Who doesnt like tiger cubs ?

[chrisk]

you must be MENTAL !!

despite the rain and getting drenched, (note to all, never buy my d700 !!), had great fun at the zoo seeing the cubs and they went ballistic, (after 3 hrs of sleeping). it pays to be patient. apologies but i am going to post 6 images so i don't create another cub thread. i am also proud to say that i conquered photographers disease. at one point they were going so psycho playing and i could see all of these killer shots and started to feel myself getting anxious ! so i caught myself, put the camera down and just sat there enjoying the show. it was wonderful.

right up against the glass and stuck with the 105VR on the d5100. the clarity of the shot stunned me athough i do wish it was the 60mm !


play time


calling the other cubs


look at those paws !!


2 of the 3 cubs. not sure which.


protective mum


thanks for looking. i have loads and loads of shots and will upload the lot to smugmug when i get the chance if anyone is interested.

gerry...would be interested to know what time you took your shots with the wb issues. anything i shot after 1130 required a wb adjustment as the sun streamed in thru the foliage basically onto the viewing glass giving a greeny tint to everything and significantly degrading the contrast. anything i shot earlier in the day, around the 930-1030 mark, the wb was spot on and the photos are SOOC. good learning experience for me there for when i head back.

[biggerry]

SHEESH! I have seen lots of tiger cub pictures across the forums in the last couple of weeks and there are some absolute stunners, these are no exception, these are great Chris.

The third one should be cropped portrait, that yawn/growl whatever is very nice and should be accentuated!

The second last one, they looked mirrored, this is also very very nice. top shelf.

gerry...would be interested to know what time you took your shots with the wb issues. anything i shot after 1130 required a wb adjustment as the sun streamed in thru the foliage basically onto the viewing glass giving a greeny tint to everything and significantly degrading the contrast. anything i shot earlier in the day, around the 930-1030 mark, the wb was spot on and the photos are SOOC. good learning experience for me there for when i head back.

from memory I was there around 11:30-12...I would have loved to get there earlier but my timing was dictated by a 2 yro (no guesses for who wears the pants in our household now )

That is very interesting about the WB and I guess not too surprising, the morning light would be softer, hence any negative effect of the foliage/shadows/reflections etc would be minimised.

Were you right up against the glass for all these? lens square to the glass? I think my issue is that I was up to a couple of metres away from the glass (due to the crowd) and often at a 30-60 degree angle with the glass..

I would love to go back again and get there early and hence have the op to move around and try and get some shots with good eye contact, the shots where they look right down the barrel are absolute killers I reckon.

I assume these are with your 300 f2.8? (excluding the first)? no teleconv.?

[chrisk]

Were you right up against the glass for all these? lens square to the glass? I think my issue is that I was up to a couple of metres away from the glass (due to the crowd) and often at a 30-60 degree angle with the glass...

yes, right up against the glass for the lot. lens hood resting against the glass. very small crowd cos it was such a crap day so i was ok and most people are pretty cool as long as you arent a hog.

i'll post up some SOOC shots from the morning and afternoon to give you an indication of the vast difference. my morning shots need zero processing. all of these needed a colour adjust, which i didnt do a great job of anyway. lol

I would love to go back again and get there early and hence have the op to move around and try and get some shots with good eye contact, the shots where they look right down the barrel are absolute killers I reckon.

i will post a few more in a different thread later of the adult cats, male and female, with direct eye contact. it makes yiur heart skip a beat looking thru the viewfinder !

I assume these are with your 300 f2.8? (excluding the first)? no teleconv.?

absolutely, and no tc this time round. apart from the fat boy, this is the best lens ive ever used in my life. i took 450 shots in pretty ordinary light at times and i reckon the hit rate is over 75% bang on focus. that has nothing to do with me, that's just the calibre of this lens. its astonishing. in fact for a rank amateur like me using a long lens to get that keeper rate is testament to how good it really is.

[Steffen]

Wow, sell them to the zoo, especially no 5!

Cheers
Steffen.

[aim54x]

Great images, they look sensational. I am hoping to get out there again soon. So much work at the moment means I have had no time to get out there.

note to all, never buy my d700 !!

I thought we were sworn not to do that after the last drenching incident!

[chrisk]

I thought we were sworn not to do that after the last drenching incident!

just a friendly reminder. lol

[aim54x]

just a friendly reminder. lol

Thanks!

[norwest]

#5 is a fantastic shot and I love it, but i think the dramatic message told by the last shot leaves it in it's wake. Great catch.

[Geoff M]

Hey Chris these do not need critique. All are great shots but for me #5 takes the trophy - could be another POTW for you!

[chrisk]

so I was at Taronga on Friday with Lucas where we had a blast together, and when walking to the tiger cubs Lucas says casually...hey dad...there's your photo. I thought he meant take a photo so I look at him and say nah mate, that's just a picture, no need to take a picture of a picture. and in his normal 6yo boy way, shrugs his shoulders and we walk to the tigers. then as we're looking at the lions, (which have now inhabited the old tiger exhibit !), I start thinking...hold on a second...that's MY FUCKING PHOTO !!

we walk back and I look at it...and I say...that's my photo whereby in his 6yo boy way he says I already knew that dad, I just told you and then proceeded to roll his eyes at me.

I've had lots of animal shots published by Taronga on the web, calenders, mugs etc and some other zoos and in newspapers and none are really worth much of a mention but when I saw it this size as one of the main photos of the exhibit all backlit and mounted...I was a little taken aback to say the least. for a 12mp shot at iso800 blown up to 1.5mx1.5m it has held up remarkably well, great colour and loads of detail even at that size...pays to be shooting with great glass huh ?


20130426-IMG_0829 by .Chris.K, on Flickr

just thought id share cos I was a little excited...

[aim54x]

so I was at Taronga on Friday with Lucas where we had a blast together, and when walking to the tiger cubs Lucas says casually...hey dad...there's your photo. I thought he meant take a photo so I look at him and say nah mate, that's just a picture, no need to take a picture of a picture. and in his normal 6yo boy way, shrugs his shoulders and we walk to the tigers. then as we're looking at the lions, (which have now inhabited the old tiger exhibit !), I start thinking...hold on a second...that's MY FUCKING PHOTO !!

we walk back and I look at it...and I say...that's my photo whereby in his 6yo boy way he says I already knew that dad, I just told you and then proceeded to roll his eyes at me.

I've had lots of animal shots published by Taronga on the web, calenders, mugs etc and some other zoos and in newspapers and none are really worth much of a mention but when I saw it this size as one of the main photos of the exhibit all backlit and mounted...I was a little taken aback to say the least. for a 12mp shot at iso800 blown up to 1.5mx1.5m it has held up remarkably well, great colour and loads of detail even at that size...pays to be shooting with great glass huh ?

...and they didn't tell you that they would be using your photo like that?

[chrisk]

Nope. Was a total surprise.

[the foto fanatic]

It looks great!

[Nikon boy]

Wow they are fantastic images ! well done

[ozimax]

They're all good Roozy, but 5/6 are cracking shots that would print well in any high end wildlife magazine in the world. Sensational. I can imagine nos 5 or 6 being printed on a massive canvas somewhere. If only I owned a house! Great work.

Ozi.

[Matt. K]

#5 is just amazing. Beautiful image worthy of a book cover.

[chrisk]

Thanks guys.