Craig Markham
05-06-2008, 06:59 PM
I visited the Oregon Zoo in Portland for the first time to practice large animal photography in prep for a Tanzania trip -- only to find that the Serengeti exhibit is closed for renovation for the next 2 years. Not much was happening in other exhibits either, with the cool, damp spring weather. I was starting to feel rather bummed at wasting a day. However, as I wandered by the tiger enclosure, I found a relatively unobstructed view of the tigress lying in the shade (this zoo is generally not very photographer-friendly, with wires, bars or dirty glass between the viewer and the animals nearly everywhere). I set up my rig, and, proving once again that you never know what will happen next, the male emerged from the building, sidled up to the female, gave her a couple of love bites and jumped on her briefly. With the 500mm on board, I was too close to get an overall image, but I think this more intimate head view was better anyway. It more than made up for an otherwise disappointing day. I hope it did the same for them. I used Paintshop ProX to remove a large chew toy by the female and reconstructed her left elbow to fill the resulting space.
Canon 1D Mk3, 500mm, Gitzo G1227, Wimberley II, f/4.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 800.
Minor contrast/brightness adjustment, full-frame, RAW.
Canon 1D Mk3, 500mm, Gitzo G1227, Wimberley II, f/4.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 800.
Minor contrast/brightness adjustment, full-frame, RAW.