Nor did I until I saw it in the gift shop at Fort Erie a couple of years ago. That's when the photo was taken.

The statue of a bull outside a temple in Bangkok.

A lion statue in the Imperial Garden within the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Another lion, this one from the Besancon zoo.

Young tiger at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, Queensland. Photographed through glass/perspex - if anyone has any hints on how to do this well, please let me know!

Mike: That's a very good picture, plexiglas or no! I've tried taking photos of animals behind glass/plastic as well. I've found (for my camera anyway) is to stand quite a bit back away from the barrier and zoom/focus on the critter. Seems to ignore quite alot of "lick marks"/stains on the glass that way. Also, never use a flash (but I'm sure you didn't in this case anyway).

Here's a picture of our Zoe, since it goes with the "cat chain". And she went to "kitty heaven" this past week, so it will be the last one I ever post of her.

Sorry, Jakeroo. She was a beauty.

So sad for you, What a gorgeous sight.

What a beautiful looking cat Zoe was, Jakeroo. I'm sure she had a wonderful life.

Many thanks for your suggestions on photographing through glass/perspex. Are you manually focusing?

I'm sad for you, Jakeroo. It's heartbreaking to lose a treasured pet. Zoe was simply stunning.

Zoe was lovely. I'm so sad for you.

My heart goes out to you Jakeroo. I have a couple that will be going there soon.

Zoe was beautiful, it´s always so sad to loose a treasured friend, I am really sorry.

I'm sorry for your loss, Jakeroo.

You're all so very nice ... thank you for your very kind comments. Zoe passed in her sleep - and I hope that's the way I get to go too.

I didn't intend to "hijack" the thread, so........ moving along from "cat" to "caterpillar" : )


I don't know what this turns out to be, but I suspect it's a moth.

No idea what this was , in my garden, either , but it follows on well!

Here's a Scarlet Percher Dragonfly at Penny Springs in Central Australia.



Sorry about the duplication folks - I messed up the editing! Could someone please delete the first of these?

Mike: Sorry, I missed your earlier question. If I'm using my DSLR (which isn't often, because it's a real pain to drag it and all its lenses around for very long lol), then I focus manually. If I'm using my zoom point and shoot, I turn the "constant auto-focus" to off. I normally try to just focus on the head (eyes in particular) and crop off the rest as, if it's a large animal, you're bound to see the "waves/imperfections" in a larger piece of plastic. If it's real glass (outdoors) you're going to get reflections of objects and people (including you lol) unless the sun is directly behind you. If you're lucky enough to be the only person standing there, then move your camera to what I call a calligraphy slant (anywhere from 45 to 90 degrees) to the subject, if you can. INDOOR glass cages are almost impossible to shoot a decent picture through (as I'm sure folks who have tried photographing the lions at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas have discovered lol), as there are reflections all over the place due to the overhead and exterior lights, as well as any open doorways down the halls in zoos. Haven't had much luck with those at all. I did get some decent ones of apes/monkeys in the San Diego Zoo, but that was only because the animals were quite far back from the barrier, so it was easier to focus on them (without the camera trying to look at the closest object all the time). I'll try to find some of those (I have about 20,000 photographs - 19,500 of which aren't worth posting lol - between 3 computers and numerous cd's, so it might take me awhile).

Ren: I believe your dragonfly is a male Fulvous Forest Skimmer (Neurothemis fulvia). The female doesn't look much like the male at all. The critters are found throughout Asia/India.


gossamer and golden - is it any wonder small children mistake these for fairies? : )

No gossamer here, but a little bit of gold.

One gilded building deserves another:



You'll have to take my word that the domes are gilded, though.

The inside of one of those domes.

Which building is that, ertrum?



The Relic of St. Francis Xavier in the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa. The Basilica contains the mortal remains of the saint which are open for public viewing every ten years.

That was the Russian Orthodox church (cathedral?) in Geneva. The picture dates from late 1979 or early 1980.

I've never seen anything quite like it, it's beautiful! And a great shot.

The ceiling art of the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. The artwork is 'The apotheosis of Washington' painted by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865. The Capitol Building is a great place to visit even for non-US citizens. (The whole family loved Washington as tourists)