Tuesday, February 9, 2010

If You Like Animals.

Indoor photography is not my kind of thing. I don't do well with such compositions, and I don't enjoy clicking them either. A simple point-and-shoot or even a phone camera suffices for such photography for me. The GP on the other hand does great jobs with indoor photography.... I love seeing the results he achieves, he actually has made me look unbelievably good in so many of them. The fact that he goes all professional with his studio lights, light metres and everything, makes the pics amazingly glam, and I know I can never ever get to that level, simply because I lack the patience such set-ups require. For me, its more of seeing something gorgeous, and capturing it. And nothing captivates me like nature, and especially animals.

We visited the Melbourne Zoo this weekend. Equipped with my new camera, and my favourite subject to shoot, it would be an understatement to say, I was just waiting to start shooting. I do not, yet, use a tripod, so not all photos on full zoom, have turned out the way I would like it to, but here, I am sharing some of my best shots from the day. And may I please remind you, it is not quite as easy to get the shots you want, when you have a rather energetic child to mind too!


I have seen so many professional photos like this, that I absolutely loved the opportunity to click one of my own.

The eye of the pelican is what fascinates me here.

From the butterfly house!

Don't you love the bold colour contrast. This one was just roaming around all over the place.

Just perfect for the 'How Tall Are You?' measuring scale.

I love the silhouette in this one.

Bongo - The tough one!

Meerkat - Reminds me of an old man, with a pinched face.


What beautiful, yet sad eyes.

Be scared, be very scared, because, 'he' is looking.

And he is not alone!

This one is my favourite, the colour contrast is awesome, and I love the afro-style spike on the zebra.

The absolute best pic of the day though, was clicked by the GP, a butterfly/moth on a flower. You have see the photo to believe it! The flower looks luminous, its simply gorgeous. Am not putting it up here, because it is not by me. And I am so so pushing him to actually make some money off that photo, for it is just simply so beautiful.

Please tell me which one you like the best of my lot.

And since I have this entire post on animal photos, I cannot but link up to Parul's post, and the stark reality it is throwing into our face. Wake up, don't let the tigers die out. Make them live, help them survive. They are gorgeous beasts of the wild, we cannot let them go away. I am representing the following exactly from Parul's post. This post would be me spreading the word. I suggest you do too.
Spread the Word
Let everyone know that our tigers are on the brink of extinction and that they need us. Now. You can start by joining the Save Our Tigers movement on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and spreading the word wherever you go – online or offline.

SMS
A short message can go a long way to help save our tigers. Let all your friends know about the movement through SMS – just type in your message and ask them to visit SaveOurTigers.com to join the roar.


Write to Editors
Write a letter or an email to editors of popular newspapers and magazines, asking them to support the cause and highlight the urgency to save our tigers. The more people we can reach and inform, the louder our roar will be.


Donate
Organizations such as WWF and The Corbett Foundation work for tiger conservation and need our active support. If possible, you can chip in with funds, volunteer for work or donate clothes, etc. for the forest guards by tying up with such organizations.


Volunteer for Our Tigers
Your time is the most important contribution for our tigers. If you think you have the skills or the commitment to help the tigers on-site, do contact an NGO working for tiger conservation to volunteer for our tigers.


Preserve our Natural Resources
Loss of habitat is one of our tigers’ biggest problems. We can reduce pressure on forests by avoiding unnecessary use of forest-derived products, such as paper and timber.


Be a Responsible Tourist
Visit tiger sanctuaries and national parks and discover our country’s natural heritage. But please remember that the wilderness is to be experienced, not to be polluted by packets of chips, etc.


Wake up, and take action.

20 comments:

Smitha said...

Wow!! You take such lovely pics!!! Your camera is amazing! They look professional! Wow! Can't stop wowing!

BB must have had a wonderful time at the zoo! You know, all the sunlight I see -makes me yearn for summer.

Smitha said...

I wasn't sure if my comment wend through as my broadband took off as soon as I commented - so came back to post again - when I see that it did go through :)

Passionate Goof said...


Smitha - I loved these photos myself and hence hand picked the best ones for this post. But I need to use a tripod, would have got many more great pics if I had it with me that day.

Quirky Quill said...

Babe, nice pics :) I feel you've started enjoying Melbourne more than the earlier city..already!!

Reflections said...

Wow..simply wow, my fav ones are pelican, bongo and the last one.

