I spotted a poster advertising early evening tours of the Honolulu Zoo (for small groups to visit after it closes to the public in the afternoon), and thought it would be a good opportunity to see the animals in a different light. 

I remember one factoid from my safari experience in South Africa: namely, that lions snooze for 18-20 hours a day. So, I was hoping my subjects would be more active at this hour than in the heat of the day. 

I was delighted to find when we got to the lion exhibit that Ekunda and Moxie were actually up and moving about. To my surprise, I found it technically challenging that they were behind tempered glass that was covered with thousands of hand prints and nose prints from eager zoo-goers who want to get as close as possible. (The glass gets cleaned every night, I learned, after this tour is over.)

By putting my camera lens right up against the glass, I was able to minimize the reflection; but shooting through thick, dirty glass made everything a bit less sharp and less vibrant. 

I was able to salvage some images in Lightroom, primarily by adjusting the color temperature and boosting both the blacks and the whites. Here are some shots straight out of camera and then after some cropping and post-processing. 

On my way out, I spotted a Bengal tiger not moving, but awake. This big cat presented another couple of photographic challenges: first, shooting through a fence (which I solved by focusing manually); and, second, he was lying under a wooden structure, and I didn’t want the focus to be on his physical enclosure. Without completely eliminating the evidence the animal was, in fact, in a zoo, I was able to crop judiciously to create an image with a focus on the subject’s face.

So, dear reader, always remember when hunting big game, to bring an extra glass wipe not just for your own lens, but for life’s little surprises. And equip your camera body with a zoom lens, since you can’t always get as close to these cats as you might like.