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Hear Comes the Sun
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Hear Comes the Sun



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A lion looks towards the sun as he soaks up the warmth during a January day at the Portland, OR Zoo.

A lion looks towards the sun as he soaks up the warmth during a January day at the Portland, OR Zoo.
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cameraCanon EOS 70D

settings Aperture f/6.3 ISO 1000 Shutter 1/800 

upload_dateJan, 2015

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686

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4 Comments |
Anu4photography
 
Anu4photography January 24, 2015
Great capture. Nice angle.
texaaronpueschel Platinum
 
texaaronpueschel June 26, 2015
Both fine images got my vote.
pietnel
 
pietnel January 04, 2016
beautiful love it well done
chipmunk1959
 
chipmunk1959 March 10, 2016
Top image

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Tags

#lion #mane #hunter #predator #mouth #nose #whisker #eye #ear #fur #warmth #africa #portland #oregon #zoo #yellow #tan #black #protection #power #strength
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo while visiting the Portland Oregon Zoo.

Time

I had gone up in late spring or early summer when the weather here in Oregon was turning nice and the rains were diminishing. I had gotten to the zoo when it had opened and got this shot not long after at about 9 or 9:30am while the lions were active and the light was still at a low enough angle to cast some good shadow's.

Lighting

Of course during the day, early lighting or late lighting can give you both rich colors and wonderful contrasts due to shadows. I find though for animals, unless you want some haze to the photo, the best lighting is earlier in the day so you can get sharp colors and focus on their skin or fur.

Equipment

I was using a Canon 70d with a Tamron 200-500mm lens. I probably should have used a monopod or a tripod, but am so accustom to using a larger lens at the zoo and there was so much light that day, that I took the shot while hand holding the camera.

Inspiration

I have always been an outdoors kind of person. I love to go out hiking, camping, and otherwise going on adventures. The zoo though allows me to shoot and explore animals that I haven't otherwise been able to go find in the wild. So, I go frequently to the zoo to have that photo Safari feel while I wait for the day in which I get to go on Safari for real.

Editing

I actually didn't do any post-processing. The image is straight from the camera.

In my camera bag

I have a Canon 70d with battery grip as my camera body. I currently carry in my bag a canon 50mm fixed, a sigma 150mm macro, a sigma 18-200, and a Sigma 150-600.

Feedback

For anyone wanting to capture similar shots, I would suggest looking into zoos that are in your area or within reasonable driving distance. For me, the closest zoo that has what I am looking for is about two hours away. I have a membership to that zoo and frequent it often enough through out the year to not only pay for the membership, but to also learn the animals that have the most photo friendly enclosures and personalities. This will take time to discover as you shoot. So, I would recommend going frequently and begin by shooting all the animals that you can until the lighting, framing, and personalities of the animals and their enclosures begin to reveal themselves to you. You will discover that those animals you will end up frequenting to get your good or great shots. I would recommend going to some of the other enclosures though and seeing which animals might be active or supplying you with opportunities to learn and shoot them as well. At minimum you will learn what is or isn't working at that point with each animal. Also, depending on the size of the enclosure and the proximity of the animal or animals in that enclosure, try to take a wide range of lenses that can get you a wide angle or that can reach the animal for better natural framing. It might mean spending money over time to get the right glass and carrying around several pounds of glass, but with time, it will pay off with wonderful photos.

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