I got ur request Save the tigers on facebook. Will be joining it ofcourse!!!

Soin said...

the wet eyes one..thats nice.got a flickr stream??

Trish said...

wowww..love the pics!!Amazing!! you should make some money from these too..really!!
And in the last pic,where is the Zebra??

Passionate Goof said...


Smitha - You know of course that you are absolutely making me fly of seventh heaven with all that gushing. Thanks a ton. And the BB, yes he enjoyed the zoo, but not the animals, because he made sure we hired a car stroller for him and he could pretend to drive it around.

QQ - Hey! How are you? long time. Yes I think I am, because we have our own transport here already, and can go out as and when we want to, so that makes it more fun.

Reflections - :D Thanks. I am so happy you liked it.

Soin - Which one, the black monkey? No I am not on flickr.

Trish - Thankeeeeeeeeee sweety. i wish I could. Someone buy them and pay me for these please!! No Zebra, what I meant was, there were 2 of the lions.

Passionate Goof said...


Trish - You were right, I completely missed the last pic.Uh Oh! Thanks for telling me. Just put it.

Renu said...

Beautiful pictures..I loved the lion and ziraffe..one where it looks like measuring height.

Soin said...

yeah the black monkey one..free

D said...

Great pics, Goofy! But where's the BB?

Sraboney said...

You are a great photographer and I'm sure the bag had something to do with it!

Passionate Goof said...


Renu - Thanks a lot. Animals make such gorgeous and fascinating subjects for photography.

Soin - I like the expression myself.

D - I concentrated more on the 'other' wildlife that day. Additionally, he was not ready to pose, and wanted to be on the 'clicking' side.

sraboney - Thanks thanks, actually I think the camera, and 'the bag' had a lot to do with it too!! :D

roop said...

Fabulous work, Goof!! :)) I am so so so proud of you. I liked the composition of two lions the best.

A tiny suggestion for the next time: ease on the exposure. You can do that with aperture, shutter speed, and/or ISO if it's a point and shoot.

Also for composition, try to keep your subject that you want to focus on ... like pelican's eye ... in the side 1/3rd of the frame. I know it's impossible most of the times but whenever you can, do that. for example if u'd clicked meerkat in the side of the frame and same for sad eyes, they would've had a much better impact!!

and yes, watch the exposure. :)

hope i didn't say too much. a great effort! you did very very well!! i look forward to seeing more pics from you. :)

sraikh said...

Beautiful pictures, my fav is the one of the sad wala eyes.

Do you shoot on manual mode or A mode or auto? what kind of lense do you have? My absolute favorite lense is the 50f1.8..Its a prime lense(means it doesnt zoom) but the picture quality is amazing. I love it and it is cheap(at least here in Amerika) about USD$120?? even less at times...


I want to see the butterfly moth picture..

Passionate Goof said...


Roop - You and only you would come up with concrete advice hai na? Thanks!! The exposure did get a bit screwed up, because it was set high, I think for some indoor pics, and then I forgot to change it, and the metering mode also was screwed up that way. :( I like the keeping the focus in the 1st 1/3rd waala idea, would make a better composition i guess, but its so much easier to focus with the centre, and I was just so happy at the opportunity, I did not have much time left to think about the details.

Sraikh - Thanks. :D I do it on P(program) and do play around with the settings a bit, but not continually, over there, I hardly did esp, since I did not have time, and needed to click as soon as I got a clear shot. I know, fixed lenses produce better quality of pics, but aren't they sort of limiting? I have just 2 lenses right now, and I hate having to change them. In the zoo I used my telephoto 80-210. I prefer that lens, and get better pics with that than the 18-55, but I so need a tripod with the high zoom.

sraikh said...

Limiting.. hmm I dont know.. I love taking close ups. In fact I leave the 50mm1.8 on my camera most of the time. Almost all the pictures on my blog are taken with that lense. It does get tight with the 50mm but u take what you get :)
I want the 85mm at some point of time but its not worth $$ now

Mamma mia! Me a mamma? said...

I couldn't not comment on this post...the photographs are gorgeous. You have quite a gift, my dear!

Passionate Goof said...


Sraikh - I enjoy outdoors, nature pics, so I guess I do need a zoom lens, But I know fixed lenses produce better results.

M4 - How are you sweetheart? Thanks a ton. So waiting for you to come back. Hugs, and loads of love.