"Snake Bin" Photo of the Day: March 21, 2016

Why hello there.

Photo of the Day: August 2, 2015 "Butterfly at Lunch"

I shot this photo today while at the Minnesota Zoo outside in a patch of flowers. This gorgeous insect was feeding while I photographed it for a few minutes before it fluttered away. I intentionally blurred the background intensely to direct all of the focus onto the beautiful butterfly and the flower that it was resting on.

Photo of the Day: July 27, 2015 "The Dart Frog"

This cute little amphibian was living in its tropical exhibit at an aquarium that I visited today. It is known as the Blue Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates azureus) and is native to south america. I have always had an interest in amphibians and the various species of dart frogs have always been some of my favorites!

Photo of the Day: June 27, 2015

"Croc Jump" - This was shot during a show at the world famous Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. Made popular by Steve Irwin and his show "The Crocodile Hunter" the zoo remains as one of the biggest tourist attractions in Australia.

Photo of the Day: June 18, 2015

"Feeding a Giant." I personally have always loved opportunities to interact with wildlife, especially unique ones...and feeding giraffes is no exception. This was shot at a zoo in Iowa as kids lined up to feed this gorgeous creature lettuce!

Australia Zoo - Beerwah, Australia

This post is a little late and I apologize, but this past Sunday - June 7th - I made the trek up to the Australia Zoo while staying in Gold Coast for the weekend. I woke up from my hostel in at 5:00 A.M. and caught a nearby tram for a 15 minute ride to catch a bus for a 30 minute ride to the train station where I would take an hour train ride north to Brisbane. Then in Brisbane I would catch yet another train that was supposed to take me the whole hour and fifteen minutes north to Beerwah, but because of track construction I was forced to take it only ten minutes before boarding a complementary coach bus for an hour long ride all the way to the Zoo's front stoop. The journey back to the hostel later that night was just as tedious...but it was totally worth it.

But why did I go to so much trouble to go to a wildlife park when there are many zoos and aquariums throughout Australia, particularly in Sydney where I am residing (I was visiting Gold Coast just for the weekend)? To be blunt, because it meant a lot to me. When I was young and growing up, my superhero and idol was never a comic book character, musician, or athlete. It was always Steve Irwin, or "The Crocodile Hunter". Growing up I was obsessed with nature, particularly nature of the reptilian variety and one of the only ways that my parents could keep me indoors for an extended period of time was when "The Crocodile Hunter" was on Animal Planet. I had countless tshirts, posters, books, board games, along with many of his video tapes (wow, thats weird to say). I really looked up to him and he fed my passion for nature and my want (or need) to travel the globe. 

Even though my snake-breeding and reptile-keeping days have past I still see countless parallels between my life and my current goals and dreams and those of when I was a youngster dreaming of following in his footsteps. My love for photography has developed into my personal tool of capturing the world and showing its beauty to others. Overall, it was a stunningly beautiful wildlife park and the only one I have visited where the animals looked happy...not just healthy, but actually happy. Thank you Steve for being my hero while I was young, I am thankful to have finally made it to your zoo. You continue to be missed.

Grizzlies!

Grizzly Bears are the second largest land predators in the world (the Polar Bear takes the cake for #1). Now don't get confused when you hear that "Brown Bears" and "Grizzly Bears" are the same thing. They are not the same thing...well sort of.
     The Brown Bear is a species of bear, but there are three sub-species within that species - the Grizzly, the Kodiac, and the Eurasian - so they are technically the same thing. But not really, haha. If you were to just use "Brown Bear", you could be refering to any of the three sub-species. BUT if you want to be known for your vast wisdom and knowledge about bears then you might just want to use the correct sub-species name. So there you go! So the next time that you're in one of those "akward silence" moments with someone else, never fear! Just throw these nuggets of wisdom about Brown Bears at them and see if you can start an interesting conversation...I doubt that it will work, haha.

Take advantage of the opportunities that zoos offer!

 As photographers, make sure to take advantage of the opportunities that zoos offer. Though its not nearly as exciting or rewarding as photographing wildlife in the wild (I've even heard of it as "cheating") they allow you to photograph animals that a lot of us will never even see in the wild. For example I took these photos at the San Diego Zoo of a Eurasian Lynx...a rare species of cat that is very hard to find - let alone photograph - in the wild. Yet I got these excellent "head shots" of this species.

