Friday Night Photos Big Cat Edition

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 5:00pm

Welcome to Friday Night Photos everyone. Your once a week break from the daily madness of the crazy world we live in. Post any photos, memes, music, or whatever else you find of interest that helps you escape the madness.

I picked up a new lens for wildlife photography last week and took it for a test drive Monday at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Tuesday at the San Diego Zoo. Photography wise it was a great day for the big cats at both the zoo and safari park. For all the other critters, large or small, not so much. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "The zoo and safari park are like a box of Chocolates. You never know what you'll get".
I'm headed to the SF Bay Area for a family get together next week and won't be able to host FNP next Friday night. For any of you that have always dreamed of hosting FNP, now's your chance.

Sumatran Tiger

Cheetah

Amur Leopard

Male African Lion

Malayan Tiger

Jaguar

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Submitted by QMS on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 6:49pm

ho my, the cat licking its nose is wild

.
photog skills are lacking in this tool bag
otherwise, will throw something out there for
your absence if someone more qualified
doesn't step up

thanks as always

—

question everything

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 7:40pm

Hi, Q.

@QMS
I've noticed that tigers have freakishly long tongues. Gene Simmons eat your heart out.
Thanks for the Sam & Dave. I haven't heard that song in a long time. Thanks for volunteering to host next week.

—

I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 6:30pm

Beautiful animals

What lense did you use?

Stunning artwork. Look at the detail and then look again.

This is a 1436 painting by Flemish master Jan van Eyck, of Mary, Jesus, and saints.

You might think it's just an ordinary devotional painting — think again... pic.twitter.com/lgcGoYNnu9

— Culture Critic (@Culture_Crit) October 2, 2024

For those who can’t see tweets you can here on the thread reader

https://t.co/TwojGU4T1J

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 7:55pm

Hi, snoopy

@snoopydawg
Very nice Jan van Eyck painting. The detail is stunning. I guess that's why the call them masters.
The lens is a Nikon Nikkor 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3.

—

I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 8:54pm

Cool

@Socialprogressive

Did that cost a pretty penny or have prices on lenses gone down?

I’ve always enjoyed my 28-300 Tamron. I inherited my mom’s camera with 2 canon lenses and a tamron like mine. But it’s her film Minolta that I love the most. The clarity is just as good as a hasselblad. I had one for work and it was a pain to use.

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 9:25pm

The lens is new on the market

@snoopydawg
and no used copies are available yet so it cost me a pretty penny. Your 28-300 Tamron is a very nice all around lens. Wide enough on the short end for landscapes and long enough on the long end for good close-ups.

—

I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:13pm

Sad that you had to pay full price for it

@Socialprogressive

But it takes great photos.

I also inherited a Pentax made in the 70-80 with a metal body and metal lenses. I started with a Pentax manual with only a 50mm lens. Boy was I excited to get the tamron.

I also have a 400 that I used a 3x tele extender. It took these photos from a looong distance.

Not bad for either lenses that were knock offs with no names from some photo catalog that sold unusually photo stuff.

This day was cool. A storm came in from the north west out of nowhere with high winds and it darkened the background with the sun still shining from the west. We watched the eagles try to stay in the trees…got some shots of that too, but they’re on slides. Heh…a few years ago I went back to the area during eagle time and there was nothing but homes out there. It used to be farmland as far as the eye could see. Way out by the lake.

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 8:24pm

Fascinating!

@snoopydawg Wow!

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 8:50pm

Did you see all of them?

@on the cusp

I meant to mention that there were more pictures.

I’m jealous. I can’t even draw a picture of a dawg house even with step by step instructions….

Submitted by dystopian on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 9:58pm

Hi pixies :)

Hi all, Hey SP!
GREAT cat shots man! Beautiful! I had a 100=500 I loved, despite it not being as sharp as the fixed 300 of course. If you might shoot a bird far away or a butterfly close, it is handy. I was at the point where I used one of those 9 pocket vests for all the sh!t, and then I could not find anything. Ended up hating it! LOL

One of my favorite cat songs...

Johnny Winter tore it a new one, surely blowing Mick and Keith's minds... he sorta played half the riff 'backwards, going down instead of up. Genius. Then there is that lead playing...

I'll see if I can find a photo...

Thanks for the OT and awesome cat pix SP!

happy trails all!

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:53pm

Hi, dystopian

@dystopian
Prime lenses (fixed focal length) will usually produce sharper images than zoom lenses, though these days a good high end zoom lens can compete with a prime lens for image sharpness.
Thanks for the Stones and JW. I liked both versions.

—

I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

Submitted by dystopian on Sun, 10/06/2024 - 5:03pm

They might be Giants

Hi all,

Here's a few pixels .

OK, they are Giants....

Giant White - Ganyra josephina is rare in U.S. mostly only along Rio Grande in deep south Texas. This one was my second photo'd herer in 21 years. They are big, about 3" across. Vagrant butterflies that have moved long distances, probably a few hundred miles from Mexico in this case are often pretty tore up. This was 10 days ago at front porch flowers.
.

These are Giant Swallowtail = Papilio cresphontes. Though I do not know if eastern or western, they were split into two species. I am in zone of overlap where hybrids known, and have not bothered to learn the hair-splitting details of separation yet. The male (lower) in rear was following the female all over to ever flower... those sweet sweet pheromes... Larva called orange dogs ravage citrus in FL.

and one in flight...

happy trails all!

edit to fix typo

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 11:11pm

Sometimes the photo gods are cruel

@dystopian
You would think that after 21 years the photo gods would have given you a Great White that wasn't all beat up. Damn the gods. Nice shots of the Great White and Swallowtails, especially the inflight one.

—

I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

Submitted by The Liberal Moonbat on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:19pm

My cat died last week...

...He was a Ragdoll, so pretty big.

Here's to you:

—

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:46pm

I am so sorry.

@The Liberal Moonbat When my office cat died of cancer a couple of years ago, everybody at the office, even former employees, cried when they heard Angel Cat as gone.
She was there for us 18 years.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:48pm

I’m sorry to hear that

@The Liberal Moonbat

It’s always so hard to lose a beloved pet. I hope you are doing okay and you will post some pictures of it.
I keep thinking of getting a cat, but I’m not a morning person and every cat I’ve had lived to jump on my face at 6 am.