Tag Archives: orangutan

Look at all the babies!

January 17, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, Lowry Park Zoo - Tampachimpanzee, Elephant, orangutan, Rhino, zooEd Rosack

My buddy Tom M. suggested that we go by the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. You may remember this post I wrote about it back in 2013. I haven’t been since then and haven’t kept up with what’s going on there. So I was surprised to spot this pair way in the back when we visited the Orangutans:

Baby Orangutan and Mom are both a little sleepy

Baby GoJo is less than a month old – born on Dec. 21, 2015 to Josie, a 30-year-old Bornean Orangutan. ~~You can read more about them including info on the zoo’s Orangutan conservation efforts at their website: www.lowryparkzoo.org/about/newsroom/2015/12/29/santa-baby…~~ (sorry – no longer available)

Next we wandered over to see the Chimpanzees and immediately saw another very cute young one scampering about:

Baby Chimp and foster Mom

This one’s name is Keeva, and she was born on March 12, 2015 in a Maryland zoo. When her birth mother was unable to care for her, they brought her to Tampa where she’s been adopted by Abby. Abby has a lot of experience successfully fostering orphan chimps and was specifically picked to care for Keeva. It was wonderful to see the youngster thriving with her foster Mom. ~~You can read more of this story at the Maryland zoo site, which also talks about their chimp conservation efforts: www.marylandzoo.org/2015/05/keeva/~~(sorry – no longer available)

After seeing these two small ones, I started looking for others. Next, I spotted a baby white Rhino. Ahati was born at the zoo on May 21, 2015 to Alaka.
www.lowryparkzoo.org/animals/southern-white-rhinoceros

Baby Rhino and Mom

And there are two young elephants. Mpumi was born on Dec 23, 2012 and was there the last time I visited. Mavi was born on July 29, 2013 – I think that’s who this is.

Baby Elephant and Mom

We also saw a Zebra foal (Penda, born November23, 2015) and her Mom, although my long distance photo through two fences isn’t very good. When I got home, I did the research I should have done before I went and found out there are other babies there that we didn’t spot. Check out the Lowry Park Zoo’s animals page for current info.

If you like zoos and babies (who doesn’t like babies?) – now is a great time to visit the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. While I sometimes have mixed feeling about zoos, this one seems very deserving of our support. The animals appear well cared for and they’re doing important work in conservation of endangered animals such at the ones pictured in this post. For a limited time, you can pay for a one day pass and use it during the rest of the year. ~~See here for details.~~ (sorry – no longer available)

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

My Favorite Photos from 2013

December 15, 2013VARIOUSblack and white, boat, church, eclipse, Everglades, howard park, infrared, landscape, mountain, orangutan, Otter, people, sunrise, Tarpon Springs, tigerEd Rosack

Happy Holidays! I hope that all of you, your families, and your friends have a joyful and happy holiday season!

The end of the year is a good time to review results and contemplate how to improve any endeavor, and photography is no exception. I’ve put together these “Favorite photos of the year” posts since 2009. This is a hard process for any photographer. For me, it’s difficult to separate my opinion about a photograph from emotional connections that I might have with the subject, scene, or situation. But making this effort is important and part of the learning process. I don’t claim to be objective – these are simply the photos that I like best. Feel free to disagree, but I hope you’ll enjoy looking at the ones I’ve picked.

You can click on each of these to go to Flickr and see a larger version. Or you can click on this link to view the complete set on Flickr.

My number 1 favorite photo of 2013:

A dream is gone, in the harbor, at dawn; Cocoa, Florida; October.

I have a thing for sunken boats and when I briefly glimpsed this one while out with a group, I had to go back later and make a photo. See this post for more info.

My number 2 favorite photo of 2013:

Cloud Gate (AKA “the bean”); Chicago’s Millennium Park; Chicago, Illinois; September.

I made many photos that I like during my first visit to Chicago last September. This one is my favorite from that trip. See this post for more info.

My number 3 favorite photo of 2013:

Partial eclipse of the sun; Cocoa Beach Pier, Florida; November.

I almost didn’t get to make this photo since I was late finding out about the eclipse. It’s a bit different from most sunrise photos I make because I used a long telephoto lens to emphasize the sun instead of a wide-angle lens. The three people watching with me from the end of the pier were a bonus. See this post for more info.

My number 4 favorite photo of 2013:

You otter not interrupt me; Viera Wetlands, Florida; November.

This river otter was having a morning dust bath on the dirt road through Viera Wetlands. It stopped and watched me for a bit when I got out of my car to make this photo, but then ignored me and finished before sliding back into the water.

My number 5 favorite photo of 2013:

Storm clouds over the Everglades; Everglades National Park, Florida; April.

We had a wonderful expedition to the Keys, Everglades, and Dry Tortugas in April. This photo of a pine tree and grass reflecting from the inches deep water in the Everglades “river of grass” is my favorite landscape from that trip. See this post for more info.

My number 6 favorite photo of 2013:

Reading; St. Augustine, Florida; August.

St. Augustine is full of photo ops. I really liked the symmetry of the columns in this scene and how they led my eye towards the man reading on the bench. See this post for more info.

