The Quiet Picture

I know I said that I would never go to a zoo again, but I had an opportunity to meet with other photographers so I caved in.

For every visit to Järvzoo, my only wish is to get good pictures of one species - you can never get them all anyway, so one is good. The birds are the trickiest ones and the great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) has always eluded me, I’ve never succeeded in creating a single keeper after years of trying. Until now, that is - I was fortunate enough to have the camera ready when the owl yawned, and I was amazed to see that the picture is sharp!

I’ve mentioned a few times that I gave up on wildlife photography early on in my photography career. Most of the animal photography I’ve done since then is in zoos - not counting the occasional squirrel, of course! When I lived in Ljusdal, I used to visit Järvzoo quite often. Since I moved to Loos, the visits have been few and far in between. In fact, today was only my second visit in over 3 years.

The day’s favourite species - wolverine (cropped from right to 4:5)

One of the highlights of any Järvzoo visit is the wolves. Usually when I visit Järvzoo, I make sure to get to the wolves well before the feeding time. There’s a lot of activity going on while they wait for the grub, but now I found the whole thing oddly unsatisfying. There’s a whole new pack of wolves, but I recognised the behaviour patterns immediately. And why not… it’s just typical wolf behaviour. Typical wolf behaviour, for captive wolves. I must admit that I felt sorry for them. They are magnificent animals, they should be running free and not kept in a cage. But that’s the whole zoo debate. Should we or should we not cage wild animals?

I’ve always felt that we should have zoos. They serve two purposes - first and foremost, conservation. And secondly, it’s the only chance most people ever have to see these wild species. And the second point actually also counts towards conservation. People need to be educated. Trying to protect these same animals completely in the wild is just simply not realistic. Take the wolf for example. We have resident wolves in this area, and there’s a constant debate whether or not we should have them. People take any excuse to shoot them legally, and if they don’t get a permit, then they shoot them illegally. Only thing that helps is that a new generation grows up, with appreciation for the wild and the will to co-exist. A visit to the zoo, and a chance to see the wolves close-up, goes a long way to convince the kids that wolves are not the beasts their parents claim they are.

The way the world is today, zoos are needed. They are the Noah’s Ark. And despite it - or maybe it’s actually just because of it? - a wild animal in a cage is just wrong.

End of rant, and back to my visit. While I was standing in front of the wolf enclosure, I got a bit disheartened. I already had a bunch of pictures, and zero inspiration to get any more. On my way back, this lynx caught my attention though. It seemed so content to lie there up on the cliff, in the sun, lazily watching the people passing by. I’ve seen my share of stress behaviour in captive animals (shame on the zoos!), but this was one cool cat that seemed quite content with the circumstances. It lifted my spirits, but I can’t help but feel that this was my last visit to Järvzoo - or any zoo, for that matter. My head says yes, and my heart says no.

I think I will stick to the squirrels now.

I went to the zoo today. Perfect weather - sunshine and a little bit of snowfall. At the same time. A few years ago I visited the zoo almost every other week, but after I started shooting film I gave up on that and then I moved to Los which added 50km between me and Järvzoo. So it was interesting to see what has changed in the zoo since my last visit. The biggest thing is that they have finished the 5 Stora (Big 5) exhibition, which turned out to be quite of an information package that I didn’t have the energy to go through in detail after 3 hours of walking back and forth in the park. The rest of the park was the same as before, other than the new wolf enclosure in conjunction with the 5 Stora exhibit. I saw three wolves sleeping when I got in to the park, and the same three wolves sleeping in the same place on my out of the park… I guess they forgot the “out of order” sign (you’ll have to have seen “Fierce Creatures” to get the joke!). There were two other wolves in the old wolf enclosure and at feeding time, the keeper told me that they currently don’t have any female wolves but are expecting to get one soon from another zoo. Speaking of the feeding, the keeper went in the enclosure to throw in the meat. Lucky bastard.

Back when I visited Järvzoo frequently, I used to think that if I got a good image of any of the animals, the visit was successful (my standard for “good” was a bit lower than it is today). Some of the species are more difficult to shoot than others - say for example, the dark animals like musk ox and wolverine are impossible unless it’s bright and sunny. Otherwise the contrast between the subject and snow is too big. The lynx are also tricky - the enclosure is more like a pit where you look straight down on the animals. This is a big no-no for photography… can’t shoot them from above! There are only a few spots in the enclosure where you are at eye level with the lynx so good luck with that. Not to mention that the enclosure is very dark as it’s almost always in the shade. The little sunlight that gets in is patchy as it’s filtered through a pine forest.

What might come as a surprise is that you need a long lens even in a zoo. The musk ox image is taken with 300mm plus 1.4 converter (that’s effective 672mm) and still the animal doesn’t fill up the frame. Today in the zoo there happened to be a lot of other photographers as well, and one of them was carrying a 500mm lens. I didn’t see him use it though… mostly he was shooting with his film camera (he had film & digital bodies) and 100-400mm lens, which means that he didn’t have the same reach I had. I wonder how his images turned out… I’m not saying that bigger is better at all, but I’m always curious to see how other people portray the same subject.

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I’ve often wondered if I should learn more languages. I met a couple of photographers today who spoke French and German (and no English) but it didn’t help them so I guess I shouldn’t bother!