Some people call it the dot com lifestyle, because there is a greater level of flexibility for online entrepreneurs (and freelance writers) when it comes to working hours. I took advantage of this perk the last couple of days by taking a quick jaunt over to Calgary, partly to poke around in Cow-Town and mostly to shoot animals at the Calgary Zoo. Before you send PETA after me, you’ll want to know that I was only shooting with a camera.
Although I never pursued it professionally, I love animals. I can’t get enough of The Dog Whisperer, for example, and those National Geographic specials on TV are always a treat (particularly in HD). Although it’d be great to pay the wallabies a visit in their native Australia, seeing them at the zoo is the next best thing.
Based on what I saw, the Calgary Zoo is better than the Greater Vancouver Zoo in terms of the variety of animals on display, but it still pales in comparison to the San Diego Zoo. The Calgary Zoo has some interesting exhibits, like the ability to get within touching distance of some manta rays (don’t touch them), but a lot of the animal habitats lacked in realism and comprehensiveness. We’re not really seeing much in terms of simulated “natural” environments.
Unlike some other zoos, though, I did find that the animals at the Calgary Zoo were more likely to notice and pay attention to you when you looked back at them. Some even chose, it appeared, to pose for me. Below are some of the photos that I took. Check back tomorrow, as I just might have a video of a baby gorilla playing with her papa too!
The Great Horned Owl, along with a couple of hawks, call an outdoor aviary home. The kicker is that you can enter this aviary without any barrier between you and the birds of prey.
What are these African lions doing in the snow? Aren’t they cold?
The Snow Leopard takes a (very) brief break from its nap.
Not all kangaroos hang out on the ground. The Tree Kangaroo is just as cute.
That is one massive bat with a wingspan of up to 1.8 meters (about six feet). Thankfully, it only eats fruit.
Great pictures Michael. You should take a trip to Memphis, the zoo there is amazing also. Plus, you can go to Beal street, see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, have some great BBQ at the Nealy’s place, Nealy’s BBQ. I lived there, been there and miss it. I wish I could get a FedEx to go.
Nothing quite like a southern barbecue. We have a restaurant called Memphis Blues in Vancouver that specializes in that kind of fall-off-the-bone BBQ.
What kind of camera do you have? Just a point and shoot?
I visited the Calgary Zoo in 2007 during the Stampede, but I’d like to go back.
Yup, just a point and shoot. My main camera is a Canon S3 IS, but I was using a cheap Kodak at the zoo.
Cheap and small is the way to go while on a trip. I found lugging around my SLR equipment when I was in Jasper, Alberta last summer to be a bit of a pain.
Unless I’m doing a photo shoot or something, carrying along my little Olympus E-520 gets the job done. 🙂
I’ve had the same 4 megapixel Sony for 5 years and it still takes great pictures. It does video also, so I have all I need.
Of course having the Curve for all purpose pictures works also.
Have you tried out the Flip camera at all for video? My previous point and shoot camera a few years ago did video and when I upgraded to a newer model I assumed it also did video, until I took it home and found out it does video, but has no sound to support it. 🙁
I’ve tried the Flip and, realistically, the quality is no better than with a point-and-shoot. Just about all P&S cameras do video these days (VGA 30fps) and a handful can even do 720p.
I wish they would improve the sound quality on the Flip. It makes everything sound higher pitched than it actually is. It needs some bass.
Yay for the cheap Kodaks…that’s the only digital camera that I have right now. I am planning to get a nice new Canon within the next month or two though.
Canon point and shoot or a Canon SLR? SLRs seem to be getting cheaper all the time.
Point & Shoot…something to carry around with me all the time.
I love the zoo. I just wish I didn’t live in the middle of nowhere. I believe the closest zoo is Sacramento, which is roughly two hours away.
Two hours isn’t so bad, but I imagine it is quite unpleasant to live in the middle of nowhere. Then again, your living costs are probably lower too.
Yeah, the living costs around here are pretty cheap. But at the cost of your soul!
About 55 miles north of here is Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/. It’s pretty big, while we also have Bush Gardens in Tampa also has animals. To top it off I’m only 1.5 hours from Disney World and Animal Kingdom. Here is as picture from our balcony at the Animal Kingdom Lodge: http://twitpic.com/1m4u7
Nice pic there, Ray.
I’m liking those palm trees. They remind me of how I need to go on a vacation and get out of my cold climate. lol
Thanks Chris, that was my daughters 2nd birthday, she is 4 today! They hide the food where the animals would normally go for it and the guests can’t see it.
We get to Disney 3 or 4 times a year, if not just for the day at the Downtown Disney for the shops without having to pay entry into a park. Of course they also have the water parks, you have to love living in Florida! 🙂
Do they still have Typhoon Lagoon I think it’s called? I was in Disney World over 10 years ago and that was my favorite part of it.
That’s a cool pic Ray! As far as living in the middle of nowhere, I don’t mind it and think I’d rather stay away from the big cities with their huge throngs of people and traffic jams.
Sometimes I enjoy the big city, other times I wish I lived in the country somewhere. I guess it all depends on my mood, but for the most part I don’t mind the city that much. You just have to stay in the suburbs. 🙂
Typhoon Lagoon is still there along with Blizzard beach.
Nature and her creatures are such a wonderful tonic for the soul. You got some really nice snapshots there Michael, cheap Kodak or not!
The tree kangaroo is an interesting looking marsupial, but the 6 foot wingspan fruit bat really caught my eye. As an avid gardener I know how valuable a fertiliser bat guano is, and this fella looks like he could produce quite a bit.
I love going to the zoo, especially with my children. It’s great family outing and a good learning experience for them and for me.
Here’s my flickr album containing some pics I took at the Singapore Zoo.
Great shots. That round building sort of resembles Epcot Centre in Florida.
These are awesome pictures. I have to admit that your title got me at first. I had to figure out what you meant by “shoot.” Glad to hear you’re into photography and not guns!
Lol…the Calgary Zoo part gave it away for me. No if it would have just been “Shooting some animals” or something like that I might have wondered 🙂
If John Chow wrote this post about Pandas, it would probably involve actual shooting. lol He’s so evil!
Michael, I heard you’re living in Edmonton now. You should go to the Edmonton Zoo and take some pics of the only elephant being kept there. Former Price is Right host Bob Barker is apparently trying to get it released because of the living conditions there… go check it out and report back. 🙂
I heard that story too. Bob Barker is trying to get the elephant relocated to a sanctuary in the States, but the Valley Zoo officials said the trip would kill the old elephant. She has respiratory problems and the trip would be too stressful.
I still expect some kind of report from you in a future post. lol