Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Lots of good shots in this thread....but I love this one.

This one is sad...I wonder of this guy is convinced by the feeble attempt to 'paint' in a natural habitat.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/2947823347/" title="kangaroo by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2947823347_bc15bb8ac3_o.jpg" width="734" height="1100" alt="kangaroo"></a>

I'd say not.

even the zoo has a waterfall!

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As a wildlife photographer who has seen many of these beautiful creatures in their favored habitat I can't begin to express the sadness I feel when in a zoo. I understand it is the only opportunity for many to see these magnificent creatures. I do not begrudge you in your curiosity, it is the zoo owners, operators and those encared with these animals' wellfare that have to improve the sad conditions these creatures endure. In many cases it is a moral outrage.
Thanks for the oportunity to rant.

Well said. Zoos and marine parks are like double edge swords. On one side you have public knowledge and a chance of survival in an otherwise quickly deteriorating natural environment. On the other side is that the animals are held in captive and not always in the best of conditions in a miniscule fraction of their natural habitat. Which is the lesser of both evils?

Sadly, I think without zoos and the awareness they provide, which they could do a better job, the animal kingdom in the wild would face a greater threat. I think it's through the mediocre interface we have that compassion for the animal kingdom is developed.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/2940710244/" title="vigilant meerkat by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/2940710244_75b95d143f_o.jpg" width="734" height="1100" alt="vigilant meerkat"></a>

This may be one of the 3 beautiful innocent intelligent giants that have died prematurely in the Toronto Zoo over the last 5 years


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/2940706606/" title="elephant by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2940706606_136f1cc9ba_o.jpg" width="682" height="1024" alt="elephant"></a>

I think you overrate the influence zoos have on protecting the natural environments of these creatures. I'd like to think wildlife photography/videography has the power to do this more than zoos. But I am not too sure. I'm a bit cynical about these things. I just assume it is commercial interests that have more power over governmental decisions than any fleeting temporal awareness caused by a trip to the zoo or Discovery Channel. If there's oil in them fields it's going to get drilled regardless of how many people watched a Discovery show on caribou. The world will still use fossil fuels regardless of the number of zoo exhibits lamenting the polar bears' declining ice cap. The history books are full of engravings of Dodo birds.
It's all going to hell right in front of our faces. As a wildlife photographer I'm going to record as much of it as possible before it's gone.
Personally, I'd rather see these magnificent creatures living meaningful existences in the wild trying to propagate their species.
Of course the argument could be made that the natural environment is disappearing so fast that the zoo creatures may be the last chance to save a few examples. But I don't think were quite there ....yet.

Case in point. Thanks for the unfortunate local news reference as proof. This species is highly social and interning them in prisons, I mean zoos, is highly detrimental to their emotional and psychological health. I've seen firsthand the elephant migrations in Botswana and Namiba. These social creatures travel in large herds. It's hard for humans that congregate in smaller nuclear family units to understand how they are afffected when they are housed in smaller social units. It's really impossible for us to understand the harm we are doing to these creatures. Were these elephant deaths big news here? (sorry I don't watch much local news here)

Portrait Of Tiger

All from Toronto Zoo

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnijjar/4190610666/" title="IMG_1710 by Hark-01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2683/4190610666_6d133a5be8_o.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="IMG_1710"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnijjar/4190611086/" title="IMG_1805 by Hark-01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4190611086_a3897fdf86_o.jpg" width="320" height="480" alt="IMG_1805"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnijjar/4189851957/" title="IMG_1810 by Hark-01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/4189851957_0ea6d8e7f2_o.jpg" width="320" height="480" alt="IMG_1810"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnijjar/4190610428/" title="IMG_1676 by Hark-01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4190610428_7fddd98f72_o.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="IMG_1676"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnijjar/4189852901/" title="IMG_1996-Edit by Hark-01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/4189852901_e124f3ceb9_o.jpg" width="320" height="480" alt="IMG_1996-Edit"></a>

A few more to go with the Tiger portrait from earlier. All are from the Metro Toronto Zoo.

rush hour at the zoo

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/4608756505/" title="Rush hour traffic - Monterey Aquarium by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1110/4608756505_11c047abcd.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="Rush hour traffic - Monterey Aquarium"></a>

I like that first guy's comment on your Flickr. "It looks like school's out"

shy marmoset

RHINO, dammit.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/4301340131/" title="snakes of Costa Rica by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/4301340131_ae779bac65.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="snakes of Costa Rica"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-tan/4688532208/" title="Rhino by mike.tan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4688532208_be13c0f34a_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="Rhino"></a>

a very bored white tiger

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix_feet/50821709/" title="Green Snake roll by Metrix X, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/50821709_22aa3cd663_o.jpg" width="1024" height="682" alt="Green Snake roll"></a>

Taken at Toronto Zoo and looks like Elisha's snake

From Riverdale Farms

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix_feet/4688049656/" title="Mother's Milk by Metrix X, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4688049656_09f3b3840e_o.jpg" width="800" height="800" alt="Mother's Milk"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix_feet/4688049372/" title="Mother's Milk On Tap by Metrix X, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4688049372_54c6da741c_o.jpg" width="800" height="800" alt="Mother's Milk On Tap"></a>

a mandrill I believe

Awenda Provincial Park


what is the name of this butterfly?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_marion/4820292816/" title="Toronto Zoo by Phil Marion, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4820292816_352e2284b6_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="Toronto Zoo"></a>

First trip to the zoo with the 7D:

I keep wrestling with the idea of upgrading to the 7D.

ions, what camera did you use BEFORE the 7D?