05/02/15 Glen Oak Park Zoo: Peoria, IL

A Bengal tiger relaxing on a tranquil spring morning at Glen Oak Park Zoo in Peoria, IL

On May 2nd, I visited Glen Oak Park Zoo in Peoria, IL in hope to capture some worthy photos of the animals on a beautiful spring day. I spent most of the day in the park photographing the animals with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 II L IS lens. This was my first time using this particular lens at a zoo after purchasing it a couple months ago. I was very pleased with the results especially shooting through fences. It did an amazing job! I actually visited this zoo last summer as well seen here. Anyhow, I've posted several great images of the animals I photographed during the day below:

 A mandrill striking a pose!

Zebras

 "Sleeping giant"

"Peak-a-boo"

One of two giraffes

An antelope grazing!

"Be afraid, very afraid"

 I was quite pleased with this shot!

A sea lion taking a swim...

One of my favorites of the zebras!

One of the tigers lounging around again...

The mandrill grabbing a snack...

"The men who stare at goats"

A close-up of the Bengal tiger!

"Love at first sight"

A male lion

A colobus monkey!

Another giraffe shot!

A rhino you don't want to mess with...

A female lion!

"Bout to pounce"

Another goat relaxing...

The male lion once again...

Another favorite!

 A peacock

 A fairly large toad

 The giraffes were definitely out-n'-about...

 Beautiful!

 A wider angle of the female lion...

 "Eye contact"

 One last photo from the day...

This was a very successful day of photography as the animals definitely enjoyed the amazing spring weather which allowed me to capture some great shots. On May 3rd I visited another local zoo and I'll feature photos from that day in another upcoming post.

05/02/15 Spring: 2015

Spring blooms at a local nursery in Peoria, IL

Earlier this month, I shot some photos at Hoerr Nursery in Peoria, IL as the trees and plants began to show signs of spring. Every year I try my best to capture some great spring colors and scenes locally on my down time. This year I once again was quite happy with the photos I shot with my Canon DSLR cameras. I've featured a good handful of some of my favorites from my spring: 2015 collection below:

Blue is one of my favorite colors!

Tulips!

A wide assortment of marigolds!

A personal favorite!

A golden-hour shot of an apricot tree

A flowering crabapple tree

Stunning detail!

A well-framed hibiscus shot!

Incredible!

I really like the angle of the blurred background in this shot...

More good stuff...

The beauty of Mother Nature combined with a macro-lens can produce great results!

The colors and lighting were great in this greenhouse!

Cirrus clouds made for an interesting background for this photo...

Another close-up macro shot!

Another stunning close-up!

Vivid colors here!

Trees in bloom after a spring shower...

Another neat shot!

An interesting plant...

Gotta love the spring colors Mother Nature provides...

Another hibiscus plant!

"Spring emerges"

I'm not one who especially likes the color yellow, but I do like this shot however!

"Spring blooms"

Another favorite!

A lion statue with spring colors in the background!

A whole lot of red in this one...

A close-up of a crabapple tree!

Stunning!

More tulips...a sure sign of spring!

Spring emerges in this greenhouse!

After finishing up my spring: 2015 collection I visited a couple of local zoos in the local area this past weekend as well and I'll post photos from those two days at a later date.