Hektore

So, for my birthday Sunday, my fiancee took me to the zoo in Washington, DC for the day. I thought I would share a few of my favorite shots with you all.





















For the curious, these were shot on a D50 and have only been resized, the original files are 3008 x 2000 pixels if for some reason you should want to see those.

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The advantage law is the best law in rugby, because it lets you ignore all the others for the good of the game.

Jetée

Something must be on the fritz for I see no embedded images of said activity.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

inBOIL

I can see them just fine. I like the blue bird.

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And you believe Bush and the liberals and divorced parents and gays and blacks and the Christian right and fossil fuels and Xbox are all to blame, meanwhile you yourselves create an ad where your kid hits you in the head with a baseball and you don't understand the message that the problem is you.

Manic_Skafe

Haha - that second shot is priceless. Like a cartoon character sneaking away.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

Jetée

Still, I see nothing within the thread; must be on my end.

I followed the address back to your album, though, and can see them "right as rain" within photobucket... wait, no. Full-size photos are not available to me, only thumbnails.

Still, from what I can ascertain, these are fine captures of a variety of animals. What kind of exotic bird is the blue one? Wow, and what a mouth on that crocodile.

Another joyous solar return to you, Hektore.

__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

kramus

Love the water and the light in your gavial pic (it is a gavial?). And the shades of green in that lizard's hide are beautiful.

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And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ...
I'm going with this - if you like artwork visit http://markfineart.ca

snowy

I too love the second shot--I admit to being partial to my university's mascot, as all the pictures are excellent. I really like the textures in many of them.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Hektore

The blue bird, I have been assured by my fiancee, is a Green Magpie

That is a gavial, although they spell it Gharial. I took one look at the eyes on it and had to have a picture. I have one much more zoomed in to get more detail.

And lastly, although at first my favorite was the last one posted, the beaver grows on me more and more each time I look at it. Something about that expression, it;s so....mischievous.

More to come when I get time to upload them.

__________________
The advantage law is the best law in rugby, because it lets you ignore all the others for the good of the game.

Fotzlid

Jellyfish are my nemesis, I never get good shots of them.

Nice shot.

CinnamonGirl

The second shot is, indeed, awesome. The cheetah is my favorite though.

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"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


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~~~~~

Magpie_1

I think the beaver looks like he wants to do kong fu.

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"Art is what you can get away with."
- Andy Warhol

Jetée

I think see it now as well.

__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

bit_of_honey

Now thats funny!!!!!!!!! great shots even though it was a rainy day!

fnaqzna

How's the zoo nowadays? I haven't been there since 2001. Back then, it was a bit of a dump.

Hektore

It was good except for the rain. They're in the middle of construction for a very large elephant exhibit(note: the exhibit is large, not the elephants...well not moreso than normal anyway). I think it isn't scheduled to be finished until 2011. Although, from what is already in place it will be worth the wait.

The day we were their they suspected another pregnant panda. So those were a bust.

There is one of the best exhibits I've ever seen in the invertebrate house. They put a Nephila inaurata (the large spider) out in an open exhibit in the hallway. You can be inches away from a spider the size of your hand with no barrier. There is someone there to watch, but they let me lean over into the exhibit and get very close for some pictures.

It was an exceptional birthday present.

About the only lousy part was the attitude of some of the employees (not the keepers) and the hooligans running around.

I would complain about the flimsiness of the $9 ponchos, but I'll consider it supporting the zoo and thus a wash.

The most upsetting part to me was that the O-Line was closed, due to the rain. If you don't know what that is, they built several towers and strung ropes between them abuot 30 ft(10m) above the ground, which the orangs can walk on to get back and forth between their two exhibits. Orangs are far and away my favorite primate. It's rumored they have learned how to get a rise out of crowds by pretending to fall and catching themselves at the last second. Apparently they get much amusement from the crowd's reaction.

__________________
The advantage law is the best law in rugby, because it lets you ignore all the others for the good of the game.