Crossing More Adventures Off the Bucket List

Everyone should have a bucket list and actively plan to experience things on that list.  If you're me, you have multiple bucket lists covering a variety of activities.  This year, I managed to cross off 2 items on the "Interact with Cool Animals" list within the course of 2 months:

• Pet a Penguin: done!!
• Feed some Ungulates

Yes, I used the word "ungulates" - partly because it's a funny sounding word and partly because it sounds way more intelligent and downright cool compared with "rhinos & giraffes."

Originally, my birthday was supposed to entail trekking through Santa Barbara wine country with a new wide angle lens birthday present in tow.  That plan was pretty much obliterated once I was rear-ended the week before my birthday and prescribed muscle relaxants for the ensuing back pain... aka drinking centric activities were going to be a no go.

No matter, I decided I wasn't going to let that ruin my day and decided I wanted to do something so memorable, I would look back years from now and remember the fantastic birthday I had and not have a rear-end collision define this 2014's marking of another revolution around the sun.

That something memorable turned out to be feeding giraffes and rhinoceroses at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as part of their caravan safari, which basically was a 2 hour drive through the exhibit!!  The guide provided all kinds of facts and explained animal behaviors as they were happening right before our eyes.  I think it could have been better only if Sir David Attenborough himself had been there narrating in his dignified British accent.  Something I took away from the experience is that rhinos are actually rather docile and love apples!!

Not the best time of day for photography and most of these pictures ended up being more snapshot-y than artistic image, but it was still an amazing experience.  And I'm proud of the fact that I have seemingly fixed my under-exposure problem by checking the histogram outputs and not just relying on the internal light meter.

All in all, I can't wait to head back during more favorable lighting to photograph more interesting animals, having a membership is the best!

Rhino smelling & listening to our caravan... apparently, their eyesight isn't great.

Fun fact - rhinos actually wear down & shape their horns to their liking and said horns are made of keratin

Fed a rhino!! Contrary to popular belief, they're actually so docile and sweet... the cows of the savannah!!

Giraffe interested in the acacia leaves we've got

Making the giraffe reach for it!  I love her expression and that purple tongue in this!!

Crossing another one off the "Interact with Cool Animals" bucket list!

Alright, didn't get to play with the tigers, but the new Tiger Trail exhibit was really cool!!  Actually took this photo through glass & managed to minimize the reflection & glare.

More Safari to See!

Active Shooting Hours: 3
Review Hours: 1
Hours to Date: 159

Fourth Quarter Fumble

Fourth quarter has been busy.  Like really busy.  Like crazy busy.  I've been all over the place either preparing for meetings or actually in meetings.  I'm really glad I got some shooting time in this past weekend at the San Diego Zoo.  

As it turns out, the animals are way more active in the morning and I got several great shots of animals actually up and about.  And in many ways, I found a lot of humanity in their expressions and mannerisms.  Hopefully, I'll have some more time to clock some hours in the coming weekends even amidst big meetings.

An indignant owl

Koala!!

A glorified kong toy for a panda... cinnamon biscuits are inside!!

Gorilla daydreams

Water drops on a green mamba snake - probably my favorite shot of the day

Active Shooting Hours: 4

Review Hours: 3
Total Hours to Date: 77

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Ironically, I didn't actually go see or photograph any of the animals mentioned in the title of this post... the San Diego Zoo sits on 100 acres and I was too tired to hike all of the hills to see everything.  The beauty of having an annual pass is not feeling obligated to spend the entire day there.  I was good with hanging out for a couple of hours. 

Unfortunately, the light was pretty harsh since it was mid-afternoon, so the colors came out kind of harsh and flat, but at least I got some entertainment out of watching animals hang out and do their thing.  Most of the animals were napping in the heat of the day, I'll have to try and make it back to the zoo either very early or later in the day.  I did get to play around with my 50mm-200mm lens, which allowed me to get closer shots of animals that were farther away.

Flamingo chicks are pretty funny looking... little puff balls with fat legs

Naptime!  Takes some kind of balance to sleep like that.

Koalafornia!  Apparently, the San Diego Zoo has the largest herd of Koala outside of Australia

It was pretty warm, so the "drop bears" as they're colloquially known, were mostly napping.

Watching them nap made me sleepy too!!  What a squishy-face.

Show-off.  This bird was squawking up a storm too.

My thoughts immediately after getting this shot: I just took a picture of a flamingo butt.

Rhino - totally reminds me of a stegosaurus

Smiling for the camera

Hours to Date: 13