This year I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again. I thought it might be fun to share some of my photography instead of always my words. They say a picture is worth–well, you know what they say 😉
I will try to keep these blog posts short and sweet, while still offering a little bit of insight into each photograph, just for fun.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge you can check out these links:
~ What Is The Blogging from A to Z Challenge? ~ Participants ~ My Blogging from A to Z Challenge (2013): All About Niteblade ~ My Blogging from A to Z Challenge (2012): Unthemed ~
Z is for Zoo.
When I was a kid I used to love the zoo, but as an adult, every time I go I just find them more and more depressing. I understand that zoos play a vital role in conservation and that entertaining the public is how they fund that but seeing those animals in captivity (and in some cases very obviously distressed about it) breaks my heart.
I think I’ve shared this photograph previously this month, but I really like it, so I’m going to share again. I call this one ‘Fascination’.
This emu didn’t seem to me (in my ignorance of emu psychology) to be upset about being in the zoo. Also, it was a lovely photographic subject:
This arctic fox nearly broke my heart. He was frenetically running around his enclosure. It looked like he was desperately looking for a way out.
I’ll end with this photograph of a wolf. Every time we walked by its enclosure this is what it was doing. Every. Time.
As this year’s A to Z Challenge comes to an end, I want to thank every one of you who stopped by, but especially those of you who came day after day. Thank you SO much. Your comments, encouragement and flattering words about my work really meant the world to me. Thank you, thank you. I hope we continue to visit one another long after this blogging challenge comes to an end. You’re awesome.
Some of you have asked about prints of my photos (OMG I can’t even begin to tell you how flattering that is!). It’s not something I’d ever considered but now that I know people might be interested I will absolutely look into that as an option. If you know of a place online that will help me provide prints I’d appreciate it if you let me know. I’m not looking to make a mint, just find an easy way to get my photos in the hands of people who want them which means I can’t really afford any of those places that charge an ongoing fee.
My bf will probably be able to help with that. He manages a Don’s Photo here and has his stuff on iStock. PM me with a reminder next week and I’ll nudge him.
I feel the same way about zoos. I love seeing the animals, but I’m sad they have to be there. In a lot of cases with good zoos, they have saved the lives of animals who would otherwise have died a long time ago. Very few zoos grab wild animals and put them in cages anymore.
That one of the wolf is so sad! ðŸ™
On the bright side, we did it, Rhonda! We not only made it through the challenge, we visited each other’s blog everyday!
Right now I’m playing around with Smugmug, which seems to have promise. The problem is it costs me a monthly fee to sell prints/etc. and since I’m not actually looking to make this a job, just trying to make my stuff accessible to anyone who wants it… that’s tricksy. But we’ll see. If it doesn’t work out (and maybe even if it does LoL) I’ll nudge you next week 🙂
Thank you Holli!
Those are sad! My parents are convinced that dogs like to be in kennels. I’m not sure they do…but I think animals in general get used to what they are given. A dog can become domesticated… I’ve often wondered if some animals get used to those confines at the zoo. But your pictures say otherwise.
Stephanie
http://stephie5741.blogspot.com
I’ve heard canines like to be in kennels because they feel like safe dens to them. That is not true for my dog LOL And I guess not that wolf either.
Great photography, but it’s sad for the animals to be in captivity.
Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com
Thank you, and I totally agree about the animals. Totally.
These pictures are stunning. Love the tiger so majestic. It is sad to see them enclosed though. They are always so much happier when out in their natural habitat. Seeing a wolf in a cage doesn’t compare to them running free in the woods.
Wonderful job on the A to Z Challenge! So glad I found your page.
I’m SO glad you found me too, and pleased to have discovered your blog as a handy side effect 🙂
Love your tiger picture! I’ve been thinking of getting a good camera and starting to take my own pictures. Any suggestions on a camera?
I bought my camera several years ago and though I did my research and picked a camera which would do everything I wanted without costing me a fortune (mine is a Nikon d60) once I started using it and learning more about cameras and photography (though I’m still FAR from an expert at either) I found that it actually didn’t do everything I wanted it to LOL So my advice is to do your research online, then go and talk to someone in person at a camera/photography shop (not somewhere like Future Shop or Best Buy where they don’t specialize) and buy the best camera you can afford to. I had a choice between my camera and a slightly better one and picked mine to save $150. I wish I’d chosen otherwise.
