Chester Zoo ........... Great Apes

The next installment from our Chester Zoo trip..... this time focussing on the Great Apes... namely the Orang Utans and the Chimpanzees. The majority of the Orangs were unfortunately indoors and difficult to photograph, but we did find a few youngsters playing outside in the sunshine.
Likewise the Chimps were mostly indoors or huddled in a tight group in the doorway, but one old guy was really relaxing in the sun, and looked almost human sunbathing on the grass!!

Chester Zoo - Asiatic Lions

The second post from yesterdays trip to Chester Zoo, this time concentrating on the Asiatic Lions, very much threatened in the wild, but Chester have great success in breeding these stunning beasts. Today when we arrived they were asleep on their large table, but when they did rouse there was lots of yawning, which showed off their impressive teeth. I then was lucky enough to get some nice shots of an intimate moment under the trees, as these magnificent kings of the jungle showed they have a real soft tender side to. Sharon is chomping at the bit to get her paints out, cant wait to see the results of whatever photos she chooses to paint, but these and a lot more can be seen on her blog site HERE
Hope you enjoy the Lions, please feel free to leave any comments.

Chester Zoo ..... Tiger

We had a wonderful day at Chester Zoo, the early morning showers soon cleared to a beautifully sunny afternoon. My objective today was focussed on the big cats, and I achieved some decent shots of 2 of the 4 species I targeted, the first post is of my favourite ... Tigers. 
The cubs that were born in October are now 8 months old, and quite grown up, but still have that real cute factor!! Hope you like the photos.... my next post will be the Asiatic Lions.

Chester Zoo ......

Fingers crossed we are off to Chester Zoo in the morning..... hopefully the weather will be kind and the camera finger will get lots of exercise!! I just love going to the Zoo, everyone has different opinions on keeping animals in captivity, personally so long as they are kept in excellent conditions as they are at Chester, I'm 100% all for it and the huge efforts they make in the conservation of the many animals they have. In an ideal world as a Wildlife Photographer I would love to be shooting these animals in their natural habitat, but this comes a close second.
That last time I went was late last year and was really pleased to get some great Tiger shots, that can be seen HERE .
Looking forward to a great day....... photos to follow

Swans in the mist

Another post from the missing few months when I didn't update the blog, I will try over the coming weeks to do this and hopefully bring it right back up to date.
Todays post goes back to March, Sharon and I where up in the Lakes walking, and it was on our way out one morning whilst driving along the shores of Ullswater, I noticed a pair of Mute Swans that looked amazing in the early morning mist. A quick stop and rattled off a few shots and was pretty pleased with the results.

In search of a Bittern...

For many years I have been trying to see and even better photograph a Bittern..... the birders out there will know how annoying it is to turn up in a hide only to be told 'you should have been here a few minutes ago' well this has happened to me numerous times, and it has always involved Bitterns. I was determined this year that I would nail this bogey bird, and after hearing they were showing well at Meresands Wood, I made the trip and the bird gods were looking after me, seeing not one but two great Bitterns, they were some way from the hide, but nevertheless I did it!!!

Moel Famau Sunset

We had a beautiful walk up our favourite fell last night.... Moel Famau, part of the stunning Clwydian range in North Wales, ideal as its right on our doorstep. This is where my sisters ashes are buried, a very special place for many reasons, and on a beautifully sunny night, it was really nice sat on the top under the Jubilee Tower watching the sun set beyond the Irish Sea. A series of photos below, experimented with some silhouette shots of Sharon against the sunset and really pleased with the outcome.


The climb up Moel Famau to the Jubilee Tower

The top of Moel Famau, the Jubilee Tower, a bit of info on it can be found here

The sun starts to set over the Irish Sea

The Tower starts to glow reflecting the setting sun

Sharon taking in the beautiful sunset

The sun sets on a perfect evening