400mm – Page 2 – The Zootographer

Every Day’s a Good Hair Day With lee

One of the Denver Zoo’s most senior animal care staff members is a dude named Jim. From what some of the volunteers tell me, his hobbies outside of bears include Monty Python references and dad jokes. What I know is that if I see Jim walking around the zoo, I follow where he’s going; somethingContinue reading “Every Day’s a Good Hair Day With lee”

Groucho

Most zoos these days have some sort of behind the scenes experience. Denver Zoo calls them Up-Close Encounters. Of the 13 they offer, I’ve done nine at this point. They’re all good; they’re all absolutely worth doing. But there are two that I recommend above all others: The Flamingo encounter, and the Elephant encounter. AtContinue reading “Groucho”

A Whimsie Snack

Whimsie is about two and a half years old in this picture. Which – arguably – is well past the realm of baby. It’s just not hard to think of her as such, especially seeing her with big mama Tinga and giant dad Jim while they forage for some greens tactically placed by the careContinue reading “A Whimsie Snack”

Just Gourdeous

I couldn’t recreate this shot if I wanted to. There’s something magical about this light that all the analysis in the world isn’t going to break down. There are some stray focus-blurred reflections in the plexiglass between me and the puppies that work with the focus blurs in the background to create something special thatContinue reading “Just Gourdeous”

The 40 Year Old Mojo

Okay, he’d actually only just turned 9 at the time of this picture. But his face feels so much like the look of innocent joy on Steve Carell’s 40-Year Old virgin poster that I couldn’t resist. When people talk to me about camera gear (which happens a lot when you carry giant lenses around yourContinue reading “The 40 Year Old Mojo”

Prowlin’ Cloud

There are some pretty elusive animals at the Denver Zoo. Even in that setting, the animals that survive on their ability to hide are going to hide. The Clouded Leopard is one of those. Most days that you get an opportunity to see Taji, he’s going to be in his perch box or napping inContinue reading “Prowlin’ Cloud”