Snow Lepoard – Slow Shutter Speed

You can’t live in today’s world without needing a recharge. Our bodies get run down, we become tired and we emotionally need to find peace. Guest host Egidio of Through Brazilian Eyes says he turns to nature to rejuvenate and asked us how we recharge our bodys’ batteries. I love nature and landscape photography, but my immediate thoughts went to the Sacramento Zoo.

Why? The zoo is small, I’m familiar with the animals, there are new animals coming in and animals are conceived and born at the zoo. Yes, I have my favorites like the red pandas, the orangutans, the giraffes, and more. I enjoy walking around and watching the animals. Some are so funny like the giraffes when they make their funny faces.

The zoo offers a respite from the world’s troubles and lets me relax. We usually go out to lunch afterward also. And, if we have time we make a stop at the WPA Rock Garden. There I take out my macro lens for a different kind of fun photography.

Here are some pictures from the Sacramento Zoo.

These animals are fun and offer us great photo opportunities. Why don’t you chill out at a zoo near you!

I think everyone had fun with Donna’s challenge last week. I enjoyed seeing all your interpretations of TIME. When you post the way you recharge, please remember to link to Egidio’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Tina is set to present next week’s challenge so be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

December is almost gone and I haven’t posted! But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been shooting. On Dec 1st., Laura, Marlene and I went to Kauai, Hawaii for a week. This was my first dedicated photography vacation. I’ll tell you all about it when I finish editing the images.

I had a cold before I left and have been busy since I’ve been back. So, this post is a catch up on an outing to the zoo, a West Sacramento sunset and my very own rose garden.

I wanted to visit the Sacramento Zoo to see Coconut the new snow leopard cub and the new meerkats. I was fortunate to see Coconut out with his mom, Misha. Dad, Blizzard was out on his own for a while. Coconut is a bit mischevious as are all kids, and mom takes it in stride.

The meerkats are much smaller than I expected. After all, I had only seen them in the Lion King! Also, they were behind glass which made it more difficult to photograph them.

I also went by the Red Panda enclosure, hoping to catch one of them awake and moving around. Well, one had an eye open!

From daytime to an evening sunset at the Deep Water Channel in West Sacramento. We were lucky enough to catch a decent sunset without going too far. The roses?? I have a small rose garden in my yard, and they were beautiful one morning.

Have a look!