Xmas at the zoo

Hope that you all had or are still having a wonderful holiday.

We still say Happy Holidays whenever we feel like it at the Blue Heron Blast.

Leslie and I enjoyed a wonderful and what has become a rather traditional Christmas for us.

We went to the San Diego Zoo and met up with our dear friends Ron and Lena and then all went up to Convoy for dim sum at Jasmine.

Your next hairdo.

Lovely day. Ate too much of course.

I thought I would share some shots with you from the day. People tell me that they get tired of me complaining about not having the right lens or camera and guess what, I didn't. But I ain't gonna bitch because I can see how it smacks of nauseating false humility, if I do say so myself.

I didn't feel like going back to my shop for the full frame camera and the fast Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 so I gutted it out with the long and slow Sigma. Much too dark for this lens, probably won't make that mistake again but I made do with what I had and shot a few worth keeping.

For some reason I have always had super good luck shooting the Malayan sun bear. I love this shot.

Now this bear may not have the most attractive mug, sort of a hyena like underbite, but I think it is quite beautiful. I am sure that his or her mother thinks so too. Gorgeous lustrous coat, love how the light falls on it. I think that I like this shot because the dark chiaroscuro and textured background sort of reminds me of Rembrandt in some way.

Rest of the day was rather hit or miss.

Two beautiful Serval kittens.

A pretty young girl.

A dromedary happily scratching his back.

An older fella dressed in the spirit of the day.

All the standard stuff you have to shoot at the zoo. I am an admitted sucker for flamingo shots.

Panda was pretty lethargic.

Honestly my favorite spots are the hummingbird cage and the aviaries.

So that's where we ended up. More birds, of course.