Though, as the photographer who did our family portraits the other day said, “Bodies wear out, but lenses last forever.” so if you have to pick between awesome glass or an awesome body, it might be worth going with the glass.
…was that helpful at all? LOL
Beautiful and sad pictures at the Zoo. I always liked visiting the zoo because of the plants and landscaping offered. Often, the animals didn’t even show their faces to the public. It is heartbreaking to see such sadness in their eyes, knowing they would love to have company/playmates, or to run free in the wild.
Ho’omaika’i (Congratulations) on completing the AtoZChallenge; and Happy “May Day is Lei Day” Hawaii tomorrow! Gail visiting for AtoZ
Thank you Gail!
I agree with you, the zoo does offer a great variety of plants and landscaping… and I used to love going to see the animals too, but these days they mostly just break my heart. Also, for some reason the best photographs I take there seem to always be of the groundhogs LOL
I feel the exact same way about zoos – I recognize how important they are, and I hate them anyway. The picture of the wolf is heartbreaking.
Congratulations, though, on finishing this crazy month. I’m so glad I found your blog, and will definitely be around 🙂 I don’t have any suggestions for prints, unfortunately, but please do let us all know if you figure out a cost-effective way to manage it, because you do have some truly beautiful ones here!
I think I have some ideas for prints. We’ll see if they work out LOL
Thank you so much for hanging out with me through this challenge. I will continue to check out your blog as well (need to see how that novel is coming along), and I’m glad to have ‘met’ you though this process 🙂
I have a real aversion to zoos as well. The only versions I can stand are the ones like wild animal parks where the animals roam instead of being stuck in cages. Thanks for all the beautiful images you’ve shared in the A to Z.
Thank YOU for coming by every day to say such nice things about them 🙂 I’m glad we ‘met’ during the A to Z challenge… oh my, was it last year or the year before? Time… it’s slippery.
Agreed on the zoos. We live in a fairly rural area and there is a small zoo about 45 minutes away. Small zoos are worse because there isn’t much room and there isn’t the large scale care and conservancy. Recently the elephant (one of 2 that had no room and a very gloomy life) at the zoo died. It was very sad.
Love your photos and I have greatly enjoyed visiting here and seeing the lovely photos you have taken. You are quite the artist and I wish you the best in selling your prints!! (very exciting!) 🙂
Small zoos definitely feel worse to me too, because I feel like the keepers are unlikely to have all the information and resources they need, no matter if their heart is in the right place.
Thank you for coming by every day, Phoenix, I’ve really appreciated your support and getting to know you on your blog 🙂
Good thoughts about zoos; I never thought about how they might feel being caged like that; now I’m not sure what I would think when I go to the zoo next.
Congrats on finishing the challenge! Thanks for visiting me so I could find you 🙂
I’ll check in on you afterwards and see what you are up to 🙂
betty
Thank you Betty, I look forward to ‘seeing’ you again 🙂
Zoo’s are fascinating places. It seems as if the animal should be free, but you know if it was let out, it wouldn’t be able to survive. Wonderful job completing the A to Z challenge.
Hello! Visiting from Stephanie’s blog hop.
I have mixed feelings about zoos – there are some animals that shouldn’t be there, those that are not endangered, and that have space to live in the wild… wolves would be a case in point.
But they also illustrate another point – our local zoo in the city near us (Bristol, UK) has 175,000 visitors a year. If even only a tenth of them haven’t considered their behaviour in relation to how it affects animals in the wild (throwing rubbish down, wasting CO2, poisoning waterways etc) and do after reading the notices or being educated and falling in love with the animals while at the zoo, then those animals who are kept have made the lives of those in the wild that bit safer.
Luckily our local zoo looks after the animals well, I’ve not seen one bored, they have space, and they use (as most good zoos do) the money earned to fund wildlife programmes all over the world, and also breed suitable endangered animals and release them back into the wild.
I have 23 animals poms up at the zoo – for the youngest child visitors – I first went when I was 2 and it sparked my lifelong interest in and love for animals, so I know it works!
Great to meet you! Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com