Black-footed Penguin

 The African or Black-footed Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) are native to the coasts of southern Africa, with the most famous location being Boulders Beach near Cape Town. Standing over 25 inches tall, these large aquatic birds are quite popular in zoos and aquariums (I took this photos at a zoo in Washington). 

Nesting Flamingoes and a Happy New Year!

It feels like 2010 went by very fast, doesn't it? Oh well, 2011 is here and I hope that you all had a great New Year! I sure did as I got to get out and take some winter, snow-filled pictures, eat alot of great food, and saw the movie "True Grit" (it was very good, by the way). Anyway a couple months ago I went to a zoo that had a large flock of Flamingoes on display and I got the chance to photograph these extraordinary birds nesting! One of the newly hatched babies was - according to a zookeeper - only a couple hours old.



The Jaguar! (Panthera onca)

One of my favorite cat species is the Jaguar (Panthera onca). Native to Central and South America (as well as the very Southernmost parts of Arizona, USA) these animals prefer thick forest as their habitat but can also be found in wetlands and dry grasslands. These creatures are most abundant in Tropical Rainforests. Growing up to six feet long (not including the tail) and standing 30 inches at the shoulder, these large cats are quite amazing.

     

Koalas! (Phascolarctos cinereus)

The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is native to the forests of Eastern and Southern Australia. A marsupial, the female will carry it's young (called a "joey") in a pouch after birth until the offspring will be old enough to fend for itself. These aboreal (tree-dwelling) mammals feed almost entirely off of eucalypt leaves and sleep an average of 18 hours a day. All in all, these are very fascinating creatures...and they are just plain cute!

Computer issues

Hey everyone, sorry that I haven't posted for a couple of days. The computer that holds all of my images has been down and I'm having a hard time getting it up and running again (hopefully it will be working in the next couple days). For now, here is a photo that I already had saved on a seperate computer.

This is a Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla). This photo was taken at a wildlife park.

Camels taking a bath

I took this photo at a zoo of some Bactrian Camels (Camelus bactrianus) enjoying a swim (it was very hot that day!).

Amur Tiger

This is a beautiful photo that I captured of an Amur (Siberian) Tiger at the Minnesota Zoo. I think that the digitally added sepia color tone adds alot. They are such majestic creatures!

Bald Eagle

At the Minnesota Zoo, they have a bird show. After the program one day, there was a trainer holding a Bald Eagle up on the stage as people filed out of the stadium. Most people walked past but I thought it was a great opportunity to get some photos of our national bird. I'm glad I stuck around, see for yourself!

Bald Eagle facts: The Bald Eagle is a large bird, with a body length of 28–40 inches, a wingspan of up to 96 inches, and a mass of 5.5–15 punds; with females being about 25 percent larger than males.

Shamu!

Alot of people know who Shamu is, the lovable Orca that resides at every SeaWorld Adventure Park (yes, there are several Shamus). About a year ago I went to SeaWorld San Diego where I had a chance to photograph the Orca during the "Believe" show (one of the shows that the Orcas put on). Enjoy!

Note: the first and last photos in this post were cropped.

Flamingos!

Almost anyone will agree that Flamingos are one of the most interesting bird species there is - if not one of the most interesting animal species (seriously, how many animals can you name that are pink?). Their unique body shape and habits add to the plethora of weirdness that this bird has, making it a distinct favorite for zoos and animal parks to house. The following photos were all taken at the San Diego Zoo.

Zoos!

In the down economy people are less likely to travel very far for a "vacation". Therefore, there has been a nation-wide uptick in zoo and museum attendence as they can provide a unique experience without the distance a usual vacation would have.

So here are some pics from zoos across the country that I have taken in recent months...

Some Winter Photography

I really don't like this time of year. Its mainly the cold that I have problems with, but the icy roads and annoying snow storms aren't my favorite either. However with snow and ice on the ground, you can get some unique photo opportunities. Here are some photos that I have captured this past month (Jan 2009) outdoors in the cold. =)The tip of a piece of grass with the sun in the background.A Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) at the Minnesota Zoo.

One of my ever useful sisters agreed to "pose" for this winter shot. Some Pine Tree branches. A close-up of a Pine Tree branch with the sun in the background. One of our horses, "Patches", rolling in the snow.