Despite a rather heavy cover of clouds and cool weather, Gavin and I headed out to Northwest Trek today. It wasn’t an ideal day for photographs, but I couldn’t resist taking my camera.
I think I’ve mentioned that I’m not terribly fond of zoos where animals are caged, but part of the appeal of NW Trek is that the animals run free and a tram carries passengers through the site. That means that you shoot what you can, as you can. I like that feeling, and I particularly like the idea that the animals, though penned, aren’t caged.
Of course, with limited range and unlimited exposure to people, the animals soon become far too tame for my taste. I avoided some of the more obvious shots and attempted to create a realistic feel, as in this shot of a swan:
I also love this shot of a fawn hiding in the grass because it’s the kind of shots I might actually capture in the wild:
My favorite shot of the day is this one of one of the caged coyotes, though the cage he’s in is much larger and has a more natural setting than the ones you’ll see in most zoos:
I did get some knock-down-dead shots of the animals, but somehow I don’t like them as well as these as they seem strangely artificial, though I’d probably be bragging about them to everyone I knew if I’d actually captured them in the wild. Either that, or someone would find the digital negatives on my dead body after I’d gotten too close to the wolves or to the black bear.
It turned out to be a rather expensive trip as I ended up buying a year-long membership for a hundred and five dollars, lunch for two, and a stuffed owl for Lael because I felt guilty about leaving her at the baby-sitter’s today. Expect to see more shots from here in the future.