Not long after returning from my trip to the Himalayas in 2015, I was informed that there was a zoo in the Boston area with Snow Leopards. I couldn’t believe it! How had I not known all this time that there were Snow Leopards so close to me? I don’t drive well in big cities with lots of traffic, so it wasn’t until December of that year before I finally made it down there to check it out. I figured I’d wait until cooler weather so the tourists wouldn’t be adding to the traffic and hopefully the snow leopards would be more comfortable and active.

      When I arrived at the zoo in Stoneham, Mass, it wasn’t terribly busy, so that made it even better. I followed the map and signs, spending a little bit of time photographing the Lynx, waterfowl, and Reindeer before making it to the Snow Leopard exhibit. There were two adult cats lounging atop the rock cliff. They were absolutely gorgeous! I was over the moon to see them. However, they were curled up, attempting to sleep, partially hidden from view.

A pair of Canada Lynx in their enclosure at Stone Zoo. I didn't spend a huge amount of time with the Lynx. Their enclosure was quite small, so all the photos had part of the enclosure in them.

This was one of several Barrow's Goldeneye ducks swimming in the small pond beside the pathway. I was quite happy to get this shot of the one bird by itself, as it was quite difficult to get any clean shots with all of the birds in the water.

This was a Reindeer who was resting. In North America, this same species is known as a Caribou. Both males and females have antlers, so I'm actually not sure if this was a male or female.

One of the Snow Leopards taking a nap up on the rocky cliff of their enclosure.

The other Snow Leopard also napping up on the cliff.

      After 20 minutes, I decided to continue on and see some of the other animals. I was hoping to get some good photos and practice, and that when I came back, maybe the Snow Leopards would be up and moving about. I spent the next half-hour photographing the pack of Mexican Gray Wolves nearby. That was a lot of fun, though very difficult. Whenever any of the wolves were in a good spot, they were moving constantly, and they only paused when they were in a bad spot, photographically speaking.

One of the five Mexican Gray Wolves at Stone Zoo. This one wolf was the one that came by to watch me the most often.

Another photo of that same wolf.

Here is that wolf again. One of the nice things with this wolf was that he would pause longer than any of the others, allowing me a chance for better photos, so I was able to experiment with the composition and cropping.

This was one of the other wolves. He didn't stay in that spot long, but I found the pose interesting, though I'm not sure what he was thinking. He didn't seem as relaxed as the previous wolf.

      The wolf enclosure was at the end of the line, so I had to go back past the Snow Leopards to get to the rest of the zoo. Consequently, I was going to check in on them in case anything had changed, even though it hadn’t been very long. Much to my delight, one of them was awake and moving about the lower area of the enclosure! I went crazy taking photos. I’m not sure if this was the older male or the younger female, but I’ll say she for now. Whenever she was right next to the fence, the photos were terrible, but I was giddy, as she was so close I could have leaned over and touched her!

      I got my best photos when she was farther back, however. The viewing area was close enough to the fence that when she was back a few feet, the fence disappeared because of the narrow depth of field of the big lens. It was as if there was nothing at all between us. I spent some time trying out different focal lengths, experimenting with how close the portraits should be, how much her head should fill the frame as opposed to having more of her body in the shot, and where she should be posed within the frame for the best composition.

The Snow Leopard was stretching here, and I really liked the expression on her face, making for a nice portrait.

Here, she was just sitting quietly, so I was experimenting with how it would look as a vertical image showing more of her body.

This was just a few seconds later. I wasn't sure if the behavior of her licking her lips made for a more interesting shot or not.

      At this point in time, I was still so new to animal photography that I really needed to practice it all. Being a landscape photographer rather than a people photographer meant I was at a disadvantage. I didn’t know what lighting, angles, positions looked best, how much to zoom in, where it was ok to cut off body parts and where it wasn’t, how to best capture emotion or behavior, any of it. Not to mention practicing manual focus and exposure in a faster situation than was usually necessary of a landscape. Additionally, I was limited because of this being a zoo. If I zoomed out too much to show more of the body or environment, you might start to see the fencing due to the larger depth-of-field at wider focal lengths. Or, you might see some of the non-natural features inside the enclosure – poles, platforms, toys, etc.

