A quick addition to my post from the Zoo. We had a wait a good amount of time for the Tiger to come from the back of the cage where we could see him. I was using a Canon 5D Mark 2 with a Canon 70 - 200 f4 lens. It doesn't have image stabilization so I had to keep my shutter speed above 1/200. The lens was set at 163 mm as the full 200 mm didn't give me good cropping. I was using a monopod to steady the camera as if gives me the ability to be more mobile when my target is moving. I shot these pictures at f4, ISO 800, and shutter of 1/3200. Didn't want that bugger blurring my picture. This also gave my the ability to blur out the fence in front of me. I had to do a manual focus as the fence kept fighting for attention.

With all this going on in front of him, he just had to have a real good laugh.

 

We went to the Seneca Park Zoo yesterday as it was warm enough to take pictures without gloves. It was cool enough that the bigger animals were outside moving (except the Polar Bear). Hard to get a picture unless they slow down a bit. Did get some great shots of the Amur Tiger.

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The Golden Lion Tamarin tried to cooperate but they just don't sit still.

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I will keep trying to get the Polar Bear.

My wife and I went to Niagara Falls on 2/9 - 11 to relax, celebrate Valentines Day, and take pictures of the falls. The temperatures were between 0 and 15 degrees and the ice was incredible. The trees on Goat Island, on the American side, looked like pure white works of art. The mist from the Horseshoe Falls drifts over the island creating an ice wonderland.

The Niagara River was almost frozen completely over. Some of the water going over the Canadian Falls looked more like slush and there was a massive amount of ice at the American Falls.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.