polar bears and pandas, dolphins and poodles, meercats and monkeys

'simples'

I have decided to become a wildlife photographer.

Having been to the zoo in San Diego and then seen the moon set and the sun rise over the ocean whilst dolphins frolic near the shore it is clear that animals are the way to go.

No more of this fancy grass stuff.

shades of grey © caroline fraser 

No more empty horizons.

dawn 

Just polar bears and pandas, dolphins and poodles ( well the poodles were in palm springs, which figures).

Here are the polar bears.

They weren't doing much.

polar bears in san diego zoo

Here are their carrots.

carrots for polar bears

And here is their swimming pool

pool for polar bears

As you can see I have paid good attention to their habits and habitat.

But carrots?

Are you serious?

As you can see I really didn't have the right zoom lens with me to capture the animals , and the glass walls were a problem………….

Bonobo watching the tourists

I really don't like seeing animals in captivity, however much the preservation of the species is at stake

cute or not,

rare as a giant panda or common as hens teeth

So back to nature then.





Back at the beach I really did enjoy the dawn flight of pelicans over the ocean

pelicans

I watched them from the shore, sitting on a beach chair, so could never have passed as a wildlife photographer as I had no telephoto lens with me on this trip and was wearing a dressing gown.

Best of all was an hour spent watching a pod of dolphins swim around the bay, stopping the surfers in this tracks, taking their minds off the waves that bring them out at 6am before breakfast.

dolphin dawn;  it's not about the picture ( which clearly doesn't cut the mustard)

This magical way to see the day commence more than compensated for the complete failure to capture the dolphins as a photographer.

These images are memory joggers for special moments spent in the quiet of the day before the rest of the world appeared; of no interest to anyone who wasn't there



photos are not the only fruit.





it's all about the memories


whether they be the smell of the guano and the cacophony of sound from seals, pelicans and sealions

David Attenborough where were you?

or the tranquillity of the early dawning day.

moons at dawn

travelling light ..............an experiment with my Panasonic Lumix

bunchberry © caroline fraser 2011

I have just returned from Western Canada on a trip from Vancouver Island across the coastal ranges that include the Rockies, to Calgary. We were 11 in a far too small minibus, and had been advised to keep our luggage to less that 14kg, as it was to be carried on the roof of the van. I duly obeyed the instructions ( and was glad that I had, as we had to lift our luggage up high on an almost daily basis as we moved from one location to the next). Normally I travel with my Canon 40D plus several lenses, and my Panasonic Lumix for back up/hiking up mountains. On this trip I was challenged to cut back on weight, and in the style of Charlie Waite's dvd 'Travelling Light' http://www.charliewaite.com/store decided to travel light with my trusty Panasonic Lumix only; with no extra lenses, tripods, extra hard drives or external flash.

I have fallen in love with my Panasonic, and my only concern was the lack of zoom; as we were on a tour there would be no time to get a tripod out, or fiddle about with lots of lenses.

So how did it go..........?

Firstly, I have no regrets about my decision; every time we stopped the bus to get out and see something I was relieved not to have to decide what kit I needed, and in the tight space of the bus there was nowhere to put all my usual equipment without using up space for someone else's arm/leg or bottom. I kept my camera around my neck, and therefore was always ready to grab a shot.

The Lumix is brilliant for landscapes providing the light is reasonable and you don't need a tripod. I am not that interested in capturing sunsets and sunrises, so that was not a problem. When hiking, it sits around my neck, and I was able to take shots while others were worried about getting their cameras out in the rain or from their back packs when climbing up mountains. My first love is capturing the intimate landscapes below my feet, and for this it is perfect, coping best when the weather is dull or just after rain when the foliage is fresh. The one thing a landscape photographer doesn't really need is harsh sunshine, and we  had little of that. Shadows are a problem in intimate and larger landscapes;  a lesson I learnt from the talented landscape photographer Joe Cornish whilst at Inversnaid in Scotland a few years ago.

The down side of the Lumix came to light when capturing wildlife; it really isn't suitable for wildlife photography, as the following images show.

wild life photography with a Lumix

This is a wildlife image of a Pica; a small Canadian animal a bit like a guinea pig. You may be wondering where it is.........

Pica

You may also be wondering what is looks like..........

as you can see, it is kinda cute

Final verdict is that it is totally not suitable for wildlife photography, and because of that ( and the prospect of 3 hours feeling sick) I skipped the whale watching tour, and went for a wonderful walk in the rainforest instead, where I had a  chance to capture a very large slug at close range ( not very well, as it's head is out of focus and it's tail is missing). My excuse for this transgression is that I was all alone and worried I might meet a bear!