Someday I’d like to go on a photo safari, a real safari with big cats and cheetahs. But until then, I look for opportunities in my backyard. You could argue, and I would agree, that I get a chance for safari when I paddle with whales in the Pacific Ocean. I would add I never get tired of photographing whales and the other creatures they swim with. Off the water one of the local treats I have is San Jose’s own zoo. It had a major revision about 10 years ago to be a more school and kid friendly place.

They did a marvelous job with the kid friendly places and expanded a few of the exhibits. One of those  enclosures was for the lemurs. A small primate, lemurs share many characteristics with other primates including opposable thumbs and stereoscopic vision. This means that can hold tools, like rocks to bang things open, and have depth perception which allows them to distinguish between things close by and far away. Maybe because of these two capabilities or maybe due to something else, they are a curious lot. Like their larger cousins, homo sapiens, they display curiosity, elation, and frustration. This makes them great subjects for a casual day at the zoo.

The other portrait today is a good ‘ol American Prairie Dog. What makes them fun to photograph is their tendency to be skittish. I suppose on the prairie this is a good thing and helps them live another day but in the enclosure it makes them look hyper-active. Our little guy here looks like he is taking the measure of me instead of the other way around. It was nice of him to pose because I wasn’t going to give him directions which way to turn his head or which foot to put his weight on.

On safari I would have to rent a very expensive and heavy lens to capture the antics of both these animals. In the zoo I can get close without the expense. In fact, I took these photos using a Tamron 70-200mm lens. I own it as a standard piece of equipment for people portraits. It is very sharp, not too heavy, and didn’t break the bank to buy. It is fast enough I shoot it hand-held. The field of view using this lens on my Nikon D200 is the equivalent of 300mm on a 35mm or full frame digital camera when used at maximum length. I was able to shoot these frames at the lowest ISO of 100 which made them clear and clean, thanks in part to the large aperture of 2.8. The aperture also helped me with bokeh, making the background blurry and my subject nice and sharp.

While I want to go on safari, there are plenty of opportunities in my backyard to keep me busy and give me real live practice for some future road trip. I encourage you to not overlook your own backyard. I’m sure there are subjects close by.