April showers
April was a busy month for me.
Short version:
- Furry Connection North 2011 photos
- Wolf Park photos
Furry Connection North
FCN is a convention that doesn't have much in the way of programming. There aren't a lot of diverse panels and events to get into, and the hotel isn't very large. But the convention itself is still a lot of fun to attend, and this year's con was no exception.
I did my usual photography thing and got a lot of photos. I didn't suit around the con very much, but I certainly had fun when I did. Other than those things, I met a few new people, chatted with others I'd known, and... well, that was it.
Reading that, you could get the impression that I didn't have much fun at all at FCN. But really, I did. FCN doesn't feel like most other conventions I've attended. When I'm there, I don't get the feeling that I must do something or that I have to be at a certain place at a certain time. It's not a fast-pace and hectic convention like, say, Anthrocon, but I suppose that's what makes it good for me. It's different.
Wolf Park
Almost two weeks after I returned home from FCN, I had to drive to Battle Ground, Indiana for a photoshoot session at Wolf Park. The original plan was to wake up at, like, 3AM EDT, drive to the park, do the photoshoot, and drive back home. But I figured it would be best for me to get some rest before the session, and I drove into town on Friday and stayed at an EconoLodge for a night.
After arriving at the park, Saturday morning, we signed waivers and sat through a mandatory seminar. When that ended, we were led into the enclosure, and the shutter clicks began. I have to say, I was a stunned for a bit when I walked in. Before then, I'd never been so close to a living wolf. And there I was, in front of four wolves. I had to take a minute to process everything, before I could even raise my camera. Real wolves, man! And I was right there, with them! How cool is that?
When the excitement level dropped a bit, I started shooting. I was a little worried that my 80-200mm lens would be too long for most of the shots. But as I shot more, I ran into a few instances where it was too short, even at 200mm. Still, those instances were few and far between, and I never felt that I would miss a shot if I couldn't get closer.
The wolves were sometimes led to certain spots, to allow us to get better shots of them (and against backgrounds that didn't have fences and such). But, for the most part, they were allowed to do whatever they wanted. That wasn't a problem for us, though; we still had plenty of shooting opportunities.
We spent about five hours total time in the enclosure, photographing the wolves. But we also interacted with them, and they certainly weren't shy around us. During the afternoon session, I sat on the ground to get some better shooting angles. One of the wolves saw me do that, and wasted no time getting to me and licked my face all over. That lasted only for a few seconds, but when I took my glasses off to clean the slobber off of them, the wolf came back for another round of hard licking. I didn't object to it; I wasn't in any danger at all. Of course, I had to lower my camera during the licking, and doing that put the lens right in line with clawed and wet wolf paws. After the 'attacks', I had to clean the water spots from the front element (I thought ahead and brought some lens wipes). But other than that, the only other damage was on the lens hood, and there's good-sized scratch on it. I don't and won't use those 'protective' filters, but the lens hood definitely saved the front element from getting a major scratch that would have been expensive to repair. Use lens hoods, people; they work!
I had a lot of fun during the session. Not only was it a great photography experience, but I also got to interact with the wolves. Honestly, I think I would have been happy just being in the enclosure with them, even if I didn't have a camera. But I did have a camera, that time, and I took more than 1000 12-bit RAW frames. That number seems very high, but continuous shooting modes yield lots of duplicates, and a fair amount of those won't be focused or composed well enough to survive post-processing.
I checked and started developing the shots as soon as I returned home, which was near 11PM EDT, Saturday evening. I uploaded most of the 'worthy' shots on the following Tuesday, and they're all posted online, at SmugMug. I think I got a few good shots, and the D300s + 80-200mm f/2.8 performed very well. But I also think I went a little crazy with the aperture at times. I like the bokeh that the lens renders, and I don't (and won't) get to use the lens often so... yeah. :|
Anyway, that was my April, in a nutshell. I still have a few more planned adventures for the year, not the least of those is Anthrocon, in June.
