Weekend Photography Fest #2

In continuation of my photography love fest, the weekend after Fest #1, I spent Saturday at the zoo with Joe and Amy and their two daughters. I wanted to try my hand at taking shots of some new stuff, and I’d always heard that the Akron Zoo is pretty nice (I actually purchased a zoo membership prior to going, in anticipation of future photo trips), so off I went.

Turns out, it’s really hard to take a decent shot of a wildlife behind dirty glass from a distance without something better than the standard kits lens that came with my Digital Rebel XSi, but I did the best I could, and most of the shots that I kept from that day were of people and plantlife:

Here’s my favorite shot of Kelly (Joe and Amy’s older daughter) from the day (click on the image to see the whole first set of zoo photos):

And while I didn’t have a lot of luck with the animals, I did get some halfway decent shots at the jellyfish exhibit. This photo is by far one of my favorite shots that I’ve managed to get so far with the XSi, and I’m thinking of sending it in for the 2009 Akron Zoo Shutterbug Contest (what the heck, right?):

So, Saturday was great for photos, and then Sunday was Mothers Day, which turned out to be the day that I learned that I should never, ever listen to my little brother Max when he insists that he knows his way through the woods and that he and I should go (just the two of us) into said woods.

Prior to making this realization, I had been zooming around on the 4-wheelers with the boys all afternoon and when Max said we should go into the woods and ride out to the lake, I grabbed my camera, hopped on one of the 4-wheelers, and followed Max into the woods, where I did actually get a few nice shots…

…right before Max almost drove INTO the lake, and then we proceeded to get stuck in the mud at least seventeen times, and after about an hour of me pulling/pushing both 4-wheelers through and out of the mud, we arrived back at the house, where my family had a good laugh at the thick coat of mud all over my person and my very tired “I’m never letting a 6-year old talk me into zooming through the muddy woods without additional manpower” facial expression.

At some point in all of this, my iPhone also slipped from my back pocket (d’oh), and my mother found it in the rocky lane to the woods, lying in the gravel. It had clearly been driven over and has a few really good scratches on the screen, but it’s still working, so I’m counting myself lucky there. (Honestly, I’m amazed that I survived that afternoon without crying muddy tears in front of my little brother while standing knee deep in mud and trying desperately to drag two 4-wheelers out of their slow, sliding descent into a lake. It’s hilarious now, but I was traumatized at the time… lol.)

After surviving the Max/Brandi adventure of Mothers Day 2009, I carefully pulling the XSi out of a mud-coated camera bag and grabbed one shot that I was really happy with, because it’s a perfect shot of Jeff after a long day outside, enjoying the weather and spending time with family:

It was DEFinitely another great photography fest weekend, and I can’t wait to have another one! Stay tuned as my current obsession with photography continues… :) Tips and suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome!