In the snowfields of the morning

Although technically it may have been slightly after noon and you certainly can't see the snow, it was without question not the forests of the night.

One Siberian tiger, out in the very bright and quite warm (-2 C or so) day.


These are all scaled but not cropped.
I was wandering about the zoo using the Rokinon 800mm mirror lens to do wildlife, fortunately relaxed and lying down on the ground wildlife in this case, but one still has to allow for head movement which is tricky with a geared head on a tripod. I am starting to understand why the folks with heavy gear really like the expensive damped ball heads.

Touching an 800mm lens to focus manually changes what it's pointing at; fine in this case, where one bit of neck fur is as good as another, but truly wretched in the case of distant birds in trees. Using a cable release is not an optional approach, either, since poking the shutter button directly also changes what the lens is pointing at, and the remote is difficult to point either at the front or through one's head.

Still, when the focus is on the right thing the results are respectable, and it gives me an appreciation of former days, when there was none of this autofocus and shake reduction stuff.