It's All Happening At The Zoo (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

A few shots from Alligator Adventure in South Carolina last week:

 

[Cees Alons]

High wow-factor (again), Scott! Cees

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Thanks, Cees! Here is one more from the aquarium:

 

[Cees Alons]

When I'm in Detroit, I usually don't leave the airport on my way to another location.

But next week my wife and I will be visiting San Diego for 3 days, before boarding a ship.
Is it advisable to visit the zoo there? (Of course that may mean spending a whole day I cannot use to go anywhere else.)


Cees

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Cees,

I have only been there once, but the San Diego Zoo is considered one of the best zoos in the country. If you have the time, I would definitely recommend visiting. You can easily spend an entire day there.

If you meant you had some time in Detroit (your post wasn't clear), the Detroit Zoo is probably a 30-45 minute drive from the airport. My wife and I will usually spend about 2.5 hours there each time, but we go a lot so know our way around and will sometimes skip some exhibits, but we will linger longer at others if something interesting is going on. Figure on 3-4 hours if you want to see everything without rushing too much.

 

[Cees Alons]

Thanks, Scott!

No, I just meant I only visited Detroit while changing flights. I never left the airport there for a local visit.

(BTW, I like that airport. We've been there several times, generally on our way to Baltimore. It's a big hub, with lots of people walking around, but somehow seems rather quiet nevertheless - at least during the hours we were there.
I have a few pictures of it, including a nice one to show here, but I cannot conveniently include images yet.)


Cees

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Cees,

The Detroit airport is a lot nicer since the two new terminals -- the McNamara and North terminals -- were built over the last decade or so. The three terminals that were replaced were quite old and run down. Now it's fairly easy to get in and out... for a bigger airport.

I still prefer smaller airports. The one in Myrtle Beach is expanding, and I am not that happy about it. Before the expansion that is currently being worked on, you could get off the plane, get your luggage and rental car keys, and walk to your rental car in 15 minutes or less -- everything was right together. Now the rental car pickup is being moved to a separate building, and it's either a long walk or a shuttle ride to the cars.

Ugh. Sometimes progress is not always for the best.

 

[Cees Alons]

There!

(I didn't add a picture with the red train.)


Cees

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

There are TWO famous zoos in San Diego. There's an urban zoo, then there's the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (when I visited it was called the San Diego Wild Animal Park). http://www.sdzsafaripark.org/ It's on 1,800 acres (7.3 square km) and is a bit out of the town. I last visited when I was a grad student at UCSD back in 1975 - 1977 so it's been awhile.

It's set up just like Jurassic Park! Lots of open spaces where the animals run free and you go through on a tram.

Cees, hopefully you aren't booked on Carnival.....

 

[Cees Alons]

Dennis,

Ha, ha, ha, no.
I happen to be a "Platinum Plus" member of Royal Caribbean.


There's usually a lot of fun on those ships lately when some of the Carnival mishaps are discussed. Costa is Carnival too.
(Of course the staff never takes part in this, and we're all aware of the fact that anything nasty could accidently happen once on an RC-ship too.)

I'm also a collector of much information "Titanic" (not the Cameron-movie - at least not specifically).


Cees

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I once sailed from San DIego to Hawaii. My cruise ship was a little different. It was painted grey, bristled with missiles, and had a nuclear powerplant.



It was the USS Long Beach CGN-9, flagship of the USS Missouri battle group. Here's the Missouri coming alongside. Later we got to see the Missouri fire broadsides from about 1 km away.

[edit: hmmm photos not loading again]

 

[Sam Posten]

Been searching for reviews and samples of the new 80-400 and came accross this one, I think it is by Jeffrey Snyder of Adorama but not sure:

Nikon D7100 + Nikkor 80-400 by SnyderPix, on Flickr

Yeah, this is my next lens. Shaaaaaaarp!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Sounds like a good choice, Sam. The Canon 100-400L is my "go to" wildlife lens, and I will only get rid of it if Canon ever produces an updated version for a reasonable price. It's such a versatile focal range for different types of wildlife.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

L' Amour

"I pledge allegiance to the flag..."

Never mess with a Wolverine!

 

[Mike Frezon]

And captions to boot!

 

[Afiger]

Those are some really great shots! I love shooting at the zoo since animals always seem to be doing something photoworthy without even realizing it. Do you use any special filters when you go? I'm fairly new to photography so I'm always looking for new ways to make the shot count.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Those are some really great shots! I love shooting at the zoo since animals always seem to be doing something photoworthy without even realizing it. Do you use any special filters when you go? I'm fairly new to photography so I'm always looking for new ways to make the shot count.

Thanks, Daniel. For my zoo photography, I rarely use any filters. I have tried a circular polarizer to attempt to cut down glare on the glass at the new lion exhibit at our zoo, but it does not help much. I do use a CPL filter and split ND filters when shooting landscapes, though.

Since we visit the zoo quite often, I will take different lenses sometimes to just try something new. I always bring my 100-400L telephoto, but at various times have also brought a 135mm f/2 L, 85mm f/1.8, 28mm f/1.8 or 40mm f/2.8 pancake.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Here are a few shots from yesterday's visit:

Red panda

"I could make a hat, or a broach..."

Like mother, like daughter

Arctic fox pup

Tree kangaroo

"I've got my eye on you"

 

[Citizen87645]

If you Ps'ed a roadmap in place of the cardboard, it could be "Now which way is north?".

"I could make a hat, or a broach..."

 

[Sam Posten]

Awesome!