Self-Portrait with beard...

[rpcrowe]

Not really Just some of my friends at the San Diego Zoo...
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[NorthernFocus]

Richard, I assume the first shot in the series is the selfie? Somehow I just assumed you would have more grey in your beard. Since it's 2014 it would probably be politically incorrect for me to comment any further on that

But the rest of the shots are great. All nicely composed and technically well executed. Looks like you have some nice friends.

[FootLoose]

You scrub up well, Richard

I prefer the first one because of the different colours in the hair (fur) on its head and beard, and the facial expression.

[rpcrowe]

"Somehow I just assumed you would have more grey in your beard." The red comes out of a bottle. Covers the gray quite well! Actually, in my younger days, my hair was quite close to this color...

I really wanted some images of the Mama orangutan and her baby but, she was quite content to stay in her sky condominium and keep him out of sight...



I waited for a half hour and shot the other orangutans within the enclosure but, then got bored and wandered off...

I also wanted some images of the Malayan Tiger but, the big cat did not come out of its cave. I asked another photographer, who was shooting with a 500mm Canon (makes my 70-20mm f/4L IS look puny) on a tripod, how long he had been waiting for the cat to come out. He told me that he had been waiting an hour an a half.

I guess that lack of patience is one reason why I have never really done any serious wildlife photography...

[bnnrcn]

What a sense of humour Very nice series Richard.

[rpcrowe]

I love this expression and pose.

[FrankMi]

Not really Just some of my friends at the San Diego Zoo...

A beautiful set of zoo images, Richard. Somehow, they just seem to be crying out for some captions....



"I was to the doctor today and he said that he'd never seen a woman the age of me all with the body of me all..."



"Did he say anything about that fat arse of yours?"



"Nope! Didn't mention your name at all!"

[IzzieK]

Love your sense of humour, Frank!

[John 2]

Which just goes to show Richard that shot of even captive animals are not just a case of point and shoot. These are a very nice set of animal portraits that I enjoyed very much. Good stuff.

[rpcrowe]

John. we in San Diego, are very fortunate in having two zoos that are state of the art...

Both the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have their animals in enclosures that: 1. are spacious and comfortable for the animals, 2. mimic as far as possible the natural habitat of the animals and, 3. are photography friendly (in most cases).



When I mentioned photography friendly "in most cases" sometimes the photographer needs to be a bit creative. there is a wrecked Land Rover within the compound housing these young lions. The cats absolutely love playing in and on the vehicle but it is not great photographically. Shooting from an angle that shows the least of the vehicle in the image and doing some editing will avoid the Land Rover.



The result is that both the zoos seem like they are happy places for the animals this is proven by the fact that the animals in these zoos live longer than in the wild and also that the will breed in the zoo. Both zoos are enjoyable to visit; and are great environments in which to shoot.