I haven’t been to a zoo in years.  Maybe more.  Not by chance, by choice.

But, today I decided the zoo would be a picture perfect way to spend a picture perfect autumn afternoon in Denver.  The temperature was in the high 70’s. The sky radiant in brilliant blue punctuated with high, wispy white clouds.  The perfect opportunity to try to capture (!) animals with my camera.  So off I went.

I saw lions (all hiding in the tall grass, their faces to the wall), and tigers (mostly sleeping inside having just eaten a gigantic lunch no doubt), and bears (I actually didn’t see one bear except the cute white one which I did manage to photograph – in fact, I’m fairly certain that my chances of seeing a real bear are better on the local hiking trails than at the zoo – just sayin’).

Monkeys are impossible to photograph because they won’t hold still.  Cute as they are, I don’t think they like being photographed – they’ve probably all agreed.

Peacocks know they’re the most prized of all photographic subjects at the zoo once they care to show their hand – but they don’t.  Care.  To show their hand.  Instead, they lure amateur camera bugs into following them around countless baby strollers and under picnic tables in the hopes that a full panorama of peacock beauty will be presented.  It won’t.  Sigh.

Chain link fences and slobber-covered, plexi-glass panels separated me from dozens of precious “animal planet” expressions…countless missed National Geographic-caliber shots, I’m sure.  But I did manage a few shots that I consider worth sharing with you.

Oh, and this is directed to one dad in particular, camels are not pachyderms.