Toledo Zoo

[jjeling]

Toledo, Ohio is not really known for much. One thing it is known for is the Zoo. Known around the world as one of the best zoo's, I have always shyed away from going there to take pictures. Just did not seem right. However, after some thought and discussion, I went to give it a try today. For the county residents, admission is free before noon on Mondays. It is going to be my bread and butter if I stick it out. Anyways, here are the best shots from today. I thought I might share them with you all. My trip was cut short today, but the zoo is not going anywhere anytime soon, and I will definitely end up going back in the near future. Enjoy!

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[jjeling]

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Caged In

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[jjeling]

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[jjeling]

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[jjeling]

last one

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[JAS_Photo]

Nice work! I especially like the little bird, the tiger, the eagle and the little penquin!

[AntZ]

Nice shots JJ. I like the 3rd one (close up of the bird) and the Alligator?

[jlabel]

Very nice picture, cute bird. I liked it

[kat]

Wonderful shots JJ! I can't wait to get my butt to a zoo..not until this August. Love that bird shot..well executed!

[Marko]

Yeah I feel the same way about zoos as you do JJ, but despite that some of these shots rock hard :highfive: The eye sharpness in particular is excellent in many of these shots.
Shot 3 from post 1,
shot 3 from post 3,
and shots 1 and 2 from post 4 are my faves. Well done!

[jjeling]

Thanks guys. Its the first time Ive been to the zoo with a camera. It is a shame that some of these animals are born, raised, and will die in the zoo. Others there are rescues and will stay there and will hopefully raise young that will be released into the wild. In the end, I hope that images like this will raise awareness to some of these creatures. It is the only way I can justify going to a zoo to take pictures. Thanks for taking a look. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future.

[scorpio_e]

Well done series.. I absolutely love shot two from post four. Some of the best zoo shots I have seen:)
I driven through Toledo a few times. Your close to a well know landmark Cedar point *L*

[tomorrowstreasures]

JJ - lovely series! I love the bear footsie shot. super cute!

[Barefoot]

Any one of the first three shots are wall hangers, but I favor the swimming polar bear. Nothing but the pads of its paws is not a shot you see very often and makes for a pleasant change. I read that the human mind has no trouble filling in missing details when presented with a shot like that one.

I’m not one who has hang-ups in regards to zoos. Maybe it’s because ours is modern in design and provides as close to a natural habitat as you’ll find anywhere other than nature herself. Most of the creatures have so much room to move about their enclosures that you sometime have difficulty finding them. Free from the threat of poaching and disease, most will live longer that their counterparts in the wild. I know there are bad captive habitats that should be closed, but that list doesn't include River Banks Zoo in Columbia, SC.

I think the only creatures in our captive habitat that I hate to see enclosed is the Mountain Gorillas and they probably need more protection than any of the other creatures there with the possible exception of the Siberian Tigers.

[jjeling]

OK, so those were all taken through a fence, or no barrier at all. This next set are all the images that were taken through glass. THICK glass I must say. You can tell too. These were easily the most challenging of them all. The aquariums have extremely low lighting,

Even though they were outside, the gorillas were tough too. The glass was several inches thick, but were so smudged up from the gorillas on one side and people on the other. I tried wiping a decent area of glass for me to shoot through, but yeah, not so much.

Anyways, here are a few more from that day.

This first one of the orangutan was indoors with fluorescent lighting. Not only was it terrible lighting, but there was a lot of glass as well.

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[jjeling]

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[jjeling]

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These aquarium pics were tough. These are going to be a nice challenge. I forgot to mention the condensation on the glass of some of them as well.

[tomorrowstreasures]

my fave :highfive: is the one with the clown :clown: fish in the pink thingie.. :-)

[Mad Aussie]

If there's one thing I personally found in many of your previous images JJ is that they usually lacked sharpness. But most of the shots in this thread are tack sharp. Some excellent shots as well ... I can't pick a favourite. Love lots of them!! Nice work indeed!

[jjeling]

If there's one thing I personally found in many of your previous images JJ is that they usually lacked sharpness. But most of the shots in this thread are tack sharp. Some excellent shots as well ... I can't pick a favourite. Love lots of them!! Nice work indeed!

MA, that is because I stopped displaying images through the forum and started using flickr. I decided to pay for the pro account so I can get many more on there and the audience(you guys) will benefit much more. Click on either of the links in my signature and that should give you a better idea of whether or not my images are sharp enough. Thanks for letting me know they are sharper now. I will stick to this method until further notice.

[kat]

More great images! Yay! These are sweet! Great day of shooting I would say!@