Sacramento Zoo

[Lionheart]

Thought I'd take the old 1Dii for a workout before I forget how to use it. We spent Sabbath afternoon at the zoo with our friends. I gave the old 400mm f5.6L a workout that day-funny how spoiled I've become to having IS on my 70-200-had to shoot at ISO 1600 most of the day to compensate for my increasing as I get older Parkinsonian tremor. My arms and hands ain't as steady as they used to be. The kids shot with 70-200 f2.8L IS, the zebra and tiger with the 400 f5.6L, and the lizard with the 100mm f2.8Macro-no flash.

[Old Timer]

Very nice images Leon. I love the lizzard. I hope to take my grandson to the zoo this summer along with the Nikon. Should be a fun trip for both.

[mwfanelli]

Love the lizard, a really nice closeup shot!

[Lionheart]

Very nice images Leon. I love the lizzard. I hope to take my grandson to the zoo this summer along with the Nikon. Should be a fun trip for both.

That's what I love about the zoo. Even if the inmates aren't cooperating, the shots of the kids and parents are fun. The lizard was easy. He was right up against the glass, so I braced myself against the framework and shot as close in as I could get manually. Had to use noise ninja on all these pics because I left the ISO settings at 1600 since I was hand holding the 400mm, and with Claritin D on board with my allergies, my hand holding isn't very steady. Here's some people pics from the zoo. Nice thing about the zoo is no one is looking at you taking their photos, even if it is with a big white telephoto lens

[Lionheart]

Thanks Michael. That one was easy because he just sat there right up against the glass. The hard part was hand holding a 100mm macro with no flash braced up against the window framework without hogging too much time with folks waiting to look and snap pictures. ISO 1600, 1/100 f4.5, and a bit of photoshop magic (glare from the glass, and noise ninja for the grain at 1600).

[paulnj]

Hey.... trade you a well used previously owned 100-400IS for a 400L ..HAHAHA

You took some great images and your style is the same as mine
(I shoot the inmates and people too)

[Glycerin19]

Those are great, I love zoo pictures. My favorite is the tiger. I've never been able to get a really great shot of a big cat.

[Lionheart]

You know I wonder about that. Do you find yourself shooting at 400mm the majority of the time? You might really want to consider the 400 f5.6L. It's SO sharp, light enough to hand hold at higher ISO's, but no IS :-(. and it's relatively inexpensive. Not that I plan on parting with mine of course, even though I only use it once every 9 months.

[Lionheart]

Thanks. I had to be patient with that one. My arms were getting tired waiting for him to look my way, but when he did I rolled off about 10 shots. Same with the zebra, except I made lots of noise trying to get his attention, then he only looked my way for a second, but I got him anyway.

[paulnj]

I was joking BTW, but yes I do shoot at 400 a majority of the time. I do like the zoom and IS alot for larger subjects at 6 feet and low light I was shooting foxes at 1/8th to 1/30th a few weeks ago...... resting on my window

[Liz]

Leon,

I love these photos! The zebra is so cool - great composition - and so sharp.

I have two favorites - the first and best is the photo of your kids. Great, great picture.

The 2nd favorite is that awesome lizard. Wow! That is so cool. You really nailed that one. Great color and sharp as a tack.

Your shots certainly don't look like you have any kind of camera shake. I recycled all my lenses around my 65th birthday - and now 2 of my zooms are IS - for the same reason - the 24-105 and the 70-300. IS is awesome.

Liz

Thanks. I had to be patient with that one. My arms were getting tired waiting for him to look my way, but when he did I rolled off about 10 shots. Same with the zebra, except I made lots of noise trying to get his attention, then he only looked my way for a second, but I got him anyway.

[masdog]

I love the lizard shot and the tiger shot. The shadow off the side of it's face kinda portrays a dual nature of good and evil, sort of like a shot from Return of the Jedi.

The white balance looks kinda funky in the last shot of the first group.

[Lionheart]

I love the lizard shot and the tiger shot. The shadow off the side of it's face kinda portrays a dual nature of good and evil, sort of like a shot from Return of the Jedi.

The white balance looks kinda funky in the last shot of the first group.

I noticed that at ISO 1600, I often get really harsh contrast outdoors. I couldn't get the levels worked out on that one without losing something. I'll try to work that one a little bit more if I get a chance.