Philadelphia Zoo!

The zoo in Philadelphia is, and always has been, one of my favorite places. We had the chance to visit this week and of course I took a million and three photos.

When you arrive, you need to park a block or so away and walk to the Zoo entrance. Along the way, we passed this beautiful mural. The colors! I could not resist this capture.

Say hello to my leeetle friends. These are lemurs. They had the best time pouncing back and forth on their perches and playing games together. Their eyes were stunning and I think the background here really brings them out.

What's that? The giraffes are your favorites? Oh, mine too! Take a look at these guys, are they gorgeous or what? These guys were the perfect opportunity to try out my new 75 - 300mm lens. The first is shot at 75mm, the second at about 150, then the last at the full monty. I was pretty impressed! I do need to practice with it a bit more, though. I found it a little tricky to keep steady at the full 300mm. I can see where a tripod would have been a big help.

Of course, there are also some lovely sculptures at the Zoo. This fountain is just one example. The animals leap through the water as if they are dancing. The water crosses and plays off the sculpture, sometimes splashing passers by. I used a higher ISO to capture the water's motion. I'm really pleased with the results. Two of my favorites from the day:

This was a great place for me to practice and I hope to get back to the Zoo again soon!

Ah, a day at the beach!

Oh, I bet you all thought I fell out of blogland, just another victim of an evil tonsillectomy. Nope, you should be so lucky. I'm feeling much better, thank you! It's so good to be (almost) back to my old self!

Well, Summer has finally arrived, and we made our first visit to the beach this past weekend! Of course, my trusty Canon is like my Amex card. I can't leave home without it. I took about 190 shots! I'm making up for time lost recovering, and boy, did that feel good!

Here are a few favorites:

What's a trip to the beach without a sand castle or three? I love the angle on the water and how the sky and the blueness of the water and sky. To me, this really captures what a perfect beach day it was:

An important element to photography - the lines. I really like this one in black and white. The lines of the dock with the waves coming in and the broken slats on the base of the dock work well, I think. Next time, I think I'd like to capture more of the dock and pull back a bit.

This little guy was being quite evasive, so I had to bribe him to stay close. I tossed tiny pebbles in his direction, and he hung around, thinking I may eventually toss him some real snacks. Alas, it was not his lucky day, as I'd neglected to bring any. He did give me quite the dirty look once he realised the chuck wagon was not arriving. I'm really pleased with the bubbly effect of the waves coming in here, and that he is in mid-step.

Perhaps if Mr. Seagull had ignored my pebbles, he may have come across this guy, as I did. Again, I really like the bubbling water here. I also like the texture of the sand.

Shooting in bright sunlight really does have its challenges. Several of my first shots are overexposed because I'd neglected to adjust my ISO properly. I'd had it set at 800 for some snapshots I was doing indoors the day before. I lowered it to 200 and the results were much better!