Nocturnal

The Australia and the Islands area at the Columbus Zoo includes a building for nocturnal animals. It's usually so dark that I have a hard time seeing the animals, let alone take a picture, so I usually move right through to the aviary. The other day, though, more lights were on, and I got a few shots. They're lousy, but thought I'd never get any of these animals. All but the wombat photo have been enhanced with software.

binturong

The brush-tailed bettong is about the size of a large rat and moves like a kangaroo.

This is Glen, a southern hairy-nosed wombat. He can be a busy guy.

Halmahera gecko. It was bathed in pretty intense red light, but darkening the photo brought out details. The original photo is below.

I wasn't able to find a reliable web page for this lizard. I have a picture of the zoo's sign with the common and scientific names, but they appear not to match, and I don't know which is correct. I run into this problem more often than I expected.

The tawny frogmouth's feathers look like tree bark. The Toledo Zoo had one, and its tree matched its feathers to the point that it was hard to see even though the room was full of diffuse daylight. Click the link to see examples of this.

The photos are crummy for a couple of reasons. The low light means using a high ISO (light sensitivity), and that leads to graininess in the images. Also, autofocus didn't always work. I have a hard time in general with manual focus because a tiny move of the focus ring makes a big difference. In the low light I sort of guessed when the animal was in focus.

What's this?

What was going on at the Toledo Zoo?

 

Stick it out

Is it rude if an animal sticks out its tongue? All pictures are from the Columbus Zoo except as noted.

cheetah

 

Amur tiger

African lion

scrub python

Aldabra tortoise

reticulated giraffe

Ojibwe, a moose

great black-backed gull (Toledo Zoo)

Lizards

Of the types of reptiles, I find lizards most interesting because of the variety of textures, colors, and accessories (a "fin" on the back, spikes down the back, bulging eyes, etc.).

rainbow agama (Toledo Zoo)

red-eyed crocodile skink (Toledo Zoo)

green basilisk (Columbus Zoo)

 

spiny-tailed iguana (Columbus Zoo)

desert grasslands whiptail lizard (Toledo Zoo)

 

blue spiny lizard (Toledo Zoo)

Solomon Island skink, or prehensile-tailed skink (Columbus Zoo)

 

San Esteban chuckwalla (Columbus Zoo)

Software to the rescue

I'm hesitant to manipulate my photos in software. I want to use my slowly-improving photographic skills to produce the best picture possible. I also don't have much interest in learning to use the software and I don't want to spend time running each picture I decide to keep through the software. However, software can fix some photographic mistakes.

I'm learning about my camera's "program mode" and have sometimes used it instead of automatic mode. Besides learning about program mode, I need to learn to check the camera's settings because the settings stick after turning the camera off or switching to automatic mode and back.

I finished my latest trip to the Columbus Zoo in the reptile house, and I had apparently set the white balance to fluorescent light because many of the animals live under such light. (Being able to set the white balance is one reason I use program instead of automatic mode.) My first shots of young, gray flamingos at the Toledo Zoo days later used the same leftover setting, and they came out with a blue tint. With software from Nikon I was able to easily change the white balance to daylight.

Left: Photo from camera with fluorescent white balance. Right: White balance corrected to daylight in software

Another setting I've forgotten is exposure compensation (another reason to use program mode). I don't remember why I had chosen exposure value +1, but that's what was leftover from a previous zoo visit. The value is right there in the display on top of the camera, but did I look? Nope.

The alligator below is nearly black, but the photo from the camera doesn't show that, and the tip of her tongue is washed-out. I was able to reset the exposure compensation to zero in the Nikon software and get a more accurate image.

 

Top: Image from camera with EV +1. Bottom: Exposure compensation corrected to EV 0 in software

My ignorance of EV +1 continued when I left the alligators and visited the Tasmanian devils. I corrected the exposure compensation in software, but, in this case, I prefer the original image to the corrected image. In the bottom photo, the devil's body is mostly a featureless black blob while the body in the top photo shows some subtle shading.

Top: Image from camera with EV +1. Bottom: Exposure compensation set to +0 in software

Besides remembering to check the white balance and exposure compensation settings before shooting, I need to remember to check the camera's mode the first place.

Parrots

Pesquet's parrot (Toledo Zoo)

sulphur-crested cockatoo (Columbus Zoo)

African grey parrot (Toledo Zoo)

blue-crowned hanging parrot (Toledo Zoo)

budgerigar, or parakeet (Toledo Zoo)

Bourke's parakeet (Toledo Zoo)

cockatiel (Toledo Zoo)

Alligator action

I went to the Columbus Zoo last week and noticed a small group of small people (more kids than adults) at the alligator exhibit. In my experience, the alligator is motionless in the water or motionless in the grass, but I stopped to take a look. The photos aren't great, but the events were interesting.

May was on land, right up against the viewing area.

May, an American alligator. The white spots are on the glass that separates primates from reptiles.

Girl was lurking in the water. 

Girl. Yep, that's her name.

A zookeeper and a docent were present, and they explained what was going on. May was alone in the enclosure over the summer and Girl had been recently added. May and Girl have been together before, but the reintroduction was a little rocky (something like Clyde and his flock).

Girl left the water and May moved away.

Girl follows May.

Girl caught up to May and gave a nip on May's tail before May made it into the water.

Girl nips at May's tail (dang red reflection).

May quickly returned to land. It was a bit of a struggle getting a grip on the concrete bank.

May climbs out of the pool.

The keeper was not concerned about the superficial wound.

May returned to where the primates could see her up-close.

The alligator pond is adjacent to the reptile house, but I couldn't see a door. I'd been wondering how the alligators get inside, so I asked the docent. She said the gators are trained to go into crates for transport. (I should've also asked how the crates are taken inside.)

Pretty much every keeper whose talk I've heard emphasizes that animals are trained so the keepers can care for them. Elephants present a foot for inspection and cleaning through an opening in a barrier. Giraffes approach a fence and allow their blood to be drawn.

Depth of field example

This photo of a caterpillar on my porch screen illustrates the shallow depth of field when my lens is zoomed to its maximum length (200mm). Only that narrow strip is on focus.

white-marked tussock moth larva (f/5.6, 1/350s, ISO 1600)

I'm lookin' at you

Watusi cattle (Toledo Zoo)

 

San Esteban chuckwalla

western cattle egret

silvered langur

Reeves's muntjac

king cobra

Florida manatee

Victoria crowned pigeon

dromedary camel

All photos are from the Columbus Zoo except as noted.