We went to the Boise Zoo...I think I was seeing the zoo after years. The last time I saw a zoo must have been when I was a child. Around 2002 or so I did see the safari zoo at Bangalore....but I was seeing a regular zoo after years. And I think this was the first time my children were visiting one. Here are some pictures from there.

This one was very interested in everything I was doing...every move I made while trying to get a good angle with my camera. He turned and twisted his head so much, that I had a difficult time getting his eye in the camera. His mate was least interested and ignored me. LOL!

It was a little bit of a problem taking this picture because the Bald Eagles were really far, and the mesh of the cage had small gaps. So I got this one inside one of the gaps, and then cropped the eagle out of the original picture.

I waited for the longest time, but the tiger refused to look at me! LOL! So we have to make do with his/her profile.

The king sat and ignored his queens....

His queens ignored him too, and decided to groom each other.

One of the queens even thought he was a bit boring. Or maybe she thought we were boring...the ones on the other side of the glass. :-P

The Sloth Bear. It was sooooo hot that day, I couldn't fathom how a bear can bear this much heat!

And this Canadian Gooseling was not caged...it was a free bird. And it was walking somewhere with great determination. A bird on a mission! I had to capture this one!

I hope to go on another safari trip soon...

Another picture of the moon and her craters

I am vacationing at Boise, Yellowstone, Mt. Teton area, and while I was really enraptured by the beauty all around me, the moon in the sky held my attention as well. So here is another picture of the moon I took at Mt. Teton National Park. So pleased that my 55-300mm Nikkor lens! I love how it can easily capture the craters.

I finally took pictures of the moon!

Had been drooling over pictures others had taken, with craters etc showing. Now I took my very own shot with my Nikon D5100, and my 55-300 VR Nikkor zoom lens. I had taken this during the day so the sky was blue. But I wanted a dramatic black, so I changed it to greyscale, and then increased contrast, and reduced the noise.

Beautiful, glorious birds!

These pictures were taken after a one day course in DSRLs with Satish Menon. It was a really fun class, and helped me learn to begin to use my DSLR (a Nikon D5100) as a DSLR. I had been using it as a point and shoot so far, because I was not getting the time or the mood to sit down with a book. I thought taking this class will be a great way to start, and it was! He also gave us some basic "recipes" for portraits and landscapes. After the theory part was over, we went to a park (forgetting the name...I think Hellyer Park?), and practiced what we had learned.

As always, do click on the pictures to see the enlarged versions, and see pictures on FULL screen, to see each droplet of water as the birds splashed in the lake, the details of their eyes, and their feathers :-)). 

It seemed like they were enjoying "posing" for me, as much as I was enjoying taking their pictures.

Camera: Nikon D5100, 18-55mm VR Nikkor lens, ISO 100, Aperture f/5.6, Exposure 1/400 sec, focal length 55mm, ISO 100, No flash, handheld.

Sunset at Fowler Park

I love sunsets and sunrises. Who doesn't? The splendid colors that spill through the skies make you think, "Is this creation truly Divine?". Here are some sunset pictures taken from the parking lot of a park.

Nikon D5100, 18-55mm VR Nikkor lens, Focal length 55mm, Aperture f/11, no flash, Exposure 1/125, ISO 100, handheld.

Click on the pictures to see the enlarged versions on FULL screen. Enlarged versions are better :-).