This is the start of a sequence where she decided to play with the log above her. It was really cute and fun to watch, but I wasn't sure which, if any, photos best conveyed the moment, the behavior, and the expression on her face.

Second photo in the sequence, she's now hanging somewhat from the branch.

Third photo in the sequence, she's in almost an identical position but now supporting herself with that front paw.

Fourth photo in the sequence, she's starting to turn herself upside down. I switched to a vertical orientation to see if that worked better.

Last photo in the sequence, she decided not to go upside down after all. I'm not sure any of them work, but I suspect this one is the most anti-climatic and works the least of them.

      It made it all very difficult but worthwhile. I was just so happy to see her so close, moving about, having the chance to get good photos (hopefully). I was still feeling some regret over my lack of photos of the Snow Leopards in India, and how tiny and out of focus they’d been in the ones other people took of them with my camera. This opportunity would sort of make up for that.

      The other Snow Leopard soon came down as well. They became playful, ambushing each other, and generally just getting along and having fun. Then, they both decided play time was over and climbed back up to the top of the rocks, perched there above the cliff face, surveying their world. It wasn’t long before they were both curled up and falling asleep once more.

One of the Snow Leopards heading back up to the top of the cliff for a nap after playtime.

I really love this photo even though the fence is so clearly visible and it's too dark. I love the expression on the Snow Leopard's face and really felt like he was looking right into my soul when I took the picture.

      I left them to their nap and went to explore the rest of the zoo. I spent some time photographing the River Otters and Flamingos before visiting some other large cats. First, there was the Jaguar. He was behind glass, rather than a chain-link fence. It was more difficult to get photos in some ways due to the scratches and dirtiness of the glass combined with reflections. I had to be very close and in just the right position so none of those things would affect my images. His enclosure was also very small, so once he moved away from the glass, the fence in back became visible in all the shots.

A North American River Otter swimming towards me to take a look at me and my gear.

The same otter swimming past. They were quite fast, so I was happy to manage to get any photos of them at all.

Just a few of the many birds that made up the flock of Caribbean Flamingos at the zoo. There really was no way to isolate any of them, so I decided to see if I could get any compelling shots within the chaos. The interaction between the two flamingos at the front was an interesting moment.

The Jaguar was lying comfortably on a large flat rock right by the glass at the front of his enclosure. He was so close that I actually couldn't fit his entire body in the frame.

I liked this portrait of the Jaguar, though it would have been better if I were at eye level instead of looking down at him. Unfortunately, when I tried that, the reflections in the glass ruined the shot.

After a bit, he got up and moved, and I was able to get this shot of him at eye level without the reflections showing in the glass. If his ears had been pointed forward instead of turned to the side listening to other things, it would have been even more compelling, in my opinion, but I still really like this one.

The Jaguar was making a characteristic call that was interesting behavior to see, but unfortunately, he was further back into the enclosure so the fence in the background became clearly visible.

      Next, I was on to the Mountain Lion. Like with the Jaguar, the viewing area was using glass instead of chain-link fencing. The Cougar was lying down on a platform a bit further back. The glass was at an odd angle, so I had not only the fence in the background of most of the shots, but also a reflection of the sky in the glass in the foreground. The photos were definitely not ideal, but they still gave me practice with focusing, exposure, and composition. It was definitely worthwhile taking photos, even knowing none of them would be fantastic.

Looking closely at the top left corner of the frame, the chain-link fence and the white corner post are both visible, though they aren't terribly distracting.

I liked this portrait of the Cougar, but the reflection in the glass and the chain-link fence were both clearly visible.

This was the best photo I could get where it wasn't immediately apparent that the enclosure was also in the frame, though the white line on the left is the corner fence post.

      After taking a quick peek at the bears and some of the different birds of prey, I spent some time with the Arctic Foxes. Only one of them was out, curled up on a rock. The other was in their den. The one who was out was alert, watching me and occasionally looking around at other animals that caught his attention. I didn’t stay long with him, wanting to let him rest. He was quite close to the walkway, and I felt a little too much like I was disturbing him.

