quiet images: zoo

Friday, May 8, 2015

Night Magic

A week or so ago I went on my first intentional nighttime photo shoot. Our local zoo has a gorgeous exhibit called Zoominations, A Chinese Lantern Festival. The lanterns are beautiful in the daylight, but stunning after dark. The display will be at the zoo through the end of May. Perhaps we'll get back there again before it leaves.

Due to the number of guests in the zoo and the set up of the lanterns and lighted displays, it wasn't possible to use a tripod. In order to have a fast shutter speed for handheld shooting, I had to crank up the ISO; luckily there was sufficient ambient light to help compensate. I also used a 50mm with a wide f-stop for many of my images. Most of the images were made at f/5.6 and 1600 to 2000 ISO. Some of the images are a bit grainy, but it was a willing sacrifice to capture the vivid colors against the darkening sky.

The Apsaras was an ancient fairy in Taoism and Buddhism thought to bring peace and happiness to the world. These formed an arch along the walkway with glittering stars shining above.

A section of the river was decorated with koi and lotus flowers with some of the flowers holding giant pearls. Koi appeared to leap from the river, with water shimmering around them. This was one of my favorite areas of the exhibit.

Brilliant peacocks also lit up the night with flashing colors and movement. They were placed in one of the darker corners of the zoo to enhance the magic of the colors. Trees surrounding the area had LED icicles twinkling, almost as if they were raining stars.

Chinese lanterns in shapes of koi and lotus flowers

Lessons learned were patience to set up the image, balance shutter speed and ISO to catch both good exposure in low light and movement of the displays, and isolate the subject carefully because so much color, shape and lines were happening among the lanterns.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Winter at the Zoo

Detroit Zoo Water Tower
copyright 2014, Stephanie Maatta Smith

It's been more than 30 years since I visited the Detroit Zoo. The zoo was always someplace to go during the spring and summer when the weather was warm and cooperative. Winter gives the zoo a completely different look and feel when the cold-weather animals are out and active. I was both surprise and pleased by the very positive changes at the park.

Wildlife Interpretive Center at Detroit Zoo

Detroit Zoo opened in 1928 and has undergone many changes, facelifts, and renaissances throughout its history. It's accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and participates in the Species Survival Plan. The Wildlife Interpretive Center, featuring the tropical butterfly house and the aviary, is the oldest building at the zoo. The zoo also houses the National Amphibian Conservation Center.

For me, the zoo is all about the animals. Despite the cold and sunny day, I wandered happily around the park watching animals and people alike. The barn owl was tucked in the rafters above the Scottish Highland steer, keeping warm. The giraffe and rhinos were confined to their enclosure because the weather was too cold for them to be outside safely.

The highlights of my day were spent, first, in the Primate enclosure watching the new chimpanzee baby with her grandmother and mother. Then I strolled over to the tiger enclosure to admire the Amur tiger. He was quite aware of activity around his enclosure and was watching the human animals very closely.