Oct 28 - Visit to the Houston Zoo

[sameerrao]

Went to the Houston Zoo to try my hand at shooting animals.

As Halloween is fast approaching there were a lot of pumpkins all over the place
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8100/dsc7752uf4.th.jpg (http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7752uf4.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1975/dsc7749hx8.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7749hx8.jpg)http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2751/dsc7754ma4.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7754ma4.jpg)

Big Cats
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3734/dsc76612kg9.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc76612kg9.jpg)http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/6403/dsc7736nw0.th.jpg (http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7736nw0.jpg)http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4467/dsc7611ev2.th.jpg (http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7611ev2.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8232/dsc7649qf3.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7649qf3.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2029/dsc7657jh3.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7657jh3.jpg)
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2681/dsc7634wr0.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7634wr0.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2993/dsc7724si8.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7724si8.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7759/dsc7623nm0.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7623nm0.jpg)

Now the Tiger is my favorite wild animal - it is truly a majestic animal to behold. It was a thrill to see one again after quite a few years. This was an indochinese tiger a bit snaller cousin to the Bengal tiger that I have seens couple times before.

Reptiles
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/546/dsc7566df7.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7566df7.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9861/dsc7549kr0.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7549kr0.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3001/dsc7556ym5.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7556ym5.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1552/dsc7548jy2.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7548jy2.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1522/dsc7551jr6.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7551jr6.jpg)
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1552/dsc7556cy5.th.jpg (http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7556cy5.jpg)http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/5997/dsc7553nx4.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7553nx4.jpg)

The snake below camouflages itself very well
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7591/dsc7543ox9.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7543ox9.jpg)

Other Mammals
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3217/dsc7604dt2.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7604dt2.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2590/dsc7688jw6.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7688jw6.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5430/dsc7719ao9.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7719ao9.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3040/dsc7572qm1.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7572qm1.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4880/dsc7571hw6.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7571hw6.jpg)
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7786/dsc7670lp3.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7670lp3.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8286/dsc7608ht4.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7608ht4.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5808/dsc7577qq2.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7577qq2.jpg)http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9258/dsc7512jb8.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7512jb8.jpg)

This dude looks the Jabba (Star wars) of the monkey world
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7910/dsc7515ec2.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7515ec2.jpg)

Birds
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8110/dsc7702ff9.th.jpg (http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7702ff9.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1120/dsc7594xm2.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7594xm2.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/82/dsc7693mk6.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7693mk6.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1892/dsc7702lo0.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7702lo0.jpg)http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/862/dsc7697rr6.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7697rr6.jpg)

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6918/dsc7645fy3.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc7645fy3.jpg)

From a shooting standpoint, I used my 70-200mm for all the shots - it did a splendid job. All the shots were handheld. Some of the shots were in low light - particularly the reptiles. Glad I had the 2.8 aperture. :) Some of the long distance shots - tiger/ lion would have been better if I had more zoom - I guess that is why big game photogs use 500mm lenses or more. I guess I can buy a 1.4X teleconvertor - it might give me a little more reach without sacrificing any sharpness.

[Toronto]

lol i would so spend 90% of my time in front of the monkeys :P

is this an andean bear eating a pumpkin?
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8286/dsc7608ht4.th.jpg

nice photos and job with the lens too. oh much did the 200mm one run you? is it the USM and IS?

[sameerrao]

It is a Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 lens with VR (Vibration Reduction). I think it costs about $1500 brand new. I think it will be a pretty decent lens to take to the Montreal GP :)

Yep - It is an Andean Spectacled bear who along with a lot of other animals were fed a lot of pumpkin - all that carving for Thanksgiving resulted in a lot of food for the animals. :)