Scottes
5th of September 2004 (Sun), 08:56
The wife wanted to go to the zoo yesterday. They have a large Butterfly tent set up seasonally and the season ends Monday, so it was definitely time to go. It was a beautiful day, the zoo has all sorts of animals (and they must have about 40 different kinds of ducks!), so it was easy to twist my arm.
To my surprise she wanted to take her camera, a P&S Fuji S7000. I was pretty psyched since she's never expressed much interest in going shooting with me. (She probably doesn't like birds as much as I do.) Hopefully this will happen more often, as she's full of inherent artistic talent, and since I have none of that stuff she could teach me a lot about composition and color and such. So far osmosis hasn't worked.
So off we went.
But not for long. We ran into Boston traffic, and spent an hour traveling 7 miles. We were stuck in the long Big Dig tunnel for about 30 minutes, and when we came out we discovered that the clouds had done the same. We now had about 10% sunlight, 90% cloud cover. But after that ordeal we pushed on, as it was only 2 exits further.
Another 20 minutes passed and we made the exit. And 9 blocks later we made it to the zoo.
Woo-Hoo!
So we bee-lined to the butterfly tent, which may have been more appropriately named the Butterfly-less Tent. Well, it wasn't that bad, but the butterfly count was very low since it was almost the end of the season. It was arranged well, since it was a rather natural environment with a big tent thrown over some small trees and mounds of dirt covered with wildlfowers.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Butterfly_9818.jpg
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Butterfly_9847.jpg
After a bit we moved on, and checked out the giraffes. These are impressive animals. The male was being extremely amorous, and the female was quite flirtatious, so they were fun to watch. The male would chase the female down the length of the paddock, and I have to tell you that they are *graceful* beasts when running. It was beautiful to watch, really. But the surprising thing was that they made no noise at all. My wife told me that they don't have hooves - which gave me an excuse to use the the word "ungulates" - but tough pads like the soles of our feet. It was quite nice.
These animals can cover a *lot* of ground when running, so I could only get a still shot. They certainly seemed happy with each other.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Giraffes_10041.jpg
We ambled on to the Outback Trail full of wallabies, kangaroos, and emus. I think emus are quite ugly, and I have a picture to prove it from my last visit. My wife, however, doesn't think so. So I might not be able to learn much from her after all... :)
We watched a kookaburra play with and finally eat a mouse, which was interesting. Cool birds, but they must like it dark because I was getting 1/10 shutter as ISO 400. Oh, well.
We made it to the bird house, and some of their birds are pretty cool. My favorite was the Double Barred Finch, though I wish I could have gotten a better picture.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/DoubleBarredFinch_9940.jpg
We browsed quite a bit more, going through the too-dark primate house. The flash looked far too unnatural here. I didn't like any of my pictures. Oh, well.
But we made it around to the Lions, and they were doing a great job of posing for everyone. Actually I think that they were just sitting in the sun, but it worked for us.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Lion_10030.jpg
Walking back from seeing the lions we ran into a woman who commented on my camera. She was a Nikon film shooter, but she was still nice. We talked a bit - seems her mother has now broken two of her lenses so she didn't have her camera. That must suck. I extolled the virtues of digital to her, and she listened politely and smiled - without condescension of any kind - so deep down she must not be a true Nikon person. There's hope for her yet, though I don't think that I convinced her to go digital.
After that conversation my wife stated that she must have heard at least 7 or 8 people comment on my camera and lens (the 100-400) and I just laughed. I've gotten very good at ignoring those comments by now.
We ambled on...
Would I still be Ninja Birder if I didn't stop for a close-up of a House Sparrow? I think not....
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/HouseSparrow_10075.jpg
It was getting late by now, so we hurried over to see the ducks. Well, *I* hurried while my wife just rolled her eyes. That happens quite often.
It was pretty dark by now, and the temperature had dropped 15 degrees, too. But I did get a few pictures of ducks.
The patch on the wing is pretty cool.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Duck_10092.jpg
And finally, the Amur Leopard. We watched one of these guys literally stroll up a 20-foot pole. Amazing.
But a bit too dark to get a decent picture, but these animals are far too beautiful to pass up.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/AmurLeopard_10114.jpg
On the way home - which was *much* faster despite my not knowing where to go - we stopped at a local big camera store, WB Hunt's. My wife had decided - after a mere 4 hours "in the field" - that her camera bag was too small and her camera strap simply sucked. So we got her an Optech strap and a little Tamrac Velocity sling bag. She loves both.
I could sit here and praise the Optech straps but I'll simply say that if you don't have one, get one. It will be one of the best $20 purchases you'll make.
I am pretty impressed by the Velocity bag, too. It's a backpack style that quickly "slings" around to the front so you can get at stuff. It also has added straps for Tamrac's "MAS" system, their Modular Accessory System which allows you to attach more pouches or water-bottle-holders and such. It's a pretty cool bag. I may have to see if I can find one big enough for the 10D with the 100-400.