That's all for now. Later!
Short version:
- Furry Connection North 2011 photos
- Wolf Park photos
Furry Connection North
FCN is a convention that doesn't have much in the way of programming. There aren't a lot of diverse panels and events to get into, and the hotel isn't very large. But the convention itself is still a lot of fun to attend, and this year's con was no exception.
I did my usual photography thing and got a lot of photos. I didn't suit around the con very much, but I certainly had fun when I did. Other than those things, I met a few new people, chatted with others I'd known, and... well, that was it.
Reading that, you could get the impression that I didn't have much fun at all at FCN. But really, I did. FCN doesn't feel like most other conventions I've attended. When I'm there, I don't get the feeling that I must do something or that I have to be at a certain place at a certain time. It's not a fast-pace and hectic convention like, say, Anthrocon, but I suppose that's what makes it good for me. It's different.
Wolf Park
Almost two weeks after I returned home from FCN, I had to drive to Battle Ground, Indiana for a photoshoot session at Wolf Park. The original plan was to wake up at, like, 3AM EDT, drive to the park, do the photoshoot, and drive back home. But I figured it would be best for me to get some rest before the session, and I drove into town on Friday and stayed at an EconoLodge for a night.
After arriving at the park, Saturday morning, we signed waivers and sat through a mandatory seminar. When that ended, we were led into the enclosure, and the shutter clicks began. I have to say, I was a stunned for a bit when I walked in. Before then, I'd never been so close to a living wolf. And there I was, in front of four wolves. I had to take a minute to process everything, before I could even raise my camera. Real wolves, man! And I was right there, with them! How cool is that?
When the excitement level dropped a bit, I started shooting. I was a little worried that my 80-200mm lens would be too long for most of the shots. But as I shot more, I ran into a few instances where it was too short, even at 200mm. Still, those instances were few and far between, and I never felt that I would miss a shot if I couldn't get closer.
The wolves were sometimes led to certain spots, to allow us to get better shots of them (and against backgrounds that didn't have fences and such). But, for the most part, they were allowed to do whatever they wanted. That wasn't a problem for us, though; we still had plenty of shooting opportunities.
We spent about five hours total time in the enclosure, photographing the wolves. But we also interacted with them, and they certainly weren't shy around us. During the afternoon session, I sat on the ground to get some better shooting angles. One of the wolves saw me do that, and wasted no time getting to me and licked my face all over. That lasted only for a few seconds, but when I took my glasses off to clean the slobber off of them, the wolf came back for another round of hard licking. I didn't object to it; I wasn't in any danger at all. Of course, I had to lower my camera during the licking, and doing that put the lens right in line with clawed and wet wolf paws. After the 'attacks', I had to clean the water spots from the front element (I thought ahead and brought some lens wipes). But other than that, the only other damage was on the lens hood, and there's good-sized scratch on it. I don't and won't use those 'protective' filters, but the lens hood definitely saved the front element from getting a major scratch that would have been expensive to repair. Use lens hoods, people; they work!
I had a lot of fun during the session. Not only was it a great photography experience, but I also got to interact with the wolves. Honestly, I think I would have been happy just being in the enclosure with them, even if I didn't have a camera. But I did have a camera, that time, and I took more than 1000 12-bit RAW frames. That number seems very high, but continuous shooting modes yield lots of duplicates, and a fair amount of those won't be focused or composed well enough to survive post-processing.
I checked and started developing the shots as soon as I returned home, which was near 11PM EDT, Saturday evening. I uploaded most of the 'worthy' shots on the following Tuesday, and they're all posted online, at SmugMug. I think I got a few good shots, and the D300s + 80-200mm f/2.8 performed very well. But I also think I went a little crazy with the aperture at times. I like the bokeh that the lens renders, and I don't (and won't) get to use the lens often so... yeah. :|
Anyway, that was my April, in a nutshell. I still have a few more planned adventures for the year, not the least of those is Anthrocon, in June.
That's all for now. Later!