Rambo
Rambo was a beautiful Siberian tiger that lived at the Houston Zoo in the early '90's. I'll never forget staring at him at very close range (through plexiglass)...
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Rambo was a beautiful Siberian tiger that lived at the Houston Zoo in the early '90's. I'll never forget staring at him at very close range (through plexiglass) when getting this picture.
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Jan, 2015Views
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Awards
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph of a Siberian (Amur) Tiger ("Rambo") was taken at the Houston Zoo in the early 1990s.Time
When I made the photograph it was late afternoon and the sun was to the left and setting - getting close to the evening golden hour!Lighting
The lighting here was very lucky. There was plexiglass between the tiger and me, and at any other time of day, the blemishes on the plexiglass were very noticeable.Equipment
I used a Canon AE-1 here, and the camera was hand-held. I believe I was using a short zoom telephoto lens, but can't remember for sure. I still have and use that equipment!Inspiration
I had taken a few other photographs of Rambo from the other side of the habitat and was walking away when I noticed he had come over to a corner of the enclosure that was fenced with plexiglass, and where people could get right up next to the glass. I was about 6 feet from him when I released the shutter. I made a few exposures and then I just enjoyed the view. I don't think I've ever been so close to such a large Siberian tiger since that time. His head seemed immense - he seemed a much larger animal up close. Capturing zoo animals is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but it's still a lot of fun. I came back to the zoo several times just as the zoo opened and spent a lot of time at this particular habitat. This photograph lead me to do some research into Siberian tigers, and I have followed the plight of this very endangered animal since that time. I hope that their numbers will grow in the wild.Editing
I never did any post processing on this image until recently when I bought a scanner and did some minor color balancing with Lightroom on the digitized negative.In my camera bag
These days I shoot with a Nikon D810, having recently moved up from a Canon T3i, and before that the Canon AE-1. I also sometimes will use an old Graflex 22 Model 200. My lens kit includes a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, a 105mm f/2.8 lens, and a 200-500mm f/5.6 lens.Feedback
My feeling is that if you're going to make photographs at the zoo, get really close (use a zoom lens). That is, show people something they would not normally see themselves - get even closer. See some of my other zoo shots for an example. Talk to the zookeepers and find out when the animals are most active. Then, go often and focus on just a couple of animals - get to know them a bit. It may take a while to get a good shot, but I think it's more fun spending more time with a few animals than spending a few fleeting moments with many of them.
