White Tigers at the Fort Worth Zoo & An Introduction

[jazzdiver]

Hello all,

I learned of this forum through a co-worker who knows of my interest in photographing animals, with my interest largely being that of the big cats. Fortunately, living in Fort Worth affords one some great oportunities at the Fort Worth zoo as many of you know. While I don't go there often enough to really work at and continue to improve my skills, the purchase of a Nikon D70 last August found me making a few zoo trips in September that led to my capturing my best photos yet of, in particular, the white tigers. So often when I've visited the zoo, the white tigers are often relaxing back in the shade or otherwise in a position where the view is partially obstructed by the enclosure bars. Sometimes zooming between the bars will work, but this time I was lucky enough to find the tigers were up and about, and wandered into a clear zone just long enough to capture some shots I was really pleased with.

I've seen many excellent and very sharp images among the threads here that I've viewed...congrats to everyone. And, to mxcat whose images I viewed at his website, great job! I'm envious of the quality in those images.

Here are a couple of my favorite white tiger shots, with others viewable at http://jazzdiver.com/gallery/fortworthzoo :




All photos were taken at ISO200 with a Tamron 70-300mm ED lens on my Nkon D70. Shutter speeds were on the slow side, as is reflected by the blurring of the white tiger's paw in the first image. This was one of my first major forays out with the D70 and I may consider boosting the ISO to 400 the next time I'm in similar lighting conditions. As I wasn't certain quite what to expect in terms of image quality, I left the ISO at 200 for this round of photos. The Tamron lens, while quite nice for the low $150 it cost, still leaves me yearning for a higher quality lens, such as the Nikkor 80-200 f2.8. But, that's a few dollars away for now. On the other hand, the Nikkor 12-24mm lens I bought with dive photography in mind would be great to use, if I was a tiger dentist and didn't might getting up close and personal with these wonderful animals!

Hello again,

Daryl

[TexIndian]

Welcome, Daryl. Nice shots of a beautiful cat.

BTW, I have an 80-200 AF-S and it is SWEET. With the newer VR versions of lenses in that range coming out, maybe you can get a good price on a good used one.

[jazzdiver]

Hi John,

Thanks for the compliment. I've heard some good things about the 80-200 Nikkor lens and although the price is quite a bit more, the 70-200 VR has caught my eye lately, mainly for that there is one for sale on Ebay for $1050 the last I looked. However, given that would be without a warranty and that a new, warranted lens could be bought for around $1450 after a current rebate, I wonder if buying new would be smarter? Not knowing just how rugged and reliable VR mechanisms are, a warranty would provide some extra peace of mind. Then again, for $400 difference, perhaps that would cover potential repair costs. I'm not that committed to even doing this, as I've been holding out for possbly purchasing an underwater housing for my D70, and that will be arather pricey item. But, I dare say the 70-200 would see more use overall, what with my being lucky to get in 2 or 3 dives each year, and none in the past 3 yrs.

Daryl

[beetleman]

Hey jazzdiver get back to work!!!!

[moorecr8tv]

Some great shots. I have a couple shots of those guys when they were a little younger, at least I think they are the same cats. These shots were taken back in May of 2003.

[jazzdiver]

Young or old(er), they are indeed beautiful cats. I'm sure these are the same. I remember that W.T. or Neela died, I forget which or what it died from. I never heard what happened with the other but I'd expect that loneliness of the mate factors in and perhaps the zoo transferred it to another facility, hopefully with more white tigers. Nice photos...and color.