No matter how big a lens I bring, the animals always seem a bit too far away. Not so today.
The crazy giraffe started EATING my camera.
I figured that the giraffe spit on my lens would help me attract predators later in the day.
The bears weren't very active. This is the action I got out of them.
These guys were really going at it. Lot's of snarling and growling.
Maybe going into their cage to break up the fight wasn't the smartest thing...especially with my giraffe spit lens.
This guy likes to "move it, move it".
I've learned that shooting through the thick zoo glass rarely works. It looks good in your LCD, but when you get home, it looks terrible. This is the only "through glass" shot I got that was worth keeping. Even still, I wouldn't make a print of it.
The meerkats are fun to watch, but they're pretty homely. I'm not sure why I even bother to shoot them. One of them was a Nikon meerkat and started barking and mocking me when he saw my lens. I don't speak meerkat, but I swear I heard the number 36 in there a few times.
The elephants were a blast today. The two baby elephants were enjoying the new swimming hole the zoo added. I wasn't able to capture the spirit of their frolic. The pictures are OK, but it was a treasure to watch them play.
I got a couple of shots of this guy and then he promptly turned his back on me. I guess he was in no mood for the paparazzi.
Overall, it was a great day a the zoo. Most of my shots were with the 7D and 300mm f/2.8. I took a few with the 5D and 24mm f/1.4 (giraffe) and 135mm f/2 (elephants).
My first visit was to the tiger cage. I always catch them napping, so I wanted to see if I could catch one up and about in the early morning. I got lucky and found this guy pacing.
My next stop was at the lion area. Jonathon, the male, was snoozing, but the ladies were awake and pretty active.
After that, I dropped by the new chimp habitat. I don't have much luck shooting chimps. They are just so darned ugly.
After the chimps, I went over the check out the giraffes. One of the problems I always run into at the zoo is having enough reach. No matter how big a lens I bring, the animals always seem a bit too far away. Not so today.
The crazy giraffe started EATING my camera.
I figured that the giraffe spit on my lens would help me attract predators later in the day.
The bears weren't very active. This is the action I got out of them.
These guys were really going at it. Lot's of snarling and growling.
Maybe going into their cage to break up the fight wasn't the smartest thing...especially with my giraffe spit lens.
This guy likes to "move it, move it".
I've learned that shooting through the thick zoo glass rarely works. It looks good in your LCD, but when you get home, it looks terrible. This is the only "through glass" shot I got that was worth keeping. Even still, I wouldn't make a print of it.
The meerkats are fun to watch, but they're pretty homely. I'm not sure why I even bother to shoot them. One of them was a Nikon meerkat and started barking and mocking me when he saw my lens. I don't speak meerkat, but I swear I heard the number 36 in there a few times.
The elephants were a blast today. The two baby elephants were enjoying the new swimming hole the zoo added. I wasn't able to capture the spirit of their frolic. The pictures are OK, but it was a treasure to watch them play.
I got a couple of shots of this guy and then he promptly turned his back on me. I guess he was in no mood for the paparazzi.
Overall, it was a great day a the zoo. Most of my shots were with the 7D and 300mm f/2.8. I took a few with the 5D and 24mm f/1.4 (giraffe) and 135mm f/2 (elephants).
