This weekend I made a short visit to the St. Louis Zoo. I had my 50mm lens on my camera when I saw this very peaceful looking lion:
ISO 250 50mm 0ev f/5.6 1/160
And right there you see the limitation of a 50mm lens. I can’t get any closer to the subject, so that is as good of a shot as I am going to get. So I switched to my 28-135mm lens for these next two shots:
ISO 400 135mm 0ev f/7.1 1/60
How peaceful looking is that? but remember to stay alert around wildlife because I took this picture 15 seconds later:
ISO 400 135mm 0ev f/7.1 1/80
Hello there, not asleep!
For the two shots taken with my 28-135mm lens I did have to increase the ISO and decrease the shutter speed to get the depth of field that I wanted. I don’t find the rock outcropping that she is sleeping on to be distracting, so I wanted to keep it in focus.
My blogging friend Rosemarie wrote about the St. Louis Zoo recently and also took some great photos.
This post was written in part as for the weekly travel-theme challenge that is hosted on the blog, Where’s my backpack? this week featuring peaceful as its theme.
Thoughts? Comments? feel free to leave them below!
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
Beautiful, very well captured… 🙂
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Thanks!
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Monty says – don’t you know… never wake a sleeping lion!! Nice shots! : ))
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Yup, and don’t turn your back either, not even for 15 seconds 🙂
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Eeek!
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🙂
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Beautiful photos. They truly are such noble looking animals.Thank you for the honorable mention.
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Thanks 🙂
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His little chin look so cute hanging over the edge in the second photo.
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It does give the effect that those rocks are a comfortable resting spot 🙂
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Looks peaceful while sleeping. Nice photos.
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Thank you!
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Stunning shots indeed PJB. How I would love to have a lens like that! Amazing clarity and DOF indeed! Thanks for sharing. 😀 *hugs*
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It’s funny because that was the kit lens that came with the camera and is actually not the best quality. It does however, do really well in some everyday situations like this, so I do use it a lot and like it. 🙂 Thanks for commenting 🙂
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I like how you changed lenses. I am new at actual cameras (vs iPhone which I do like though) and am not getting the hang of ISO, shutter speeds, and the like so I’ll have to keep working on it. These are fabulous shots. Very – ah – peaceful 😉
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It does take quite a bit of practice, I have found. Also, even though I know how it all works in theory, I still come up with some dud shots. That is the beauty of digital, you can just hit delete 🙂 Thanks for your visit!
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Practice. That always factors in 😉
Delete factors in quite a bit too 😉
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Yes, I have the world’s biggest electronic trash can at times 🙂
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😉
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Fantastic! 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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Unique shots. Too beautiful:)
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Thanks so much!
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Wonderful shots. I love the zoo! Great new layout too!
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I love going to the zoo as well, I’m lucky to have a really nice one nearby. I’m glad you like the new layout 🙂
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did she wake up after the shoot ?
haha 😀 nice one, thanks !
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Luckily, I wasn’t near enough to have to be concerned about that 🙂
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Love this photo of the kitty cat. But it looks like you disturbed his/her long, winter’s nap. Lucky for you you have that extremely long lens between you and the cat. 😉
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Yes, beautiful to look at, from a distance 🙂
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Pingback: New Year, New Look | Photography Journal Blog
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
In the jungle, the quiet jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
Well, maybe the zoo.
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Happy 2014 to you and yours!
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Thanks and to you as well 🙂
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Yup, the zoo, but what appears to be sleeping isn’t always, so be aware 🙂 Also, take your camera 🙂
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