Let’s go to the zoo!

Holy cow, it is 8:00 on Sunday morning and I am up and raring to go. Not so amazing? I have 2 kids ready to go too!

We are going to the zoo to check out the Earth Day events and to have a peek at the posters that were printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo.

Now… what gear for today?

I have switched to my larger Kata 3 in 1 bag (the 30) so that I can carry my Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 – a must for shooting animals through the fence and not seeing the fence in my images.  At f/2.8, I can focus on the animal and the small depth of field blurs out the fence or other distractions outside of that focal length.

This shot was taken through the chain-link fence on my last trip to the zoo!

Fence? What fence?

I am also packing my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 so that I can take pictures of the kids.The shorter focal length will let me stay close to the kids and photograph them but it is still a fast f/2.8 so that I can blur out the crowd if necessary and I can get decent shots in the darker pavilions because the faster lens lets in more light.

Now, I expect that there will be big crowds today so I will not pack a tripod. I will, however, pack a monopod so that I get the added stability with the heavier 70-200mm lens. I have a Manfrotto “automatic” monopod. It allows me to quickly raise or lower it with just one hand. Never seen this one? See it on Manfrotto.ca

Just for fun, I have packed a Litepanels Micro to see what I can do with it. Stay tuned!