This is Cliff. You unfortunately can’t see him in person anymore, but he was a handsome old man who really brought some majesty to the concrete forms of Denver Zoo’s Sheep Mountain. Back when I got out of high school, I supported myself though photography and a jazz trio I ran. I did a fairContinue reading “This one’s For Cliff”
Tag Archives: Sigma
Nap Time
The days that most people consider to be good weather days for the zoo are not good days for photographing. The number of clouds in the sky and the amount of contrasty bad light are inversely proportional. There are a couple ways to work with it, though. Look for spots where you can turn thatContinue reading “Nap Time”
A Red-Capped Portrait
I’ve labeled myself a zoological portraiturist. It’s a term I made up. It’s like when Toyota tells you their SUV is best-in-class: they made up the class, so it’s definitely the best. I’m the only zoological portraiturist, so I’m the best there is. That works, right? Okay, yeah, probably not. Because as much as weContinue reading “A Red-Capped Portrait”
Flies in Flight
Sometimes you get lucky. This shot can’t be reproduced. You could sit with Denver’s male Steller’s Sea Eagle for a year, snapping a hundred photos a day, and still not get something in this vein. I’m not sure whether or not the eagle sees what is in front of him. I assume their senses areContinue reading “Flies in Flight”
A Lengthy Portrait
The 2×3 format of most modern digital cameras is awesome for landscape photos. For portraits, it’s a little long on the long side. Unless, of course, you’re working with something like a Giraffe or this Sarus Crane. In that case, a little length goes a long way.
Not Meerly a Kat.
Meerkat is a weird word etymologically speaking. Anything else I would have to say would be meerly (ha!) copying the Wikipedia Etymology entry. Besides that, I just like this portrait.
It’s a Jungle Sometimes it Makes me Wonder
My usual goal in zoological portraiture is to try to keep the environment in the photo looking as close to the animal’s natural habitat as possible. And unless you’re in some sort of post-apocalyptic movie, an urban center is not where most of these guys live. Still, sometimes the “zoo” shot is the one youContinue reading “It’s a Jungle Sometimes it Makes me Wonder”
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”
The Zootographer 