South Texas Shooters (Photography That Is!)

Hi all, as Sunday slips away and the weekend comes to a close I find that I did nothing special or groundbreaking over this weekend. Mainly I stayed close to the house. This morning I awoke early (530am) and was unable to get back to sleep. As I saw the sun rise I figured this might be a good time to take a trip to the zoo and see what moment I might capture with the camera. The zoo has always been a place for me to escpae the routine of my days and from the stress put upon me from many places. And the trip was just that a stress break. Have you ever been in the zoo early before all the crowds come in? It is a diffrent place, very relaxed, the staff are working hard to get the animals feed and cared for, some folks are getting the zoo cleaned up for the public. The folks that I have always been inpressed with are the keepers. A lot of the time there hard work is not seen by vistors unless something is a miss. These folks work 365 for in most cases very little money. Over the years I have taken many photos in a zoo and until today I do not recall ever saying thank you to one of these backstage hero’s. While I was taking photos of a clouded leopard a young lady came out of the back area of the exhibit I stopped her, she was young and looked so exhausted already, it was not 9am yet. When I stopped her she had the look in her eyes of what now!, as I spoke to her to express my thanks for the hard work that she and the others do, I noticed her shoulders relax and a warm smile come across her face. I did not wish to keep her from getting as much done before the heat of the day became an oven. I wanted to take her photo but in the same instant did not. For in my minds lens I shall have that image of that smile. Over the years I have made some good friends from the zoo here where I live and have been blessed to call them friend. So to make up for all those times I never said or forgot to say Thank You for all your efforts while you worked at the zoo, for being there on hoilidays, cold, hot, wet weather. Without you those images that I captured could not have come true. I am one lucky man for knowing these folks. The photo for today comes from the zoo visit and is of one of my favorite big cats, the Clouded Leopard, it is not the best image but it was taken a moment before I spoke to that young lady. So here goes and hope you enjoy the photo. Back to the mean streets of SA tomorrow. May your Monday be a good one and may the week treat you well. See you with my next entry. Pete

I'm a wild and crazy guy!

Hello all, as Saturday comes to a close, I share an image of Miss Selma another one of my fur people that share life with me. She is the sister of Mr Seguin and Miss Connie. She is the shy one of the three and very leary of most everything, although she has moments of absolute lunacy in her. She can from time to time make me wonder why she does things. There are times when it is just her and me and she will share love and hang out for the longest time to love you. She kneads so gently that I think she is afriad to hurt one. She can play with such gusto that you have to smile no matter what the day has sent your way. I am very pleased to share life with the three fur people, for somedays they can and do take away all the rudness, and goofiness that the world brings my way. As for today it was spent doing very little, I had no get up and go today, just wanted to lay about and escape the heat of the day. Well I close for now and share a photograph of Miss Selma. May your day be quite and peaceful. Pete

Miss Selma