San Diego Zoo Safari Park

My brother is a card carrying member of the San Diego Zoo and was nice enough to hook me up with his guest pass to the Safari Park during my recent trip to San Diego. It was my first time visiting the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and I thought it was great. The amount of land and open space that the Park occupies is very impressive. I also enjoyed the bridges and walkways that traverse the property. Much of it looked like parts of Jurassic Park. One drawback is that there did not seem to be as many animals as the regular zoo. Although, this could have a lot to do with the fact that they are so spread out. The large amounts of space that the animals get to roam is great, but it does mean that sometimes they can be pretty far away from you. This is especially apparent when trying to take pictures. Speaking of pictures, a very long telephoto lens (more than 200mm) would be ideal. The lens I brought was only 105mm on the long end, and even with the extra distance on my crop frame it was significantly lacking for close-ups. We spent a little more than 3-hours at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, but I could definitely have stayed longer. There is plenty to see and one can easily make a full day of it. The highlight of the visit for me was the Africa Safari Tram that takes you through some of the Park's largest field exhibits.

Below are some pictures of the animals that inhabit the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Thank you for stopping by Dirty Thirty Photography and take care.

Morgan Maternity Shoot

This past weekend the staff here at Dirty Thirty Photography attempted our first maternity photo shoot. Our good friend and beautiful soon-to-be mother, Morgan Drennen, agreed to let me photograph her and her slightly bumped belly. I read a few articles and looked at maternity pictures online, but the approach was more of trial and error than anything else. The images were taken near sunset on Ocean Beach. The equipment was limited to my 60D, a rented 24-105mm f/4L lens, 430ex flash unit, and the prettiest flash stand available (my girlfriend Rachel). Overall, I think the images turned out really well. There was definitely a few things I learned and look forward to improving on next time. Morgan was great and I think a lot of the images capture her personality. Hopefully, we will see her again before the baby arrives and can take some more pictures with a much bigger baby bump!

Below are a few of the images that I liked best. Thank you for stopping by Dirty Thirty Photography and take care.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: PART 2- Jellyfish

Upside-down Jellies, Moon Jellies, Elegant Jellies, Cross Jellies, Flower Hat Jellies, Jelly Bellies, Peanut Butter and Jellies...