We have been taking the kids swimming lately. They quite enjoy splashing around in the pool.
We took the kids down to The San Diego Zoo after Labor Day. This was our first time taking the kids to the zoo. Megan has been quite excited about seeing the elephants. I was a bit worried about how the kids would handle the long day or should I say how Sandy and I would handle the long day with the kids outdoors. Things actually went pretty well considering. The weather was sunny and pleasant. The zoo was actually not crowded at all because it was after Labor Day and most kids were back in school or preparing to go back. Sandy did an awesome job packing for this trip and we had plenty of snacks to keep the kids occupied. We ended up getting the Membership package so that we could return as much as we like for a full year. This way we can also visit The San Diego Wild Animal Park which is at a separate location from the zoo. Plus there was no traffic on the 5 freeway so we made good time coming and going. Next time what I would do differently is fill up the gas tank and pack everything the night before just so that we could get out the door earlier. We had plan on getting to the zoo when it opened at 8am but despite waking up at 6am we didn't actually get to the zoo until about 11am.
Even though it was offically a mini family vacation, I also got time to do some shooting. I brought my canon 400mm f5.6 telephoto lens which is the lens I normally use to shoot wildlife. I also brought my tamron 90mm f2.8 di lens as a second option. Shooting at a zoo was much more challenging actually. Often times, I was too close to the subject to get the entire subject in the frame. Since this was a prime lens, I could not zoom out. Also walking around the zoo with a big telephoto lens and dealing with 2 babies in a stroller made for a tiring day. Despite these challenges, I was quite happy with the results from the shots I took. I had to get creative in framing my shots since I did not have the luxury of zooming out. I am planning on getting the Canon 70-200 f4 IS lens in the near future as more of a walk around lens. It is smaller, lighter and it will allow me to zoom in and out which will be more flexible than shooting with prime lenses. I just need to wait for the canon fall rebates to start up.
Anyways, the trip ended up being quite a successful adventure. When we got home, everybody was tired but in very good spirits. The babies are tolerating more time away from home with less hassle so this expands our travel capabilities a bit. It will still be a couple of years before we attempt to fly to hawaii though. Enough with the chit chat. Here are some of the shots that I liked from our zoo trip.
This is a baby flamingo begging its parent for regurgitated yumminess.
Here is a Glossy Starling. Check out those demonic eyes! That's what it looks like in real life. I did not enhance anything about those eyes in post processing. Quite the look he's giving me.
"So are you gonna drop some bread crumbs or do I have to get rough with ya? What's it gonna be buddy?!"
Here we see a group of flamingos plotting their escape.
"Ok listen up fellahs. At 6pm, Fred is gonna slip the zoo keeper a mickey. That's when we are gonna bust out of here. Now spread the word."
Here is the elephant that Megan was so eager to see.
Egyptian Plover. One of the frustrating things about photographing at a zoo is trying to shoot subjects through a wire fence or glass. The results are usually terrible. This picture was actually shot through a wire fence. I'm not sure how but the results came out pretty good actually. This was one of the few shots through a fence that came out usable.
This is a Hyrax aka a plump sausage with feet.
Megan was also happy to see the giraffes.
And of course my rugrats.
