Backward Glance

Today, we remember and celebrate the teachings and life of a great leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. To make a better today and take the steps to move toward a peaceful tomorrow, we must continue to look behind us and learn from the past. While we cannot dwell there, we must apply its lessons learned to create a better world now and for future generations.

Here's Looking at You

While visiting the San Diego Zoo, I spent quite a bit of time observing the frisky tortoises. Apparently during summer, the zoo encouraged the tortoises to mate and they were very active. To give the female tortoises a break now, the zookeepers kept the male tortoises separate from the female ones in the exhibit. Although separated, the male tortoises were still in heat and seeking companionship, just unsuccessfully with each other. Between relationships, this 150-year-old tortoise looked up at me and gave a huge grin for this photograph. They were such characters!

Landscaping for Tortoises?

Who said that landscaping is only important to people? Apparently, the San Diego Zoo disagrees. I was so impressed with the flora and fauna the San Diego Zoo incorporated into all of its exhibits to make the zoo's wildlife feel at home. I would have felt at home in those environments too.

Today's post is a look at the landscaping created for the zoo's tortoises. If you look closely, you can see the shell of one of the tortoises behind the tree and rock on the left side of the photograph. Some landscaping designers might have just used sand, rocks and cacti only to recreate the tortoises' desert environment, but I appreciated the addition of the leafy trees to add some color, shade and whimsy to their home.

Gorilla

Of all of the photographs I took at the San Diego Zoo over the holidays, this image is my favorite. While the regal lion is still my favorite wild animal, gorillas rank pretty high up on that list too. In spite of their size and brute strength, they seem to still have a gentle, kind nature. But make no mistake; gorillas are fierce animals.

While taking photographs of this gorilla, he/she looked right at me. I doubt the gorilla singled me out from the other spectators at the gorilla exhibit, but the intensity of his/her stare made me pause and stop taking photographs for a while. The glare was familiar; it's the look I often receive from irritated commuters who dislike the invasion of their personal space on crowded Metro trains in the morning. While this gorilla lives in a rather large, beautiful enclosure at the zoo, his/her look told me that it knows that it's an enclosure and we are just onlookers invading his/her space. Animals are definitely not stupid.

Submerged Turtle

I'm so used to green- or brown-colored turtles that I was surprised to find turtles at the San Diego Zoo with multi-colored shells like this one. The pond water of the turtles' exhibit was so still, I was able to capture the reflection of the exhibit and the turtle swimming underwater in the same image. Even the turtle's movements did not create ripples in the water. Nature is truly amazing.

Squirrel!

Squirrel! Ok, perhaps the meerkat on the right was not distracted by a squirrel, like the dogs in the Pixar movie, Up. But, doesn't this scene remind you of that movie moment?

I took several photographs of these meerkats at the San Diego Zoo and there was not one image of all them looking in the same direction. Chances are this is common for the breed, since the meerkats are always on alert for predators. Besides being cute, meerkats remind us that we should always be on alert and aware of our surroundings because challenges can arrive from any direction.

Yellow Hibiscus

Yellow is my new favorite color in nature. This trend is particularly evident in my photography lately. Whether it is the color of leaves, animals or flowers, such as today's photograph of a yellow hibiscus at the San Diego Zoo, I adore yellow's brightness, vibrancy and welcoming presence.

Growing up, I was not fond of yellow, especially due to my parents love of it as a paint color. However as I've grown older, my fondness for yellow's shades and ranges has grown exponentially. If you think about it, yellow is a perfect color to exist in nature. When combined with the color blue found in natural elements such as the sky and water, it becomes green, a dominant color in nature found in numerous plants and animals. According to Wikipedia, the color yellow is associated with liberalism, but I'm sure that connotation had no impact on my growing affection for the color. I think.

Relaxing Elephant

Traveling can make one weary. Although I love how traveling brings new places and adventures, spending time in airplanes, airports and train stations can be draining. So as I make my way back to Washington, DC today, I'll be focusing on this photograph from my visit to the San Diego Zoo as my "Moment of Zen."

The zoo just opened a new elephant exhibit, Elephant Odyssey. In this moment, one of its elephant residents decided to greet visitors by laying its head on the enclosure wall and occasionally waving his trunk. The crowd went wild with delight. I believe the feeling was mutual for our relaxing elephant, who was a bit of a ham. This image is also an example of how focusing on the background (subject farthest from you) instead of your foreground (subject closest to you) can create interesting compositions, especially when closeness to a subject is limited.

Lounging Orangutan



What is the best way to end a year and start a new one? Bring in the new year laughing with the ones you love. That's how I'll be bringing in 2011 tonight -- surrounded by my family laughing with each other. So to start off New Year's Eve on the right foot. Here is one of nature's comedians, the orangutan, hanging out (and hamming it up) at the San Diego Zoo. Can't help but chuckle when looking at this photograph. What a character!

Sleeping Koalas

On Tuesday, I visited the San Diego Zoo for the first time and took a digital camera along to document the day. Today's photograph is one of several taken at the zoo that I will be sharing on the blog. These koala bear cubs' sleeping position reminded me of a stuffed animal toy I had as a kid called a Popple. They resemble brightly colored animals with pouches on their backs for the Popples to go into and transform into colored balls. Perhaps koala bears inspired the toy's ball-shaped design.

For the record, I hold mixed feelings about zoos. While I love being able to visit and photograph different types of wildlife at one location, it saddens me to see these animals kept in fenced areas and not free to live in their natural environments. It's good to know that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) administers a rigorous accreditation program for zoos. To become accredited, zoos must meet standards and requirements which demonstrate their commitment to quality care and conservation of animals and plants in their facilities. The San Diego Zoo, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC, the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens and many others around the country are accredited members. Next time you decide to visit a zoo or aquarium, seek out and support AZA-accredited facilities.