POTW 1/2/11

<p>My brother was in town this past weekend, so we spent most of New Years Day at the San Diego Zoo. It was a cool, fairly clear day, nice for photos. I decided to mostly use the A135 f/2.8. It's short for a zoo lens, and manual focus, but I do like using it. </p>

<p>The rock hyrax were huddled together. Check out the face on the one that is 2nd from the right, he looks like someone you really don't want to run into in a dark alley. K7, A135 f/2.8, 1/80 sec. at f/4.0, ISO 400. Cropped somewhat.</p>

<p><img src="http://frankbaiamonte.smugmug.com/SDZoo-WAP/New-Years-Day-2011-Zoo/IMGP5675/1145167230_8qTiP-L.jpg" alt="" width="771" height="600" /></p>

<p>The San Diego Zoo has done a really nice job of expanding the enclosures and making them more natural, but not all of them are done yet. Some of the big cats are still stuck in the old style enclosures. These are actually pretty big, and built on a hillside so there is a fair amount of variety in there for the cats, but they are still just big boxes in the end. This jaguar likes to hang out in cave that is really close to the fence. He was closer to the fence than I was, so there was no way I was going be able to focus away the fence like I can in other situations. I decided to try something else instead, and waited until I could get his eyes on either side of a wire. Even though it was dark and hard to see, having a real manual focus lens made this a lot easier. K7, A135 f/2.8, 1/80 sec. at f/2.8, ISO 400.</p>

<p><img src="http://frankbaiamonte.smugmug.com/SDZoo-WAP/New-Years-Day-2011-Zoo/IMGP5697/1145168132_33pGC-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="532" /></p>

<p>This guy has been at the Zoo for a long time. I finally got a shot of him that I like. K7, DA21, 3/10 sec. at f/4.0, ISO 500.</p>

<p><img src="http://frankbaiamonte.smugmug.com/SDZoo-WAP/New-Years-Day-2011-Zoo/IMGP5775/1145173375_nEhbC-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="532" /></p>

<p>Happy New Year everyone!</p>

<p> </p>

<p><a title="The long walk home... by Aonghais MacInnes, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/aonghais/5304765783/"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5304765783_501e1577e1.jpg" alt="The long walk home..." width="500" height="281" /></a><br>

Pentax K-7 with FA50 1.4</p>

<p>We had a great weekend with some really frosty & foggy mornings that made the results come out almost Narnia-like.</p>

<p><img src="http://lumine.smugmug.com/Photography/January-2011/IMGP0503/1147248299_wKY6h-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p>Andrew G, yes, what Dave said, <em>Long Walk Home</em> is excellent. I also enjoy Jeff T's beautiful light, Bob C's first building shot is very strong, Ian F's framing and colors, and Javier's first one makes me want to catch a flight south.</p>

<p>Dave it is fun to see the flow of resemblance between your dad, you, your son and your grandsons. You are all so fortunate to have each other around.</p>

<p>ME</p>