Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Mesh Lighting

This is a case where I saw something brimming with potential when the shutter was snapped, but couldn't do much with it in post-capture.  Made a layer out of just the bulbs, but that didn't work.  Worked all the sliders for exposure, temperature, etc. but that didn't work either; the metal mesh ended up being too distracting .  So I left it pretty much as it was and settled for the two seen here.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Tunnel Wall

In spite of the shallow depth of field, think this one turned out OK...how could you go wrong with this kind of color?  However had to do something different with the two posted tomorrow.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Rattlesnake Bookmarks

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Tortoise Shell

Still in the reptile house, turtles naturally make good subjects for a wannabe like me, since we're both slow...

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Straw with Twigs

Sort of reminded me of this post from a Palo Duro trip with a friend.  Focus-shifted frame below:

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Dorsal Scaling of Brown Iguana

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Dorsal Scaling of Green Iguana

The dorsal scaling of a lizard.  These creatures are certainly dinosaur-like, albeit much smaller.

Not sure how appealing it would be, but cropped a sliver for a bookmark:

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Reptile House Signage and Sculpture

I get a nostalgic feeling whenever walking by the reptile house because it hasn't changed a bit in the nearly-sixty years of visiting the Houston Zoo.  Same goes for the sculpture captured below.  And John Werler is a legend in the herps world...used to hear his name a lot when I was a member of the Texas Herpetological Society during college in Nacogdoches.  If you've read this story, he's the curator that gave Dad and me a tour when I donated Pretzel after being bitten.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Green Infrastructure

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Red Against Dark

Had a picture posted of these (fake) red blooms here contrasted with the white-ish ferns underneath.  The angle on this pic focuses more on the contrast of bright red against the darker background.

Houston Zoo 2017, Roung Two - Gaggle of Geese

A few days ago, on Feb 6, a picture was posted of a squabble of ducks.  And what would this be?  A gaggle of geese.  ...or maybe ducks.

Different perspective below:

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Purple Zebras

Did a bit of work to clean this one up; original below:

 

Remember how amazed I was at seeing a manipulated photo for the first time.  It was either the fall of 1982 or spring of 1983.  A Smithsonian (or could have been Scientific American) magazine article described what must have been the prototype of the stamp tool, and they'd removed some insignia from a hat that a military officer was wearing.  I was amazed at the before-and-after pictures.  As can be seen above, now it's commonplace and doesn't take much effort.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Green-on-Brown

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Three-Toed Sloth / Exotica for Sale

Don't know why I passed this one up when the original series was published.  Cropped into bookmark dimensions from same below:

Reminds me of a stop we made at a pet shop one time here in Houston.  It was on Jones Road, close to where we live, and the sign included the word "Exotic", which guarantees a visit from me.  We went in and looked around at the snakes and other exotica they had in stock.  Was very interesting.

But the interest evaporated when I looked down and saw a two-toed sloth kept in a crate built for a medium-sized dog.  It just hung there, staring into space with a dull expression in its eyes.  And very expensive...a couple of thousand dollars.  When asked about it, the guy behind the counter said that yes, it was legal to sell these guys, but cautioned that this particular individual was an aggressive one.  This was no wonder, being couped up in a space that small with virtually no space to move around for God knows how long.  The wife and I wasted no time in getting out of there.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Colorful Columns

Ever on the lookout for patterns, got there in time to capture this without a bunch of people around.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Red Flowers

As mentioned at times in the past, animal pictures certainly aren't the only thing around to capture in a zoo.  The Houston Zoo does a pretty good job with their flora, as can be seen above.  This is close to the entrance, adjacent to the long cement pond.

Very small sliver, similar to this post from October of 2020, featured below as a bookmark:

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Fish with Shimmering Scales

Aquariums normally bore me...there's just not much to standing there watching animals swim around behind glass.  But there is ample opportunity to practice technical skills with a camera, as they're usually in dark environments with constantly moving subjects.  This one was a slow swimmer, so saw a chance to capture the shimmering reflection off its scales.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - More Jellyfish

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Jellyfish

Some have said they like jellyfish pics, so decided to post these.  Sliver for bookmark below:

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Contrasted Flower

 

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Rhino Greeting

This is what greets visitors soon after they enter the gates of the zoo...

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Peek-a-Boo Shot of Building

Peek-a-boo shot of the Ertan Digestive Disease Center of the Texas Medical Center.  Took this as I was standing next to McGovern Lake while waiting for the zoo to open.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Squabble of Ducks

...and what is a "squabble" of ducks?  A group of ducks in the water squabbling over a resource such as food.  Just made that one up.

Another word I invented, back in high school:  "Amnesiate"... To forget on purpose.  Hasn't made it into American lexicon yet, but who knows...

Sliver for bookmark below:

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Purple Flowers at McGovern Lake

 

These pictures will be posted in more/less the order they were taken; this one was captured at McGovern Lake adjacent to the zoo.  I arrived before it opened, so joined the smattering of people enjoying the scenery as we all waited to enter.

Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Bubble Shot

This is what caught my eye and made me realize that there were some pictures around waiting to be processed and perhaps even posted.  The photos in this upcoming series were captured at the Houston Zoo on November 18, 2017...four days after the Faust excursion just featured.  The reason I was surprised at finding these was because that trip to the zoo had already been posted in the blog.  Not only had it already been included, there were some 60 posts, beginning on February 16th and ending on April 16th of 2018, which can be viewed by clicking on the year, then the month, in the sidebar on the right.

So I thought, Maybe there are a few more in those left over from the previous series.  As it turns out, 72 of those pics were enhanced and considered blogworthy potentials.  Among them several have already been culled, and many of the posts will include more than one picture, so we're in business for about 45 posts, a month and a half.  Here we go...

Seen below is a sliver of the pic above, made into a bookmark:

Clean Vehicles Technologies Conference - Candelier

This is the last post from the Clean Vehicles Technologies Conference at Faust.  It was an interesting little jaunt which yielded some decent photos, some of which might make it into the top 25%.

And what is the significance of that 25%?  I figured that, when all is said and done, about a quarter of the pictures posted in this blog are really worth taking to the next level to include in an e-book or something similar.  Think I've stated before that, as a result of the fact that these posts appear in reverse order, I'd like to refine my writing and create a book with some of the top 25%, with pages that turn from one to the next.  Might be a fun retirement activity, Lord willing.

As for where we go next - found a cache of photos from a zoo trip in 2017 that had not been processed, and looks to be enough for a month or more of posts.  Looking forward to sharing those beginning tomorrow.

Clean Vehicles Technologies Conference - Window Pattern

Moving at last to my favorites from this excursion to Faust Distributors.  Knew this was a keeper even before lifting the Big Cahoona into position.  Also knew I had to act fast before the clouds obscured the sun again...

Clean Vehicles Technologies Conference - Leather Strings

Ever on the lookout for patterns, found this to be a suitable background for a bookmark.  Original pic below:

Reminds me of the Scouts, when we would buy leather strings just like these at Tandy's to sew leather pieces together for moccasins, vests, etc...