The Neighborhood Threat - Great Moments in Photography #1

Today was all about humility and frustration. We went to the zoo, and for those who know me and keep track of my lovely wife and her adventures, that's twice in 3 days for her and the kids. We went to the annual Milwaukee Zoo Pancake Feed or fundraiser or some such thing. Long line, good pancakes, Usinger's Breakfast Sausage, it was good.

Anyway, I said, "Since we're right here, let's go see some animals," or more specifically, "let's go take a picture of a sloth!" I won't get into my insane reasons for needing to take a picture of sloth right now... but we all decided it would be fun. So off to the Small Mammal House we headed, armed with bellies full of flapjacks and our fairly new Rebel XT camera.

I'm not a professional photographer, but I am a pro video guy... so I fancy myself a pretty good shooter... of video. However, still photography is an amazing art and discipline all to itself. I also know that my camera is no great shakes as far as digital SLRs go, and the little lens that came with it isn't so hot. But for the photography we typically do it's the right camera for us.

So, the Mammal House is quite dark, and the animals in there are like 5 year olds high on pixie sticks. They don't stop moving. Low light and high motion mean bad pics. Here is a tayra. And here is an otter. That smear on the right side is his face. Oh and the sloth... here you go. Allegedly that ball of fur is a real live sloth... this one too. Man, they sure live up to their namesake. Either that, or the fine folks at the Milwaukee County Zoo are duping us into thinking they actually own two sloths. It could be some fake fur wrapped around a pillow and most people would still walk by the exhibit and say, "Ooh look, a sloth!" I know I did, I even took some pictures.

Our next stop was the Fish Towne... or AquaShack or whatever. This was just as dark and the fish were just as active as the small mammals. My pictures were just as bad. Here's a fish. And some more. My camera was working hard, but the conditions were just not right. Heck, I even tried a pic with a flash... with the expected lousy results.

Maybe, I'll stick to video....