# Had the day off.. you'll never guess where I went..



## robbins.photo (Oct 8, 2014)

Ok, well, you might guess.. lol.  Had a lot of fun today.  Normally for a zoo walk I'll take the 70-200 mm F/2.8 - but today I went for a combination of the Tamron 70-300 mm and the 50 mm 1.8 AFS-G.

#1.  Holy Crap that's a big snake




20141008z 001 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

#2.  Just lounging around




20141008z 325 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

#3.  What... I'm gardening.  This is what you do when your gardening.




20141008z 430 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

#4.  Snerd takes up Faith Healing




20141008z 656 by robbins.photo, on Flickr


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## snowbear (Oct 8, 2014)

Number one: Even though I $^%%*&#% HATE snakes, I like this shot.

Two: I like it but it seems a bit cool in the WB department.  Could you have gotten a little lower on this?

Three: Was the gorilla in the shade? He (she?) looks blue but the leaves in the background look fine - I don't know.  I like it otherwise.
Number four: That big ol' pink butt just takes all the attention away from Snerdy.


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## pjaye (Oct 8, 2014)

What exactly is snerd trying to heal?  Because the background image is pretty nasty.  

Love the gorilla caption!

And the kitty is adorable.

But, I'm still not sure where you went.....


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## BillM (Oct 8, 2014)

I think he went to the mall to hang with all the cool kids 

And snerd could use some of this !!!!


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## ronlane (Oct 8, 2014)

symplybarb said:


> What exactly is snerd trying to heal?  Because the background image is pretty nasty.
> 
> Love the gorilla caption!
> 
> ...



Snerd, your friend there behind you looks a little chapped.


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## pjaye (Oct 8, 2014)

Chapped monkey butt......  I'm dying here.


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## snowbear (Oct 8, 2014)

I'm not sure which is worse: a monkey butt or a butt monkey.


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## baturn (Oct 9, 2014)

Seems like nobody understood the OPs question, but I'll give it a shot. The zoo? I like the tiger but think you're going to have to stop stalking Snerd.


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## snerd (Oct 9, 2014)

Good grief! A whole thread dedicated to my humiliation, and I didn't even see it! Heads will roll!!

Who was it scared the crap out of me last week?! Robbins?! Ron?! Remember? Had a blowout in my bloomers, and now my chapped red ass is all over the place! We're trying the faith healing in an honest attempt to reverse the damage of a blown-out-red-pink-monkey-butt. It hurts, still. <snif> If only some of the resident, loving, beautiful ladies would rub and caress my sore, red ass!! Dude, you got a great pic out of the surprise/scare tactic! A little help, please!!


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## snerd (Oct 9, 2014)

This was recommended................


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## Raj_55555 (Oct 9, 2014)

If we ignore the Snerd jokes(not that we should ) and the huge butt, that's actually an amazing shot IMO!


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## Cat & Mike (Oct 9, 2014)

Love the Snake and Tiger pics.


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## snowbear (Oct 9, 2014)

snerd said:


> Had a blowout in my bloomers, and now my chapped red ass is all over the place!


Nah - it's the chicken.



snerd said:


> <snif>


Ebola!


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## Stradawhovious (Oct 9, 2014)

To the Zoo?

I'd guess the zoo.


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## pjaye (Oct 9, 2014)

Snerd, I'm not touching that @ss.


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## Gary A. (Oct 9, 2014)

Hand applicator:


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## pjaye (Oct 9, 2014)

Ok, some things just can't be unseen.


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## NancyMoranG (Oct 9, 2014)

I am too busy laughing out loud at this!! THANK YOU, I was royally P.O.  a few minutes ago 
Nancy ( going to make popcorn..)


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

snowbear said:


> Number one: Even though I $^%%*&#% HATE snakes, I like this shot.
> 
> Two: I like it but it seems a bit cool in the WB department.  Could you have gotten a little lower on this?
> 
> ...



Unfortunately one of the big challenges to shooting at the zoo, well at least at the zoo I normally go to is that your vantage points are extremely limited.  The tiger shot is a good example, I was probably 20-25 feet above her shooting between two railings and a chain link fence.  The only way to get a lower angle would have involved rappelling.. lol..  Oh well, such is life when you shoot at the zoo I guess.


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

Raj_55555 said:


> If we ignore the Snerd jokes(not that we should ) and the huge butt, that's actually an amazing shot IMO!



Well I did seriously consider taking the other monkey out - but you know, being a Snerd shot.. well - I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Lol


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

snerd said:


> Good grief! A whole thread dedicated to my humiliation, and I didn't even see it! Heads will roll!!



Well I really wasn't trying to subject you to humiliation.  I was really going for _abject_ humiliation.  I guess I'll have to try harder next time.. lol



> Who was it scared the crap out of me last week?! Robbins?! Ron?! Remember? Had a blowout in my bloomers, and now my chapped red ass is all over the place!



My bad.. but you know, if you wiped afterwards.. well, just saying..



> We're trying the faith healing in an honest attempt to reverse the damage of a blown-out-red-pink-monkey-butt. It hurts, still. <snif> If only some of the resident, loving, beautiful ladies would rub and caress my sore, red ass!! Dude, you got a great pic out of the surprise/scare tactic! A little help, please!!



Ok, well your on your own convincing the ladies - but then again considering my track record you should probably thank me for staying out of it.. lol


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

baturn said:


> Seems like nobody understood the OPs question, but I'll give it a shot. The zoo? I like the tiger but think you're going to have to stop stalking Snerd.



