Zoo Animals

Granby Zoo (Granby, Qc)

Three-Sided Mohawk

White-Cheeked Gibbon (male), Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand

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Another wonderful shot Ashley!

ions wrote in post #14694132

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …istopherbrian/7​539611410/
A Jellyfish at the Toronto Zoo II by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr

Excellent picture Ions, you've captured the Jellyfish perfectly in flowing form and the black background helps transform this into a work of art, very nicely done!

ions wrote in post #14699740
Another wonderful shot Ashley!

Thanks Ions!

May as well post this one up now to show the difference between the adult male White-Cheeked Gibbon (shown above) and his mate, the female. Their young one was born on 5th November 2011 and, though it's colours will remain very much similar to it's mum's for approximately eight or nine months, being that this little one is a male, it's remarkable to think that he will take the colour and form of his dad; can hardly wait to photograph the transition, which should begin in the not too distant future!

This happy family reside on one of the gibbon islands at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand

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Lovely Ashley...look how protective that mum is......that is so sweet.

misty66 wrote in post #14700574
Lovely Ashley...look how protective that mum is......that is so sweet.

Thanks Sandra! When I first looked at this shot on my screen I wasn't sure if it was a "keeper" or not, as generally speaking I always want to see at least a little something of my subject's eyes, and the way I caught mum could make it appear as if she'd dropped off to sleep, though I can assure you that wasn't the case - LOL

But I agree with you, the pose captured does indeed convey more of a message of protectiveness and care than anything else, which is the main reason why I kept it in the end!

From My local Zoo. Chester, UK

Love them John. Esp those cats...

john.hem wrote in post #14706683
From My local Zoo. Chester, UK

John

Three very nice captures John, love the eye contact, especially with the (young?) cheetah.

Do you happen to know what species of bird that is?

At Khao Kheow Open Zoo here in Thailand we have a very large aviary, and much as I don't like the idea in general of caged birds, I have to say that they've done an amazing job of replicating natural tropical habitat; walking through it in elevations from the ground upward toward the canopy, with such a wide variety of exotic birds roosting, flying, hunting around for food and such, often transports me mentally back in time imagining what it must have been like before man came along.

Thought I'd share with you today four images I captured at our aviary that for me represent a small, yet magnificent example of the diversity in shape, colour and form that Mother Nature has gifted our planet with.

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Another fantastic set Ashley! Did you lay on the floor for these? (semi kidding)

Beautiful portraits of birds,very nice colours.

ions wrote in post #14709804
Another fantastic set Ashley! Did you lay on the floor for these? (semi kidding)

Thanks Ions, and excellent question!

Wherever possible, I always try try to make sure that my lens is angled at eye level to my subject, as it generally creates far greater intimacy than when shooting from a higher than eye-level perspective.

With the exception of the Bushy-Crested Hornbill, which was actually perched on a branch, the other three birds were all on the ground; as I recall, I was either kneeling or sitting to capture the Victoria Crowned Pigeon as well as the Golden Pheasant, the Vulturine Guineafowl was a whole other story.

While the Vulturine Guineafowl is perhaps not the most beautiful of avian creatures, I found it's shape, form and contrasting colours to be fascinating and I really wanted to capture this uniquely wonderful combination. Trouble was, on this particular afternoon there were too many other visitors milling around, which made it virtually impossible to capture a frame without a human leg or two in the background.

Seeing this for the challenge that it was, I decided to try something a little different: I picked an area from which I felt only the bird would walk across and laid flat on the ground before it, then when the bird finally wandered into my arc of view, although it was too close for me to grab a full-body shot, I was able to shoot up at it's head from below. From this angle and position, I was able to create a background that included virtually no distractions, which wouldn't have been possible had I shot this frame at eye-level.

Although I seriously doubt anyone would be interested in purchasing this particular image, striking and unique as it is, I've chosen to keep it for me as I've become quite fond of it. Unfortunately this Vulturine Guineafowl is no longer up at our zoo, so I never had the opportunity of trying to capture a decent shot of it's full colour and form, which for those of you to whom this bird is unfamiliar I'd really like you to see, so I picked a link of the net if you're interested:

http://www.geolocation​.ws …0-upper%20body-8.jpg/-/en

Wishing you a great weekend Ions

SCALPA wrote in post #14709893
Beautiful portraits of birds,very nice colours.

Thank you Scalpa