Zoo Bloom(less)

We went to the Cincinnati Zoo last weekend, to see their annual Zoo Blooms. Thousands of bulbs are planted in the fall. Unfortunately, given the mild winter we had, the blooms had mostly come and gone by the time we got to the zoo.

There were a few.

The reptile house is the oldest zoo building still in use in the United States. They are in the processof giving it a new roof, restoring it to its original color.

We went to Night Hunters, where the pallas cat just glared at me.

The fossas just lounged.

Got a decent shot of a clouded leopard from the side.

The black footed cat was lounging, too.

The fishing cat was having a snack. Not sure why his side was shaved–it was like that the last time I was there.

I’m playing with my lens a bit. For the full on nocturnal houses, I use a 50mm lens, opened up to f/1.8. I stopped it down to f/2.8, to see the results. I think it may work, though I’ll need to practice a bit more. This would allow a broader depth of field. There are many lenses that can do f/2.8, which was another reason for trying it. More experimentation required.

The caracal is so pretty!

I think we were boring Tecumseh.

The lion was already asleep…

…as was the bear with his blankie.

The giraffe, meanwhile, had a snack.

One thing we saw: they’ve named the cheetah run after Cathryn Hilker, its founder. I think that’s awesome–she is one of the reasons we (as a planet) have cheetahs today!