Tongue Out
Dec, 2015Views
260
Likes
Awards
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
The Seattle Zoo on a special "enrichment day" for the jaguar. He was given some treats - small chicks and some chicken breasts - but he had to find them in his enclosure. This is him contemplating (smelling?) a possible hiding place.Time
The conditions were overcast, so lighting was about the same most of the middle part of the day. I think this was at about 11:00 a.m.Lighting
The Jaguar enclosure is pretty open, and the overcast made for reasonably uniform light throughout the area. While that made taking the photo somewhat easier, the color quality isn't as great as it could be. His coat is is much more beautiful on a sonny day; a little more gold and contrast with his spots.Equipment
A Nikon D750 with a Nikor 28-300mm, f 5.6, lens. Generally my photos are hand held and this is no exception.Inspiration
The animals that were getting treats that day seemed to be enjoying them. The jaguar especially seemed to be making the most of a break from the usual schedule as he hunted down what had been hidden for him to find. This particular shot I thought showed off both his savoring of the last item he found and his perseverance of the next one.Editing
I think I did emphasize the contrast more, since as I said earlier, the overcast wasn't great for getting true colors. I don't think I needed to do anything else.In my camera bag
My Nikon D750, which normally has the 28-300 mm lens on it, Depending on what I am going to be shooting, I might carry one or more other lenses, including an ancient (20 years plus) Nikor 35-70 mm with incredible clarity, or Nikor 70-200 mm f 1.28 with a 2x doubler. I have close up rings for the first lens, as well as polarizing and warming filters for various other lenses. Extra batteries and SDHC cards (currently using 95 mb/sec transfer speed but looking to increase that) are a must have. I have a nice tripod, but I can't think of the last time I took it somewhere; generally I only use it at home.Feedback
If you want to find exotic animals, and your only resource is a zoo or wildlife park, go often. It seems the more scarce the animal, the harder it is to find out and doing something worth photographing at the zoo. If the animal is out that day, have patience. Also, watch for the background. Zoo the getting better at having "natural" looking habitat. But a cyclone fence, or an obviously concrete rock, ruins the view you are looking for. So be prepared to wait them out.
