The name I gave this post is looking a little redundant since we just got a collection of Brookfield Zoo shots (which inspired my contribution), but I've been wanting to use it so here we go. I've been a little slack in my zoo photography lately, I'm getting a bit too familiar with that place. ; I feel like I've taken all the shots that there is to take. ; But of course that's not entirely true, as some of these pictures demonstrate. First off, we start with a shot from January. ; In some ways winter is my favorite time to go there. ; There's few people (there have been times where my car was one of perhaps 5 or less cars in the lot, for the entire zoo, for a photographer that kind of peace and solitude is amazing) and the animals if anything are more active. ; For instance, I saw the Fennec Foxes out in the open, I'm not sure if I've ever seen that before. ; They're adorable creatures, I'm fairly sure this is a full grown adult but they look like delicate puppies. ; Not only was this individual out, but it was interested in me! ; It's an amazing feeling when a zoo animal, an animal used to a constant stream of visitors (many of whom constantly make noise at them to try to get their attention), takes an interest in you. ; It trotted up close to the edge of its enclosure to check me out. ; There was just one problem. ; Every time I fired off a shot its ears twitched from the sound of the shutter. ; In almost every picture the ears are blurred. There's not much to say about it, technically, it's not sharp and it's high ISO, but it's a dark enclosure, I was pleased to just get a shot of this cute little fox. Next up, I give you Whirl, the stubby tailed Amur Tiger. ; Not that the stubby tail has anything to do with her species, but there was an unfortunate incident with her and her brother when they were cubs. ; The father got at them through a barrier and pulled on and damaged their tails. ; They were operated on and the brother died from a reaction to the anesthesia. ; But Whirl here not only survived, but grew to be absolutely huge. ; I didn't realize how fast these tigers grow, plus perhaps I hadn't realized how much time had passed. ; I was still thinking of her as a cub, the only picture I'd seen of either of them was a crude snapshot that showed off the characteristic blue eyes of tiger cubs. ; But suddenly here she was, looking full grown and apparently none the worse for wear except for a tail that's all but missing, only a little nub remaining. You can't even see the tail here, but this shot was much better than the ones that showed that end. ; I like the sensation of being stalked by her. As for this shot, I like to think that the owl looks like it won't have anything to do with me, like I'm being snubbed by it. Next up, not a great shot but great news, to me anyway. ; Some time last year, I think, Brookfield lost all of their African Wild Dogs (also known as Cape Hunting Dogs, among other things). ; As I understand they were old, I don't know the exact details but the impression I was given was that it was just their time to go. ; I really liked those animals, they're really distinctive looking, I was sad to hear that they'd died.. ; I was hoping they'd get more, and lo and behold, they did! Not only that, but from what little I can see it looks like they have a male and a female, dare I hope the potential start of a future pack? ; They are endangered, they're the sort of animal that Brookfield would want to breed. So now I can look forward to hearing more people call them Hyenas. ; It always grates on me, because I know that hyenas aren't even canids, they may look vaguely dog like but they're NOT. ; It'll be music to my ears to hear people calling them hyenas now, though. Meanwhile the wolves are looking nonplussed. ; They're tricky, unless you catch them at the start of the day when they're hunting down the food that was hidden for them in their yard, a behavior I've taken to calling "dawn patrol" even though it's well past dawn, they spend most of their time resting. ; But I'm still pleased, this is among the best shots I've gotten of them at this distance. ; Even with the 400mm I've never really liked what I've gotten of them when they're at their resting location. Oh, technically this is a Mexican Gray Wolf. I definitely still find new things to shoot there, at least sometimes. ; The last time I was there I ran across this peahen (female peacock) with a number of very small chicks. ; The zoo has a number of peacocks (and hens) roaming free on the grounds in the summer, it's always a joy to find one of them. ; I'd never seen chicks before, though. ; I fear it's probably an awkward, tight shot, but I was mostly sticking with the 400mm, I tend to not want to swap lenses. ; Especially when I'm getting hot, warm weather makes me really hesitant to lens swap because of the extra effort it requires and heat that effort generates. ; If I get another chance I intend to try to cover them again with a more appropriate lens. Next up I give you ISO 25,600. ; It's a popular point to debate, are these ultra high ISO settings of any practical use given the admittedly high noise levels? ; My take on it is that for some situations they can be useful, but you have to accept that they invoke severe compromises on image quality. ; It's a specialized tool that's perhaps only appropriate for certain situations. ; In particular it seems to not deliver a lot of useful resolution, you do lose a lot of detail. ; But downsized to something like this it's at least somewhat useful. ; This is another very dark enclosure, the animal in question is a fishing cat. ; I'm proud of this shot even with all its limitations. ; 400mm, but the shutter speed is only an 80th of a second. ; I braced it on a hand rail, it was still wobbly but after I took several shots one came out adequately sharp. ; This fishing cat, like most felids, I suppose, spends a lot of time resting, but then again I wouldn't have a chance at shooting it if it was active. ; Which it was, earlier in the day. So we've reached the end of the tour, but I have one last shot to go. ; I want to give this one a lolcat style caption, something to suggest that this seal had just survived a crash landing of some sort. ; Something like "okay, next time I jump out of an airplane I use a parachute". ; ; I dunno, I'm still fine tuning it. ; The truth is that it was just doing a trained behavior, I think it was supposed to have something to do with allowing the trainer to inspect the rear flippers. ; I know it'd be better if the trainer wasn't in the shot, but my shooting positions were severely limited. ; I had a fantasy of climbing up on a piece of artificial rock work to get a better view, but I don't think they'd have appreciated such efforts. There's a new species at the zoo that I haven't photographed at all, yet. ; I saw them on my last visit. ; Black Footed Cats, a small African cat that's endangered. ; They have a similar delicate build to the Fennec Foxes, everyone (including me) asked if they were fully grown when they first saw them. ; It's always a joy to see a new species of felid, especially one I'd never even heard of before. ; At the time there were a lot of people around them, I didn't have enough room to take pictures, and besides they were shy and were mostly hiding. ; I hope that they'll pick more prominent resting places once they're comfortable, I'm eager to get some shots of them. ; They're getting the full treatment, if they're steady enough I'll use a tripod and use to get as low a shutter speed as I can without getting blurring from their breathing.
great shots, i told you that 400 was good, you better believe if cannon ever adds a new version with IS, my order will be in that day
