Amur Leopard

A few weeks ago I had a Sunday off and wanted to keep honing my photography skills, so I thought a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo was in order. Next week I will post the entire zoo collection but I found this image spoke to me and wanted to share it separately.

Is he thinking? Has something exciting beyond the cage caught his eye? Is he missing the open plains? Yearning for new experiences?

Or is he content? Waiting patiently for lunch? Happily knowing his meal will be the same as it was yesterday and the day before? Is he preparing to take another nap knowing no dangers are close by?

It bothers me that I don’t know. I might never have ever seen a Amur Leopard if this one wasn’t passing the years waiting for crowds of zoo-goers to “look at the big cat”. I was glad to have spent a few minutes (more then most passers by) with this great animal, but was a little sad at the same time.

​Amur Leopard

Nikon D800 Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 w/ 1.4 tele @ 280mm f/4 ISO 100 1/13 sec​

The smallest ray of ight

Sometimes the odds seem overwhelming, like dark clouds in the sky. Then a ray of light breaks through and changes everything. Beautiful moments happen every day for fleeting seconds. Whether we observe them or not is a choice each of us makes.

​The Smallest Ray of Light

Nikon D800 Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27mm f/8 ISO 100 5 exposure HDR ​1/25-.6sec

#TravelTuesday The Grand Canyon

The first big trip my wife and I took together was back in 2008 to the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had done a lot of recent travel, and it was on both of our “it would be cool to see” lists, so it seemed like a good idea.

Back in 2008 my camera skills were non existent, and the camera I had was an Olympus point and shoot. Not because it was a nice camera, but because it was small enough to fit in my pocket and was water resistant. This brings up the truest photography fact I have ever seen.

The best camera in the world is the one you have with you.

We spent our long weekend in Sedona Arizona and planned the day trip to the Grand Canyon for Sunday. It was just over a 3 hour drive to see this geological tour de force and as we neared our destination, fog and rain engulfed us. Our first views of this wonder consisted of nothing but clouds. Walking to the edge of a cliff looked like nothing special at all, just milky white cotton candy, as thick as pea soup. Rain poured for about 30 minutes and we drove sullenly around the southern rim and waited, peering out the rental car windows for any break in the fog.

After another half hour the sky seemed brighter and the wind had picked up. The rain had stopped and clouds rose out of the canyon. It was as if they suddenly remembered how to fly and up they went. The rest of the day was beautiful and fulfilling. If you ever have the chance, go and experience the Grand Canyon. To this day it is still one of the most amazing wonders I have ever seen.

Grand Canyon 2008​

Olympus Digital Camera​

How Rex got his name

I drive a minivan for work, and I drive a lot. It’s a great vehicle for what it needs to be, but sometimes I need to scratch that itch in my right foot and have a little fun. Years ago this yearning for some driving adrenaline led to the purchase of my Mazda RX-8. I won’t go into the details of why I bought this particular car except to say, right place, right time.

My daughter has always named whatever car I was driving, so it was natural for her to apply a moniker for this bright white sports car. She dubbed the car “Rex ate pizza” (I’m guessing from the RX-8 model, and the fact that we were on our way to pick up a pizza) which we shortened to “Rex”. Since then he has been a trusted friend, and he agreed to sit for a few photos early Sunday morning, as long as I followed his instructions and “made him look good.”

Hopefully I gave his vanity the distinction it deserves.

​"Rex"

​Nikon D800 Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm f/2.8 ISO 100  5 image HDR  1/30 - .5 sec

Early morning

I’m finding that one of the challenges of being a photographer is getting up early. So much wonderful light and color flow through the world before most of us are awake. Obviously a few others are awake (there must be someone in the balloon) enjoying the crisp chill in the autumn air. Catching scenes like the one pictured below keeps me setting the alarm clock early.

​Church with Balloon in the Early Morning

Nikon D800​ Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm f/10 ISO 100 6 image HDR 1/800-1/50 sec.