The above isn’t a picture I’d normally share outside of instagram. Seen from a distance at web resolution, it looks like a real nice photo. Seen properly, it’s obvious that the camera hit focus on the back leg rather than the face. Great pose, great light, bad photo.
This photo isn’t focused on what’s important. There are some similarities in life right now. I mentioned last time I got all serious and non-photograph-y that my “real” job is considered essential. I get paid a pretty okay chunk of money (at least if I lived anywhere but Denver!) to ensure everyone else from Wyoming to New Mexico gets the stuff they want on a daily basis, and the stuff they need during shelter-in-place orders. Unlike a lot of my friends at various zoos around the country, my income has gone up during this pandemic, not down. Still, the government decided that even with my stable income, I’m entitled to some stimulus money.
It’d be really really easy to put that into a Sigma 105/1.4. Or toward a decent chunk of a 120-300/2.8. Or even into savings toward that big old 180-400 that I dream of at night. As noted before, I’ve been donating a bit of my normal paycheck every week to various zoos during their shutdowns. A much bigger percentage of that stimulus is going to be doing the same thing. I intend to focus on what’s important.
Everyone has their own needs, their own situations, and I acknowledge whole-heartedly that right now I’m better off than most. Still, if you can spare a chunk of that check you’re about to get for your local zoo, please do so. It’s not just the animals, but also a chance at getting some jobs back for the people who make the zoo what it is a little faster once this is over.
Donate Below!
Denver Zoo
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Pueblo Zoo
Riverside Discovery Center Scottsbluff
The Zootographer 