Escaping the Minnesota Chill (Original Photography)

Howdy,

Last week was very cold and, despite the temperatures rebounding to above-average, I decided to take a trip to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul, MN. Upon entering the conservatory, I headed straight to the tropical enclosure.

^{No Pet Rabbits Here}

Finding myself in a tropical environment was wonderful. The only minor setback was that my camera and lenses were still cold and required constant wiping to remove condensation. Fortunately, I always have a lens cloth handy.

^{Mini Palm Paradise}

These areas are a great place for ultra-wide photography. Getting the entire dome in is difficult, even with a cell phone's wide lens, so I was happy to have a 10-22mm with. Switching to the telephoto allowed for a few close-ups, like this next one.

^{Better than a snowball!}

After spending an hour or so in the conservatory, it was time to head to the zoo side of the park. I was very glad to have brought a nice telephoto lens for the zoo. I spent over an hour trying to get portraits of the monkeys and apes. Despite it being very dark, something that my camera does not handle well, I did manage to get quite a few decent portraits.

^{Love the Mustache}

^{Got Banana?}

The next photo was the most difficult to get. These monkeys are very small and skittish. They spent most of the time hiding, so I was very, very patient. With a mustache like that, though, it was most definitely worth the wait!

^{Mini WOokie!}

... And then there was this fellow. We had a moment, watching each other. The children, tapping at the glass and giggling, had moved on and it was just the two of us. Eventually, he sat down and gave me this perfect pose.

^{New Friend}

After the primates, I tried going to see some of the other enclosures, but nothing really compared. The polar bears weren't even visible in their elaborate enclosure. It was time to go, anyway. The zoo closes at 4:00 pM on Sundays during the winter, and I had to get to Cosetta's Pastry shop.

Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.