On one of the hottest, clearest days of the summer, I join a cat, a hyena, a hare, a jakolf (that’s a jackle–wolf), a dog, a racoon, and an African wild dog for an afternoon at the zoo. I bring with me a lent Nikon D70s to make it my first shoot with a digital SLR camera.
Unfamiliarity with the camera’s focus and metering points leave me with several frames of blurry and incorrectly exposed shots, and in the unending sun and crowds I blame the venue: there’s too much cage around the animals if they’re there and too much space around the animals if they’re not. Plus it’s too bright except when it’s somehow too dark. It’s good to see my friends, but photographically I’m not having a great time.
I do get some okay animals shots.
Then I start to notice the signs. They’re everywhere. And something about them are hilarious. Maybe it’s the hunger or the heat—I can’t figure out if they are more or less hilarious within the context of being at the zoo.
But I don’t care. They are lifting my spirits. I want to take pictures again.
And I did.