Jerome, if you ever get a chance, visit the Cincinnati Zoo. The male silverback (Colossus by name) is one of the largest in captivity and is stunning. The enclosure has a few vines at the back to give green, rather than grey, backgrounds.
Colossus has three places he likes to hang out. The best for photographers is an enormous fallen tree that hee likes to sit on, at the far left side.
I usually set up aimed at the tree and wait. Last time I was there, I waited 2 hours and he finally obliged. I ripped off about 12 shots. I'll post one for the next PUG.
jerome wrote:
My most recent project involved the gorilla photos that I posted in this thread. Yes, that involved a 400mm f2.8, and a handful of TC's... but it also involved 2 rainy days at the zoo, for about 5 hours each day... all spent at the same exhibit. And even though I was there for a collective 12 hours, I likely shot for a combined 45 minutes. That's just how it is sometimes. The thing is, that exhibit is HUGE (I think the first or second largest in the country), so those gorillas can spend the whole day out of sight if they want to.
.....
After 10 hours with the gorillas, I have to say that I really learned 'em! And am looking forward to spending similar time with them some day soon. By now, I can damn near tell you when one is about burp or hiccup <g>. Heck, with shutter speeds of 1/30 sec., I simply had to figure these things out. But in all, the experince was great. For one, I bonded with my subjects (as absurd as that sounds), learned a lot, and walked away with tons more than a few photographs. Heck, it was even enough to warrant a short essay on the trip.