My number 7 favorite photo of 2013:

Sea oats; Howard Park, Tarpon Springs, Florida; August

I noticed this scene while wandering around not expecting to find anything to photograph. Another lesson in “keep your eyes open”.

My number 8 favorite photo of 2013:

Resting behind mom; Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, Florida; March.

We spent time in “Primate World” watching the family of Orangutans. The young one (I think this is RanDee, born in August 2008) was full of energy, swinging all around on the platforms and ropes. The adults watched her with very human-like ”where does she get the energy” looks. Finally, RanDee rested for a bit behind her mom (DeeDee) and I was able to make this photo. See this post for more info.

My number 9 favorite photo of 2013:

The Chapel on the Rock (Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel); Allenspark, Colorado; July.

This is south along Route 7 out of Estes Park on the grounds of the Saint Malo Retreat. We had no idea it was there, but when we drove by and saw the scene, I had to stop and photograph it. It’s a multi-photo, hand-held panorama processed in Photoshop and Lightroom. See this post for more info.

My number 10 favorite photo of 2013:

Not sleeping; Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary, Tampa, Florida; August.

To me, this photo symbolizes what we learned about the plight of captive large cats and primates while visiting two rescue organizations near Tampa. See this post for more info.

If you’d like to see my favorite photos from earlier years, click on these links: 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

I hope you’ve had a great photo 2013 too. If you send me a link or leave one in the comments, I’ll be sure to take a look at your favorites. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some more favorites of your own!
©2011 – 2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, Florida

March 16, 2013INSIDE FLORIDA, Lowry Park Zoo - TampaElephant, hornbill, mandril, orangutan, zooEd Rosack

Intro / Description

I’ve wanted to visit the Lowry Park zoo in Tampa, Florida for a long time. I finally made it over there for the first time last week with fellow Photography Interest Group member Tom M.

This non-profit zoo opened in 1957. It’s 56 acres in size and houses more than 1500 animals including many native Florida species. There are eight major areas in the zoo, divided into typical habitats. Some of them are quite large and natural and there are also free flight aviaries with a variety of birds to interact with.

A Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida

We spent a good bit of time in “Primate World” watching the family of Orangutans. The young one (I think this is RanDee, born in August 2008) was full of energy, swinging all around on the platforms and ropes. The adults watched her with very human-like “where does she get the energy” looks. Finally, RanDee rested for a bit behind her mom (DeeDee).

Resting behind mom – A young orangutan rests after play.

Parents.com has rated this zoo #1 for kids in the US based on the strength of its educational programs, safety, hands on exhibits and other factors. But I rate it highly for photographers too – based on the many available, close and unobstructed views. One example is the Giraffe feeding station. You can buy food for the kids to give to the Giraffes, but if you’re a photographer, you can stand to the side and photograph the animals from very close range. There are also a number of children’s rides at the zoo. These can be great family photo ops – so don’t forget to use your camera there.

Info for Photographers

Hours are 9:30 to 5, every day except for Thanksgiving and Christmas and admission is $24.95 for adults, which is a relative bargain when compared to theme parks costs. Parking is plentiful, close and free. I think many of the photo-ops are even better than at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (and cheaper too).

Their photography policy is fairly standard: photos / video are permitted “for personal use”. Permission is required in advance if your photos or video will be used for commercial purposes.

Eye contact – A Mandrill evaluates my camera technique. And doesn’t seem to like it.

Photo hints:

Travel as light as you can, you’ll be walking a good bit.

Tripod/Monopod: I didn’t see any signs allowing or prohibiting tripods and I didn’t see anyone using one. I usually leave mine at home for zoo visits, since it’s easy to find something to prop your camera on to steady it, and using a tripod when it’s crowded can block other visitors.

Lenses:

A moderate to long (or all in one) zoom would be the best single lens to bring. At this zoo, you can sometimes get quite close to many of the animals so a shorter focal length is handy too.

Best time to visit:

If you’re a Florida resident, you already know that the cool time of the year is best for outdoor parks. Arrive as early in the day as possible. You’ll beat some of the crowds and the animals are more active then.

Other:

A few of the animals are behind glass, so you might want to bring a polarizing filter – although you can probably make do by placing your lens right up against the glass to avoid reflections. A small flash may be handy in some instances to fill in shadows.

Do a little research before you go to make sure you’re up to date on recent arrivals. The young ones are extra fun to see. As I watched Mpumi make her way across the elephant enclosure (closely watched by two adult females), I remarked “cute baby”. The woman standing next to me (holding her own infant) said “thank you”. Her baby – which I hadn’t noticed before then, was cute too.

Baby elephant Mpumi – She was born in December 2012.

This zoo has had some controversies. But it seems well run now and the animals appear happy and well cared for. They’re also participating in many conservation projects and have a manatee hospital where injured animals are treated and released.

Summary

As usual, you can click on these photos to go to Flickr, where you can see larger versions. You can also see a few more photos from the Lowry Park Zoo in this set on Flickr.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157632970940629/with/8550695583/
Website:	http://www.zootampa.org
Address / Phone:	1101 West Sligh Avenue Tampa, FL 33604-5958
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	Great for the kids, photo-ops for the grown ups