Mexican Gray Wolf portraits

[gnagel]

I captured some portraits of Mexican gray wolves at the Brookfield Zoo yesterday. As soon as I approached the exhibit, a couple of the wolves noticed me and came up close to my camera. During my past visits, the wolves usually keep some distance. The outdoor exhibit is quite large and features some large rocks and several trees.

I suspect that the wolves approached me that afternoon out of curiosity. I was probably the first visitor to their exhibit in a long while. In all my visits to the Brookfield Zoo, I have never seen it so empty. And it was a "free day" at the zoo. I arrived at the zoo just after lunch and my car was one of the only ones in the large north parking lot:

I wanted to capture some closeup portraits of the wolves, so I attached a 1.4x teleconverter to my 500mm lens. This gave me an effective 700mm of focal length on my Nikon D850. Here are a few of the photographs:

1

2

3

4

5

To give some perspective of how close I was to the wolves, that last picture is hardly cropped--it's 6,500 pixels across!

Visiting the zoo in the Winter has its challenges. It was 18 degrees and windy...and my fingers were stinging from the cold. And, each time I entered an indoor exhibit, my lens would fog up (and wouldn't clear even after 30 minutes)--so I couldn't do any indoor photography! But, not having to deal with field trips and large crowds makes it well worth any discomfort.

Thanks for looking...and reading!

Glenn

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice captures. I like 2 and 4 the best, and #5, the black and white conversion is a good one too, but cropped a little too close for me.

Eighteen degrees is a little cool for a zoo visit (hand warmers anyone?), but persistence paid off. It was -15°C (5°F) here today, so I don't think I will be venturing out to our Zoo.

WesternGuy

 

[gnagel]

Nice captures. I like 2 and 4 the best, and #5, the black and white conversion is a good one too, but cropped a little too close for me.

Eighteen degrees is a little cool for a zoo visit (hand warmers anyone?), but persistence paid off. It was -15°C (5°F) here today, so I don't think I will be venturing out to our Zoo.

WesternGuy

Thanks...and I appreciate the feedback. I think I was so thrilled to get that close to the wolf that I probably got carried away with the crop (or lack thereof).

It was cold...and after a while I had to step inside as my fingers started to really sting. I wasn't wearing a glove on my shooting hand.

Glenn

 

[zombiesniper]

Nice set.

 

[razashaikh]

Stunning set of pictures.

 

[Derrel]

Nice photos, Glenn. A handsome, striking animal as well.

 

[crimbfighter]

Very nice images! It's been a while since I've been down there. I've been meaning to take a trip there.

 

[otherprof]

I captured some portraits of Mexican gray wolves at the Brookfield Zoo yesterday. As soon as I approached the exhibit, a couple of the wolves noticed me and came up close to my camera. During my past visits, the wolves usually keep some distance. The outdoor exhibit is quite large and features some large rocks and several trees.

I suspect that the wolves approached me that afternoon out of curiosity. I was probably the first visitor to their exhibit in a long while. In all my visits to the Brookfield Zoo, I have never seen it so empty. And it was a "free day" at the zoo. I arrived at the zoo just after lunch and my car was one of the only ones in the large north parking lot:

I wanted to capture some closeup portraits of the wolves, so I attached a 1.4x teleconverter to my 500mm lens. This gave me an effective 700mm of focal length on my Nikon D850. Here are a few of the photographs:

1

2

3

4

5

To give some perspective of how close I was to the wolves, that last picture is hardly cropped--it's 6,500 pixels across!

Visiting the zoo in the Winter has its challenges. It was 18 degrees and windy...and my fingers were stinging from the cold. And, each time I entered an indoor exhibit, my lens would fog up (and wouldn't clear even after 30 minutes)--so I couldn't do any indoor photography! But, not having to deal with field trips and large crowds makes it well worth any discomfort.

Thanks for looking...and reading!

Glenn

Great set!

 

[gnagel]

Thanks everyone for checking out my pictures and for commenting...

Glenn

 

[tirediron]

Nice! He looks like he's trying to decide between ketchup and barbecue sauce!

 

[gnagel]

Nice! He looks like he's trying to decide between ketchup and barbecue sauce!

Thanks...he was trying to decide between those choices and whether to apply them to my arm or my leg!

Glenn

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

They are all very nice photos. Beautiful animal.

 

[gnagel]

They are all very nice photos. Beautiful animal.

Thank you, Dean

Glenn

 

[Woodsman]

Lovely set, love those eyes, they look right through you

 

[gnagel]

Lovely set, love those eyes, they look right through you

Thanks!

Glenn