Tobu Zoo

3 Jan 2010 - My first photography trip in 2010 was at Tobu Zoo. I bought my 2nd-hand 70-300mm 2 months back but always had no chance to try it. Found out that Tobu Zoo still had Christmas illuminations going on so I decided to go there for 300mm debut.

Set 1 - Animals

Lunchtime

Thirsty Flamingo

Lion the Thinker

Squirrel Monkey feeding on leaves

Llama making funny faces

Moody American Bison

As usual, Lesser Pandas always try to act cute (bleahh!)

Japanese Macaque always look fierce

Baby Sitatunga licking his nose

I want food!!

I'm cold here, let me out!

Some more animal actions

Seal and his precise jumping skill

Perfect balancing skill

What a sleeping pose for a "king of the jungle"...

Testing result of my 70-300mm: Great and I love it! The lens is very sharp and focusing is fast and precise. Absolutely satisfied with it. Except one problem.. the barrel extends out after auto-focusing and I had to change to MF, push the lens in before I can keep it into my bag. It's minor problem and the lens definitely worth 42000 yen.

Lens is good but sigh...I miss Singapore Zoo. Animals in Tobu Zoo are all kept in cages or thick glass tanks like this!!...

That made it very difficult for me to get nice photos out of the animals. But it made me realize the need for a circular polarizer to block off reflections of the glasses.

Set 2 - Evening sky
I was disappointed with the animals but the beautiful sky compensated for it.








By the way, Tobu Zoo is also an amusement park.


Set 3 - Christmas Illumination
The evening sky came as a pleasant surprise and I almost forgot to save memory space for the illumination.

This is the time to switch to my fave 10-22mm!








Thank you!

More photos at Flickr