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all creatures great and small

birds and bees,flowers and trees, dogs and cats and things like that...
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DSC_1401 Ebony Langers
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DSC_1401 Ebony Langers

Bronx ZoomonkeysEbony Langersnaturezoo

  • DSC_1362 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1365 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1381 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1319 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1326 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1338 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1318 Ebony Langers
  • Nicely camouflaged these owls can remain hidden right out in the open as they look for prey, which they snatch up in their surprisingly huge mouths.
  • DSC_1401 Ebony Langers
  • DSC_1673 rock a by baby on a tree top
  • Last May I broke a drought of over 20 years since I visited the Bronx Zoo (lugging a bunch of camera equipment all the way from Staten Island, proved a bit too much for me to stomach). But I longed to go back and see what had changed in all this time. I had especially wanted to visit the "world of birds", one of my favorite places there, but when I arrived at the zoo I found out the harsh winter had cause extensive damage and was closed. So it wasn't until last week that I finally got to see the old place again.
  • THEN:<br /> <br /> <br /> 20 years ago on one of my many trips to the zoo, back when I was still living in the Bronx, I spotted a nesting pair of sunbitterns at the fantastic "World of Birds " exhibit. One would sit on the egg while the other foraged for food. I wanted a shot when there was a "changing of the guard" so you could see the egg, and after much patient waiting my persistence was rewarded.<br /> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /> Nikon F3<br /> Ectachrome 100<br /> nikkor 300mm f4.5 ED-IF<br /> 1/60th sec.<br /> F8<br /> Nikon SB-16 flash
  • NOW: Coming back one week after my first visit to the zoo since last spring, I made my way back to this same spot to try and capture one of the sunbittern parents feeding its young. Again it was really overcast and getting a good shot that froze the action eluded me, but at least this time the light was high enough to insure that some of the shots weren't a total blur. There was something so fitting in all this, as the last time I captured something major here over 20 years ago it was a pair of mating sunbitterns guarding their egg. Now as the sights sounds and smells brought those old memories back again here I was capturing another pair of sunbitterns and their little one, this time the little one didn't have an egg shell wrapped around it.
  • DSC_1502 feed me!
  • DSC_1506 blue crowned motmot
  • THEN:<br /> <br /> <br /> Taken on the final week of November 1985 while I was still living a hop skip and a jump from here off White Plains road in the Bronx, I loved taking pictures in the "World of Asia" just about as much as I did in my favorite place the "World of Birds".<br /> <br /> This shot is another example that we still got great nature shots before digital camera's equipped with autofocus lenses were a glint in camera makers eyes. The big difference back then - the light sensitivity of the films. I needed 100 speed film to get this barely acceptable shutter speed indoors. And the need to always use a tripod in these type of situations forced you to make deliberate choices in your compositions. Imagine the image quality if lighting conditions allowed me to use the Kodachrome that was sitting in my F3.<br /> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /> Nikon FA<br /> Ectachrome 100<br /> nikkor 300mm f4.5 ED-IF<br /> 1/8th sec.<br /> F4.5
  • NOW:<br /> <br /> <br /> The best difference for me with today's technology is not an improvement in image quality (not sure there is any), it's the incredible increase in light sensitivity. Emancipated from having to use a tripod I was free to follow the action where ever it moved to, and was able to capture delightful moments on the fly - like this poor baby being the object of every adult monkey's affections. The poor little thing got grabbed and pulled every which way but loose. Sometimes I was laughing so hard I could barely take the picture - it was a hoot!
  • Getting a sharp shot of the baby looking into the camera with such low light levels indoors, took a lot of focus and patience. Getting the slide of a shot like this back from the lab and seeing that I hit a home run was always a huge thrill that kept me loading up the photo gear again and trying for more.<br /> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /> Nikon FA<br /> Ectachrome 100<br /> nikkor 300mm f4.5 ED-IF<br /> 1/8th sec.<br /> F4.5
  • Why can't you and Jr. ever cooperate with me for one of these family portraits? 1000 photographers and still not one good family portrait to hang from the branch in our living room...
  • DSC_1728 killing him with kindness
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