PhotoNotes: Bronx Zoo

Today was the first time I've been to the zoo since when I was a kid, probably. (I may have gone to a petting zoo in the last seven years, but that's beside the point.) Besides reliving my childhood memories, going to the zoo was a serious test drive of some sweet gear in preparation for my journey to Alaska at the end of this summer.

Tax returns well spent.

Summary:

• A gripped DSLR around your neck with a (white) telephoto lens will get lots of looks and comments of awe.
• At the risk of sounding like a jerk, having a telephoto is really convenient for crowd-pushing; you stick your lens between people's heads and they will move out of the way.
• On the same note, sticking your lens at an open exhibit will cause birds to attempt to land on it, thinking it's a twig.
• Walking around for 4+ hours with six pounds of camera around your neck is really tiring. My hands were aching at the end of the trip trying to hold onto the camera.
• The 70-300L on a 1.3x body was superb for outdoors and bird exhibits. The 50L was a beast for low-light exhibits, such as the reptile house.

Learning

I nabbed this cute little dude with the 50L @ 2.0.

Less cute, but the V formed by the branches makes for an interesting shot.

Obligatory tiger shot.

Bird. The turquoise/teal palette came out quite nice. (cleaned up in postproduction)

Nonwatermarked originals at full resolution are available at request.