We had intended to visit Colchester Zoo for our son’s birthday. Unfortunately, the last week he has had Chickenpox and hasn’t felt great – his birthday this week was no exception. Poor little chap – I don’t think he knew what had hit him.

RX-1

In the end we decided to try and go on Saturday afternoon. I’ll confess now that I do feel ambivalent about zoos, and particularly those that are privately owned. I do enjoy London Zoo (and think it is important educationally in an urban environment) and I also enjoyed Whipsnade when we visited it last year. Probably my favourite photo with my old NEX-7 was taken on my visit to Whipsnade.

Flamingos – NEX-7 and 18-200mm

In fairness I didn’t think Colchester Zoo was awful or exploitative, rather the reverse – I was particularly impressed with the enclosure for the elephants and giraffes.

I took along my D800E and 70-300mm lens. Unfortunately the combination of the dark grey skies and glass viewing platforms resulted in relatively ordinary photos in some ways – in other ways they spoke to me.

Unfortunately my son wasn’t very well and we had to take him home after about an hour and a half. However, one moment that will stay will me for a while was the lion in the picture here advancing down to the fence next to where I was standing with with my son. It was probably about 2 meters away – nonetheless we felt the roar!

Taken with my D800E and Nikkor 70-300mm lens, NEX-7 and 18-200mm lens and RX1