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Week 24 of the 52 week challenge brings us to the theme of “Monster” a fun choice and one that had me thinking of a ton of set up shots involving stuffed animals, Halloween masks, tents and flashlights and more, however it also had me thinking about the excursion to the Zoo we had planned for that weekend to spend some time with visiting family. What better place to find some “monster” than the Zoo? I was thinking specifically about the great reptile/creepy crawly exhibit that Hogle Zoo has, what’s more monstrous than a 6 inch tarantula or spiky lizard, or 12 foot long Croc?
Well a Zoo’s a big place and I got sidetracked along the way by some big furry creatures…
I’ll have some more tiger shots farther along in the post, for now let’s explore some of the other animals we were able to see.
One of my personal favorite animals is the Giraffe, Hogle Zoo has a great Giraffe exhibit where you can walk in to their ‘house’ and go up the stairs to be eye level and only feet away from them while they feed.
A quick break for a drink at my favorite drinking fountain ever (I used this way back when I was a kid)
This year the Zoo opened up the new “Rocky Shores” exhibit which includes many new animals in much improved more natural settings including a Polar bear, Seals and a Sea Lion, Bald Eagles, Grizzly Bears and River Otters (we got a peak at on e of those earlier)
Here are a few:
After this we went to the Asian Highlands exhibit where they house the big cats and specifically the Amour Tigers, I’m totally in love with these big cats and must have burned through a 16gb card on them alone but I’ll try to keep it to a dozen shots or so..
How about a Black and White version?
Then he looked away…
The Black and White version:
And Finally this single male Amour Tiger, who is the owner of that monstrous (yet beautiful) bite I showed at the beginning.
That’s it for today’s visit to the Zoo, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Happy Shooting!
Howard
Toad Hollow Photography said:
One of my very favorite posts from you, Howard! TOP DRAWER!! You’ve got a total knack for shooting these animals (with your lens, of course) candidly. Very expressive and totally full of character. Great post, my friend, one of my favorites this week so far!
newd7000user said:
You’re so very kind Toad! I really appreciate you taking the time to keep visiting me here. I had such a blast shooting (with my camera – Hah!) the animals, it didn’t go so well the last time I was there, but this time I tried a few different things and I was really pleased with the results. I can’t wait to go back!
Thanks again my friend!!
Brian Kloock said:
Very nice photography. I to enjoy the trips to the zoo. Your right about the eyes on the tigers. They are very mesmerizing.
newd7000user said:
Thanks so much Brian!
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metrodcphotography said:
Love the giraffe mugshot, he lined himself up perfectly for you with the height scale!!
newd7000user said:
Thanks, it was one of those moments when you put your eye to the camera and say “Perfect” I don’t think I even moved one bit from where I was to line him up. I guess I do sometimes get lucky…