Nashville Zoo

My first visit to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. I was relieved when I saw the enclosures the animals have - a good balance between being the visitor being able to observe, and the resident being able to feel comfortable about this. A great place to introduce kids, the future caretakers of our world, to the wonders of it. Also, we forget that as adults, we need reminders now and then, too.

  The beautiful blue macaws that greet you as you enter the zoo. These two below never stopped loving on each other the entire time I photographed them. Their color shows up wonderfully on against the backdrop of their habitat.

This looks like a typical Tennessee landscape...but wait, what's that in the trees? You can click on any of these photos to get a closer look.

 Oh, they're gibbons! As pretty as this girl is to look at, the chorus of sounds the group made was even prettier. Every gibbon has a very distinctly call so when blended together, it's certainly not a sound to be missed.

In the middle of the zoo, sits the historic house of the ladies that donated the original land for use as the zoo.

A family cemetery plot behind the house holds several generations, and a variety of different tomb styles.

The elephant enclosure features several different vantage points for the zoo visitor to get a good view of the residents.

In the picture below, one of the males came quite close to the fence so I was able to zoom in and get this closeup.

Of all the animals, the male giraffe was the most friendly. Although he fielded the young giraffe away from us, he came back up to visit with us as long as we stayed there. 

 He was one of the few animals that would look you in the eye.















 

Despite the backlighting, I was able to work with the camera and capture his very long, blue tongue as he cleaned his face.

The meerkat, one of nature's cutest creations.

I once got a picture of three crows perched on a steeple, one on each point of the cross. This doesn't seem as impressive, but I'm equally excited about this photo of a meerkat looking into the camera.

The zoo has wonderful lighting. It either blends in with the landscape, or takes on the theme of the area, such as this lamp in the bamboo forest.


 

I've always felt part of being a good photographer was showing others the world the way you see it, or opening their eyes to a different vantage point. Bet you never thought you'd see algae this pretty?

 

Zebra in midtail-swish.

 
Marine iguanas snuggling and basking. The "beach" lighting throws interesting color swatches over the picture.

A little green seahorse blending in with some of the plants. Seahorses and seadragons are some of my favorite animals, but they are very hard to photograph in an aquarium. Doesn't stop me from trying, however.

 Playing with depth of field and patterns using this python wrapped onto a stick.

Utilizing my zoom lens to get a close up of these caimans at the back of the habitat. There's something very terrifying about these guys in a primal way, even though they aren't that big. Kinda like a velociraptor.
 

A lizard chillin' over the fish tank below. I love his little foot hanging down, so I put it in focus.

 I always say that poison dart frogs always look like plastic toys. I caught this little group of beauties hanging out under a bright spot that did wonders for their complexion.

 

A close encounter with one of the birds in a two story greenhouse/aviary. It houses some beautiful plants and birds.











And don't miss my next post which will be dedicated to the many gorgeous flamingos. The photos were taken in wonderful lighting, with many closeups. Think pink.