Stalking is such an ugly word - I really do prefer "shadowing".   Lol


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

symplybarb said:


> Ok, some things just can't be unseen.



Yup.. If I had known this thread would have gone this horribly awry...

Ok, well who am I kidding I'd have posted it sooner.. lol


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## snowbear (Oct 9, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> Yea
> 
> 
> sm4him said:
> ...





robbins.photo said:


> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> > Number one: Even though I $^%%*&#% HATE snakes, I like this shot.
> ...



I know what you mean.  Good shot, just the same.


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## astroNikon (Oct 9, 2014)

Thought he meant he went to a BBQ


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

snowbear said:


> I know what you mean.  Good shot, just the same.



Thank you kindly - you know I've always found it ironic that I took a fair amount of grief from various parties who would tell me that shooting at a zoo was just ridiculously easy.  Funny thing is in my experience shooting outdoors at the lake, down by the river, etc - generally turns out to be a lot easier.  I realize I might be in the minority here, but really I don't have to deal with odd reflections, I generally have a much greater choice of vantage points, I'm not dealing with an odd mixture of sunlight and fluorescent lighting, and I can usually keep the shutter speed higher and the ISO lower with relative ease so I'm not trying to walk a tightrope between shutter speed and noise.

Most of all though it's the backgrounds - in zoo shooting your constantly trying to get an angle on the shot where the background just doesn't scream zoo - and often times it just isn't possible. Often the best you can do is to adjust your DOF and minimize the background as best you can, but again your walking that tightrope - you want enough to get a nice sharp shot on the critter but not so much that the background just takes over.. lol.

Shooting at the lake - well I never run into those problems at all - I don't have nearly as much to worry about as far as background, it all looks natural because it is natural.  Granted I do miss having the nice handy signs that say "this way for critter a, this way for critter b" - but for the most part I generally find the non-zoo shooting to be overall much easier than zoo shooting.

Like I said I realize I am most likely in the minority there.. lol.


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> Thought he meant he went to a BBQ



I did.. but mums the word.  Apparently there's some sort of silly federal regulations involved - they get kind of touchy when you combine "grill" with "endangered species".  Lol


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## snowbear (Oct 9, 2014)

During the summer, I went to the zoo to photograph Bao Bao (the giant panda cub).  Mobs of people (of course), but I found a spot where I could stand on a small platform (concrete base to a pole).  I had my longest lens, an old 205mm, and I still had to crop the heck out of it because he was in the center of the compound in a tree..


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

Cat & Mike said:


> Love the Snake and Tiger pics.



Thanks Cat & Mike - the snake pic was a little unusual for me, I don't generally get too many of those, they always seem to have their heads buried whenever I wander by so was really happy to finally get one.



Stradawhovious said:


> To the Zoo?
> 
> I'd guess the zoo.



Wow.. nailed it in one.  Ok, so I guess I need to make this a little harder.  What card am I holding up?

Lol


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## robbins.photo (Oct 9, 2014)

snowbear said:


> During the summer, I went to the zoo to photograph Bao Bao (the giant panda cub).  Mobs of people (of course), but I found a spot where I could stand on a small platform (concrete base to a pole).  I had my longest lens, an old 205mm, and I still had to crop the heck out of it because he was in the center of the compound in a tree..



Yup.. biggest issue I ever had shooting at the lake was the day I was pulling up in the car, saw a flock of geese taking off - managed to get the camera out and ready and I'm leaning out the car window trying like crazy to get a frame or two - I manage to get a couple of frames just before they pass over the car, and dive bomb my windsheild.. rotflmao.  I can now attest to the truth behind the expression of just how fast crap will flow through a goose.  Egads.


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## snowbear (Oct 9, 2014)

Pan your @$$ off!


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## Actinia (Oct 10, 2014)

The problem with the Snerd (or a Celebes Black Ape as I would call it) is that it is Black. In a pic like this, there is too little shadow detail, which rather spoils it.

Wearing my retired zoologist's hat, I have to say that the sexual skin of female apes and monkeys is definitely non-photogenic. It is very difficult to get an aesthetically pleasing pic of such a female ape.


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## robbins.photo (Oct 10, 2014)

Actinia said:


> The problem with the Snerd (or a Celebes Black Ape as I would call it) is that it is Black. In a pic like this, there is too little shadow detail, which rather spoils it.
> 
> Wearing my retired zoologist's hat, I have to say that the sexual skin of female apes and monkeys is definitely non-photogenic. It is very difficult to get an aesthetically pleasing pic of such a female ape.


The problems with the Snerd are a lot more than that, trust me.   You could film a whole mini series on that subject and only be scratching the surface.  Lol.  Snerd is a fellow poster here who uses a similar pic for his avatar.

As for the picture itself really given the lighting conditions and the equipment available I was quite pleased with it.  Even moreso now that I got a chance to witness the reaction it got on tpf.

No, it's not technically perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  But it does appear to have gotten a really good laugh out of a lot of really great folks.  To me that's a success.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the technical feedback, just pointing out that there is often more to a photo than simply it's technical merits.  YMMV of course.


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## astroNikon (Oct 10, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> ....  and only be scratching the surface ....



I, myself, wouldn't want to be scratching the surface at all

but, what ever floats your boat
or scratches your ... umm ... yeah ....


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## robbins.photo (Oct 10, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > ....  and only be scratching the surface ....
> ...



Why do I suddenly feel the overwhelming desire to go wash my hands?

Lol


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