Golden White-eye

At the Toledo Zoo, a golden white-eye ...

... lives with a Palawan peacock pheasant ...

Photos are better when he's not up front, by the mesh. Sometimes he has a lady friend.

 ... and a many-colored fruit dove.

Male many-colored fruit dove

Last October (2024), a keeper was working in the enclosure, and I asked a few questions. I jokingly asked if he could bring the white-eye forward so I could get a good picture. He said, yeah, she's often hidden in the foliage, but she comes closer to the front when the mister is on. The next thing I knew, the water was on and the keeper was standing next to me.

Enjoying the mist

Some preening

In March of this year, I found this:

Komodo Dragons

I've visited four zoos that have Komodo dragons.

Columbus, July 2019

Minnesota, December 2019

Cincinnati, December 2021

I continue to have trouble with white balance when shooting certain reptiles indoors. It's not the reptiles' fault; it's the enclosures' lighting. I'm never satisfied with my pictures of the Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko at the Columbus Zoo, for example. I've tried cloudy, shade, fluorescent, and specific color temperatures, but none gave me colors on the camera's screen that matched what I saw.

At the Toledo Zoo, in March this year (2025), a Komodo dragon was at his or her posing rock and looking fine. The rocks and dirt are sort of tan, but my first shot didn't look quite right. I have no patience for this, so I tried only two other settings before moving on.

Daylight

4000K (I admit I rather like this one.)

Auto

Toledo has at least two of the world's largest lizards. Here's the other one:

40 minutes later...

 Back to the first one:

I've adjusted a focus setting, so videos are more in-focus over all, but the lens hunts every time it refocuses, which I find annoying.