The Peregrine Falcon surveying its domain. I hadn't noticed at the time, but looking at the photos now, it appears this falcon had sustained some damage to his beak, which might be why he was in the zoo to begin with. (I don't actually know if this is a male or female.)

This was a Great Horned Owl looking up at something that caught his eye. It was nice to see him awake and alert. (Again, I'm not sure if this was a male or female.)

You can't see it in this photo, but one of his eyes has been damaged. If it weren't for that injury, it wouldn't be legal to have a Bald Eagle at the zoo.

One of the Arctic Foxes keeping a careful watch on me. He was absolutely beautiful, and I would have loved to get photos of him in the snow.

      I made it back to the Snow Leopard enclosure an hour after leaving it. By this point, it was just about 4pm, and the sun would be setting shortly. The cats were out and about once more, but I was only able to stay a couple of minutes. I took what photos I could, then said my goodbyes. I took a few more photos of the foxes on my way back through. The second one had appeared, and the first was more alert. Likely, it was approaching feeding time, so all the animals were becoming more active.

One of the Snow Leopards sitting majestically looking out at the world. If not for the bit of fencing along the top, this would be a really great photo. I still love it, though.

One of the Snow Leopards yawning. I thought this was just a funny portrait. Many photos that you see if big cats snarling are actually of them yawning, so I was happy to catch a more goofy version so it wouldn't be mistaken for an angry snarl.

This was a nice one showing more of the environment and the body, even some of the tail. It felt more like what you might see in the wild with the Snow Leopard a bit smaller in the frame but still managing to not show any of the enclosure.

This was another nice portrait of the Snow Leopard with an inquisitive look on his face.

      I was back at my jeep, ready for the two-hour drive home a few minutes later. Looking back at the photos now, it’s painfully obvious how inadequate that camera was and how poor quality those images were. I was using my Pentax K-7. It’s a great camera, and still the one I use for the majority of my landscape images. However, it’s an old camera in the digital world. It came out in 2009 and only had the same ISO capabilities you could have with film – 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. This meant it didn’t have great low-light performance. It was a dull overcast winter’s afternoon that day, so the light had already been pretty dim. Then, many of the animal enclosures were even darker with trees, buildings, or a rock cliff blocking out the light. I was also using a long lens that wasn’t particularly fast, so I was maxed out at 3200 ISO and still struggling to get enough light to properly expose the images.

      Many of the shots are underexposed. Many are blurry, either due to missed focus, a soft lens, or too slow a shutter speed. Almost all are very grainy. Yet, I value each and every one of those photographs. They all provided great learning experiences and better understanding of wildlife photography. They helped me understand the technical aspects, learn the limitations of the equipment, and start to develop my creative eye when photographing animals. And, above all else, they’re wonderful memories of a great day out at a zoo where conservation is one of the highest priorities.

This photo is technically underexposed, but I still really like how the otter looks. If the eye were a tad brighter, that would have been better, but I was already at the max for exposure and couldn't have gotten any more without blurring it entirely.

This photo is a little brighter because I tried to reduce the shutter speed, but it resulted in a technically blurry photo from the otter moving faster than the shutter speed could compensate for.

Since the owl was looking out past me instead of up into the sky, making both eyes visible, it could have been the better photo if not for the fact that it was a bit blurry. 

This photo of the fox had a really nice pose, and I really love it. Unfortunately, it was a bit underexposed, making it almost impossible to see those beautiful golden eyes.

One of the Snow Leopards getting ready to pounce on the other one. This photo is a tad underexposed and would have been so much better if I'd been able to increase the ISO to let a little more light into the camera.

      I will never regret going to Stone Zoo that day and getting the photos I did. My ticket purchases contributed directly to help preserve all of those amazing species. I’ve returned many times since, sometimes solely for Snow Leopards, sometimes for other animals. Since that first visit, the older male was moved to a new zoo, and a young male was brought in. Stone Zoo is part of a breeding program as part of the conservation efforts for Snow Leopards. They hadn’t had any luck and thought it likely due to some of his health issues. After bringing in the new male, the pair successfully mated. Two female cubs were born in May of 2018, but that is a story for another day.