To my surprise she wanted to take her camera, a P&S Fuji S7000. I was pretty psyched since she's never expressed much interest in going shooting with me. (She probably doesn't like birds as much as I do.) Hopefully this will happen more often, as she's full of inherent artistic talent, and since I have none of that stuff she could teach me a lot about composition and color and such. So far osmosis hasn't worked.
So off we went.
But not for long. We ran into Boston traffic, and spent an hour traveling 7 miles. We were stuck in the long Big Dig tunnel for about 30 minutes, and when we came out we discovered that the clouds had done the same. We now had about 10% sunlight, 90% cloud cover. But after that ordeal we pushed on, as it was only 2 exits further.
Another 20 minutes passed and we made the exit. And 9 blocks later we made it to the zoo.
Woo-Hoo!
So we bee-lined to the butterfly tent, which may have been more appropriately named the Butterfly-less Tent. Well, it wasn't that bad, but the butterfly count was very low since it was almost the end of the season. It was arranged well, since it was a rather natural environment with a big tent thrown over some small trees and mounds of dirt covered with wildlfowers.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Butterfly_9818.jpg
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Butterfly_9847.jpg
After a bit we moved on, and checked out the giraffes. These are impressive animals. The male was being extremely amorous, and the female was quite flirtatious, so they were fun to watch. The male would chase the female down the length of the paddock, and I have to tell you that they are *graceful* beasts when running. It was beautiful to watch, really. But the surprising thing was that they made no noise at all. My wife told me that they don't have hooves - which gave me an excuse to use the the word "ungulates" - but tough pads like the soles of our feet. It was quite nice.
These animals can cover a *lot* of ground when running, so I could only get a still shot. They certainly seemed happy with each other.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Giraffes_10041.jpg
We ambled on to the Outback Trail full of wallabies, kangaroos, and emus. I think emus are quite ugly, and I have a picture to prove it from my last visit. My wife, however, doesn't think so. So I might not be able to learn much from her after all... :)
We watched a kookaburra play with and finally eat a mouse, which was interesting. Cool birds, but they must like it dark because I was getting 1/10 shutter as ISO 400. Oh, well.
We made it to the bird house, and some of their birds are pretty cool. My favorite was the Double Barred Finch, though I wish I could have gotten a better picture.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/DoubleBarredFinch_9940.jpg
We browsed quite a bit more, going through the too-dark primate house. The flash looked far too unnatural here. I didn't like any of my pictures. Oh, well.
But we made it around to the Lions, and they were doing a great job of posing for everyone. Actually I think that they were just sitting in the sun, but it worked for us.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Lion_10030.jpg
Walking back from seeing the lions we ran into a woman who commented on my camera. She was a Nikon film shooter, but she was still nice. We talked a bit - seems her mother has now broken two of her lenses so she didn't have her camera. That must suck. I extolled the virtues of digital to her, and she listened politely and smiled - without condescension of any kind - so deep down she must not be a true Nikon person. There's hope for her yet, though I don't think that I convinced her to go digital.
After that conversation my wife stated that she must have heard at least 7 or 8 people comment on my camera and lens (the 100-400) and I just laughed. I've gotten very good at ignoring those comments by now.
We ambled on...
Would I still be Ninja Birder if I didn't stop for a close-up of a House Sparrow? I think not....
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/HouseSparrow_10075.jpg
It was getting late by now, so we hurried over to see the ducks. Well, *I* hurried while my wife just rolled her eyes. That happens quite often.
It was pretty dark by now, and the temperature had dropped 15 degrees, too. But I did get a few pictures of ducks.
The patch on the wing is pretty cool.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Duck_10092.jpg
And finally, the Amur Leopard. We watched one of these guys literally stroll up a 20-foot pole. Amazing.
But a bit too dark to get a decent picture, but these animals are far too beautiful to pass up.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/AmurLeopard_10114.jpg
On the way home - which was *much* faster despite my not knowing where to go - we stopped at a local big camera store, WB Hunt's. My wife had decided - after a mere 4 hours "in the field" - that her camera bag was too small and her camera strap simply sucked. So we got her an Optech strap and a little Tamrac Velocity sling bag. She loves both.
I could sit here and praise the Optech straps but I'll simply say that if you don't have one, get one. It will be one of the best $20 purchases you'll make.
I am pretty impressed by the Velocity bag, too. It's a backpack style that quickly "slings" around to the front so you can get at stuff. It also has added straps for Tamrac's "MAS" system, their Modular Accessory System which allows you to attach more pouches or water-bottle-holders and such. It's a pretty cool bag. I may have to see if I can find one big enough for the 10D with the 100-400.