The Calgary Zoo

Montage "The 3 Amigos Bank Job" Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 280mm, f5.6, 1/250sec, ISO200,

The Calgary Zoo, is an amazing zoo, it’s the second largest in Canada after Toronto.

The 3 Amigos, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 280mm, f5.6, 1/250sec, ISO200,BW using Onone software

 (To get Perfect Effect 4 for Free click on the link on the right of the page)

Located on St. George’s Island in downtown Calgary, a great location till June 2013 flood, the zoo suffered extensive damage costing over $50 million, the zoo fully reopened in November 2013.

For me like many Albertans and tourists the zoo is an oasis, a place to learn and relax.

The pictures on this post are some of my favorite, as you will see, I used some of them to create images that have nothing to do with the reality, but are part of my vision.

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 70-200 at 70mm, f2.8, 1/50 sec. ISO1250, using Corel Painter software,

The Other Side of the Glass, I like the interaction between the little monkey that in fact is outside, and the people the other side of the glass that are inside the building, it last just a fraction of second, just the time to capture it. Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 at 400 f5.6, 1/200sec. ISO 400

The Thinker, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 70-200 at 160mm, f5, 1/1250sec, ISO 200

Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 24-105 at 100mm, f4.5, 1/640sec, ISO200

I love pink flamingo, I had that vision when I saw them, I started by the BW image above, but that wasn't what I was looking for, I wanted to keep the pink, and add a surreal mood, using liquify filter in Photoshop and Corel Painter I was able to recreate my vision, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 24-105 at 100mm, f4.5, 1/640sec, ISO200

The zebras are probably one of my favorite subject, love the lines, especially great for BW, Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 340mm, f5.6, 1/320sec, ISO200, Software onOne

The zebras such an amazing animal, I really like the way they are position in the frame, when I am out at the zoo, I can wait for hours to get a shot, and sometimes is doesn't happen, but this time it did, took me many days working with Photoshop and Corel to get the image exactly how I wanted, some of my pre-visualisation are very difficult and sometimes impossible to create even with Photoshop and all the other digital darkroom tools. For this shot I use my Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 260mm, f5.6, 1/400sec, ISO200

The Lioness, so beautiful and ferocious, she is the queen, I passed many hours shooting her and her friends, the other lioness and the lions, to do so I needed to put my big lens on a tripod in a safe location, the African Lions are very popular and with all the kids rooming around it takes time to find the perfect spot, when I found it, I kept it for a while, shooting for few hours, wasn't even affected by the army of mosquitoes!!!  So I did like always when it's possible I used my sturdy tripod, Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 308mm. f7.1, 1/160, ISO 400,

The angry girls, gorgeous and ferocious, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 560mm, f8, 1/400sec, ISO400

The King, how handsome, young and perky, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 434mm, f8, 1/250 ISO400

The Look of a king, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 560mm, f9, 1/200 ISO400

To be successful when going for a safary at your local zoo, bring your tripod, I normally rent a cart to transport all my gears, be patient and take the time to find the perfect view point, set your gears be ready to shoot, and wait for the perfect moment, patience is the essence, that's why I always go alone, that way I can take as long as I want and focus on what I am doing, with no distraction.

To get Perfect Effect 4 for Free click on the link on the right of the page

Creative Lens "Canon Fisheye 15mm 2.8"

Creative Lens "Canon Fisheye 15mm 2.8"

I used that lens before for landscape, not a fan of it for landscape work, I will give it another try next time I am in the mountains. Very different feeling when I used it in town.  

I decided to use it in DT Calgary, exploring a way to shoot the new Bow Building the new home of Encana & Cenovus, 1.7 Million sq ft, Encana sold it, and leased it for 25 years, apparently the cost of the construction was over 1.4 billion, and at completion in 2012,  it became the 149th tallest building in the world.

f9,1/640sec, ISO 200

On the plaza in front of the building rise the Wonderland, a work by the Spanish Sculptor Jaume Plensa . The sculpture is a 12-metre-tall bent-wire portrait of a young girl's head,  the key feature of the main plaza area. 

A lot of big stuff to shoot with a regular lens, and very interesting if done with Canon Fisheye lens attached to my Canon 5D Markiii, I know it's not for everyone,  the distortion of wide lenses like this one is great, and if you want straight lines this is not the lens for it, but it can be very artistic.

 f9, 1/1000sec, ISO 200

f9, 1/15sec, ISO 200

After visiting and  shooting the Bow and the Wonderland sculpture, I used the Fisheye to shoot a woman sculpture one of the Famous Five "Louise McKinney" McKinney ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1917 Alberta general election. She won the electoral district of Claresholm as a candidate for the Non-Partisan League by defeating Liberal incumbent William Moffat. She was in office  from June 7, 1917 to July 18 1921.

Shooting this sculpture with a lens that wide bring me very close and personal to it, as you can see.

On the last note, I think this little lens as a lot to offer:)