Friday Night Photos Big Cat Edition

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
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Cheetah
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Amur Leopard
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Male African Lion
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Malayan Tiger
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009NZ9_0199_59907.1

Jaguar
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QMS's picture

.
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

~

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7 users have voted.
Socialprogressive's picture

@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.

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7 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

.

What lense did you use?

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

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

https://t.co/TwojGU4T1J

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8 users have voted.

“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

Socialprogressive's picture

@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.

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5 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@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.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

Socialprogressive's picture

@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.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@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.

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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.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg Wow!

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

snoopydawg's picture

@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….

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5 users have voted.

“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

dystopian's picture

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 Smile

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!

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8 users have voted.

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

Socialprogressive's picture

@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.

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5 users have voted.

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

dystopian's picture

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.
.GiWhi092224c.jpg

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.

GiantSwT-092224b.jpg

and one in flight...
GiantSwT-092224a.jpg

happy trails all!

edit to fix typo

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7 users have voted.

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

Socialprogressive's picture

@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.

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

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

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

Here's to you:
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WhatADoll.jpg
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DOOMcat.jpg
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11 users have voted.

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!

@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.

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6 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@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.

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6 users have voted.

“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@snoopydawg
WivesTaleConfirmed_0.jpg

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4 users have voted.

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!

Socialprogressive's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat
So very sorry to hear your cat past away. It always sucks when you lose a member of the family.
Thanks for all the cat memes.

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4 users have voted.

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