Here kitty kitty kitty...

[chrisk]

picked up my 300VR on friday and did a smash and grab at the zoo. forgot how much i loved melb zoo. next time i have to make a day of it instead of a 2 hour fly thru.

the lens ? its beautiful. much easier to carry and handhold than what i thought it would be. as described by the seller it was perfect, not a mark on the thing. he reckons it was used about a dozen times, given the condition its in, i'm inclined to believe him.

thanks for looking.

this one is my fave shot of the day although the long grass did unfortunately give me some funky bokeh.


click this link for a proper version of the above shot that hasn't been smashed by the forum.
http://luca-images.smugmug.com/Animals/ ... UCBC3-A-LB

these are 50% crops. surprised how well the image held together.

[aim54x]

Very nice photos there Rooz!

That 300VR looks like it is in good hands and I look forward to seeing more photos from this lens.

I love the whole set, just emphasises how relaxed these lions are.

[chrisk]

other than roll over or change sleeping position, i think its the first time ive ever seen a lion actually move in real life. lol

[biggerry]

picked up my 300VR on friday and did a smash and grab at the zoo

*drools*

*drools some more*

*removes jaw from floor*

that first image is real nice, the composition and expression makes for one very very cranky cat.

[Big V]

Good series, These Lions are so different looking to what we have here in SA, these have a much larger mane.

[gstark]

Chris,

These are excellent; great work.

As much as I'm with you in liking the first, the second looks as if these two are eyeing off their next mid morning snack. The composition with the lions' eyes towards the top and left, and the maggie (or is it a currawong?) in the bottom rh corner really makes this image something special.

Shame about the (not so) bloody fence, but it is a zoo, after all.

[fozzie]

Rooz - very nice series of shots

Now you need to purchase a TC-14EII.

When I was at Melbourne Zoo last November, I had a conversation with one of the volunteer's and Lions are brothers.

[marcotrov]

Congrats on the new(I'm very jealous!) acquisition. Terrific images. I particularly like that first one, had he been looking directly at the camera it would have been awesome. You'll have to go back and convince him that is what you want Chris.
I have been really lusting over the 200-400VR. Any particular reason, apart from price, you went for the 300VR?
cheers
marco

[CraigVTR]

Great shots. I have to agree about #2, you can almost see him thinking "oooh, snack".

[chrisk]

thanks for the comments. i just printed #1 out in A3, damn it looks crazy good.
agree about the fence gary, was tough to work out a place where the fence wouldn't get in the way. not a big fan of all those dead branches either but hey, cant be too fussy, its miles better than taronga.

[BBJ]

Love them all, my type of pussy cats and i agree with Tony they look differant from those up in the big smoke of Adelaide's zoo. I might get to that zoo oneday when i get over my allergic reaction to Victoria. LOL Not to mention i go accros the border 3 times a night in the truck. LOL

[Wink]

Nice shots.

I was at the zoo last weekend and just catching these guys actually up and about is a big part of the battle (as with most zoo animals i guess).

[Matt. K]

Aaahh! Sweet glass!

[LaurieE]

great pictures - nice and sharp too!

looks like you have a nice new toy!

[gstark]

Chris,

You have to accept what's presented to you.

its miles better than taronga.

Do you need a trip to Dubbo?

Do we need a trip to Dubbo?

[lightning]

very nice
#4 I would crop out the right to the bottom end of the big branch, also the fence does not intrude on this one.
The look on the lions face is all evil intent !!

[brentsky]

great shots! can i ask how you managed to shoot through the steel mesh (ground level) around the lion sanctuary?

[Willy wombat]

Good looking kitties you got here - well done

[aim54x]

great shots! can i ask how you managed to shoot through the steel mesh (ground level) around the lion sanctuary?

If you are using a long lens with a wide aperture and you place the front of the lens close to the mesh then the mesh becomes out of focus enough not to show in your pictures (so long as they are not reflecting sun light). Grab a 70-300 and try it next time!

[chrisk]

great shots! can i ask how you managed to shoot through the steel mesh (ground level) around the lion sanctuary?

as per cam's comment above. just using a long lens pretty much deals with the mesh. in saying that, there were maybe 30% of shots where the contrast took a serious nosedive from the mesh being in just that slightly wrong place so it can be a bit hit and miss.