...And farewell to the zoo.  I'll end today with the cutest primate.  At least I think they're cute.  I went to the zoo's website to try and find more information on the Schmidt's Guenon.  There wasn't much except that they are threatened due mostly to deforrestation.

I'm sure I could look up more stuff on google, but you're really just here to look at the pictures.

Hope you've enjoyed my tour of the zoo this time.  Thanks for looking and commenting. 

Well, I was going to show you my last 4 shots from the zoo today.  But there's a data monster in the system that won't allow me to insert the images into the story I've written (I'm officially using the draft to it's fullest extent because I will keep that draft until I get those images fixed).

Instead I'll show you guys the three images I have hanging in the gallery at MTSU in our student show(April 20-June 26).

Student Show 

Student Show 

Student Show (you might have to use Ctrl-N after you open it)

I selected, printed and matted these three for the show.  The top one I've gotten so many compliments and Norton himself asked me to make a print of it for him.

So.... I'm officially in a gallery.  How exciting!

I want to thank everyone on here for their kind words and encouragment during the year and a half I've been here.  Have a great Thursday!

... but they have Kat in their name.  That's right, I'm talking about the fuzzy, cute and adorable Meerkats! 

I don't know why, but these guys have been the hardest boogers for me to photograph.  Out of all the visits, this is the first time I got a decent shot of them.  I just don't know what it is.

Oh well, got a few this time.

Tomorrow I'll end the zoo tour from this visit with the Schmidt's Guenon (cute little buggers in my opinion).  And next week, I'll start bombarding you guys with Renaissance Festival pictures.

Happy Hump Day!

I don't know much about these guys, but I do know I enjoy photographing them.  This time around they were both being rather lazy.  But despite being lazy, he had an air about him.  Like he might be a little better than everyone else.  A little stuck up, with his nose up in the air.

Or maybe he was looking up because something got his attention.

The world may never know.

As promised, I got some pretty kitties today.  You might remember the last time I went I got some shots of the Eurasian Lynx that had been separated from her mother and sister to come live at the Nashville Zoo.  She was real antsy and constantly pacing on that visit.  The keeper said they were introducing her to a young man behind the scenes that they hoped would calm her down.

I'm not sure if it was the spring warmth or her new companion, but she seemed a lot calmer and he was just a bundle of energy.

All comments are appreciated.  Thanks for looking and have a great Monday!

I said I'd be back next week with the zoo shots... But I find myself with a day off, my car being worked on and I'm at the local coffee shop waiting for lunch with Michael. Might as well make a post since I'm here, right?

Right.

So today we'll look at the ring-tailed Lemurs. I haven't been able to get good shots of them the previous two times, cloudy days and too much movement. But not this day. They were posing and showing off and just having a good time.

Next week I'll finish up the zoo with some cats and a primate. Thanks for looking and have a fantastic weekend!

I'm taking a break from the zoo today.  But I promise you lots of exciting and beautiful big cats next week.  But for today, I'll tide you over with some flower shots (hopefully they're not boring).

Room for more 

What a Beautiful Bunch

Thanks for looking and all comments are appreciated.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Not much of a story today.  Just one shot of a few of the animals at the zoo, including the Red-river hog, African Elephant, Red Panda, and Saddlebill Stork.

Hope you're not getting tired of it, although there's really not much left...  Just a few cats coming next week.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

I've got a most unusual creature today.  Not really unusual, but just unusual looking.  Have you ever really stared at a Giraffe?  I mean, seriously stared at one? 

They're kinda big... and awkward.  But that's ok.  Every creature is awkward at some point.  Giraffes just never seem to grow out of that stage.  Which makes them fascinating to watch. 

This is the closest I've seen them in my 3 visits.  Nashville has three giraffes and typically they stay in the back of the enclosure where, even with my 300mm lens, I can't get nice head shots.  But this guy, he got in my face.  It was fun, and I think he enjoyed being in the spotlight a little.

Thanks for looking.  All kinds of comments are appreciated!

Kate and I have decided to make a bi-annual date of going to the Nashville Zoo on student study day (who needs to study, right?).  From these trips we come back with LOTs of images.  Which means, for the next week (and a half) I'll bring you more images of the friendly animals at the Nashville Zoo.

Starting today with the Gibbons!

White-handed Gibbon 

White-handed Gibbon 

White-handed Gibbon 

White-handed Gibbon 

Gibbon 

Comments, critiques, suggestions are always welcomed.  Plenty more animals to come and these guys will be revisited again in December! 

Thanks for looking. 

School is over (for the semester). I made it through with most of my sanity and a 4.0! W00t!

For this final slideshow of my pottery, I took final tea sets into the light studio with my D200 and took some shots with the strobes.

Tea sets

• My goal in pottery was to make 3-4 tea sets. 2 of which being a traditional Japanese style, one white, one black, with a low temperature firing and quick reduction (cooling with little oxygen) process, also known as raku firing. The other two were of a Turkish style and done with a normal high temperature cone 10 firing (the typical firing for ceramics). All are functional and every bit made by me.

Thanks for looking, comments, criticisms, suggestions, encouragement and congrats.

In the Shadows

Basking in the Light

-----

Thanks for looking and all the comments I've been getting.  Tomorrow I will finally have my pottery up.  I picked it up today and took it over to the studio to get some shots.  Just gotta do some touching up and then they'll be up.

 

... A bouquet of wooden roses.

I found some feathery friends at the zoo who just might do for this challenge of blue!

I'm down to my third and final photography portfolio.  This one is a lot different than the other two.  It's not really artsy because it's a studio class.  We worked more on lighting small objects and producing ads for products.  All of these were shot with Sinar 4x5 view cameras (both film and digital).

And I think that was the more interesting part of the class.  Having to look through the ground glass of the film camera at the image upside down and backward, composing the image that way and then trying to find the right focal point to get everything you wanted in focus.  And then with the digital Sinar, there was no ground glass and you had to focus and compose the image while looking at the computer it was hooked up to.  But it was fun and the opportunity to work with those two cameras was really worth it all in the end.

Now that I've talked long enough, here's my Illustrations Portfolio.

Hope you guys enjoy!  Again, thanks for looking and all the comments I've received on my other two portfolios.  And as soon as my cone 10 glazeware gets fired on tuesday, I'll take shots of all my teasets and get them up.