An afternoon photographing some beautiful animals

One of my favorite trips from the last few months was taking a photography field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, WA. A good friend let me borrow one of his lenses and I was excited to get some different shots!

We got there just as the zoo opened on what looked like could be a rainy day. But as the sun moved over the sky the rain dissipated and the sky became a lighter grey. We couldn’t ask for much better in the Pacific Northwest in December!

Because we got there at opening the crowds were minimal and we were able to see the animals pretty well.

The hardest obstacle I had was glare and reflections! Many of the exhibits were glass which made it very hard to get clear pictures. I found out if I angled the camera just right I got better pictures. The animals themselves were the perfect models! Of course we were greeted by one of the zoos peacocks. He strutted his stuff and didn’t mind us being near to him while the tigers looked like they wanted to stay in bed a bit longer. The adorable arctic foxes were irresistible as they ran around and posed.

About noon the zoo started to get more crowded and the rising sun was causing the animals to go into hiding. It was a great day of shooting and I plan on going back!