I have been meaning to shoot captive Arctic & Timberwolves in winter for some time now and after long delays I was able to find time to shoot them at
Wolf Creek Habitat in Brookville, IN along with a few members of the
Ohio Valley Camera Club. Pictures taken by the other members can be found
here.
The staff at Wolf Creek Habitat, esp. Kathy who runs the place was very accommodating to photographers and knowledgeable. Moreover, they were willing to accommodate us earlier than their usual opening times to give us some privacy and of course an opportunity to shoot in better light.
Wolf Creek Habitat has an observation deck for viewing the wolves from an elevated platform and for people who aren't fainthearted or easily grossed out, a more intimate experience inside certain enclosures. The enclosures are a little more intimate than I had anticipated, but cannot complain when you get wolf kisses and get to interact with these creatures at such close proximity.
The weather was perfect for the shoot, with clear and sunny skies and very little snow on the ground.
Shot with
(1) EOS 5D Mark II + EF 24-70mm F2.8 L USM - handheld, &
(3) EOS 5D Mark II + EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM - handheld.
I recently purchased a EOS 5D Mark II body in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Tibet later this year and I shot majority of these pictures with no manual exposure compensation and automatic ISO setting to see how the camera performs.
Canon seems to have got something right with this model, because both exposure metering and ISO selection were spot on. And thanks to the 21.1MP full frame sensor, the depth of field and the image quality are just breathtaking. I think I have been smitten by the portrait and landscape bug again! It's been years since I got rid of my 5D Mark I body and I am cursing myself for not making the jump to 5D Mark II sooner.
The dynamic range of the sensor also appears to be wider than the 40D and 1D Mark III. I figured it would have trouble with blown highlights while shooting bright white subjects in daylight, and I figured I would have to recover them back in Adobe Lightroom since I am not manually compensating for exposure, but nearly no blown highlights and perfect exposure. Simply amazing!
© Shri Chandrasekharan Photography