All The Blue Angels In A Row

All The Blue Angels In A Row, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

Right after they returned back to Pearson from their last appearance at the airshow.

Serbian Dancers In Mid-Air

Serbian Dancers In Mid-Air, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

Yep. Serbs can fly. How do you think my wife came down from heaven? (haha!)

Inside A Snowbird

Inside A Snowbird, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

A Snowbird pilot's P.O.V.

A Snowbirds Loop

A Snowbirds Loop, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

I was lucky enough to watch the airshow from the top of a condo building overlooking Lake Ontario this year. The jets were at eye level!

Green, Yellow, and Blue

Green, Yellow, and Blue, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

The Serbian landscape.

Scared Crows

Scared Crows, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

Made in Serbia, July 2008.

Canadiana

Canadiana, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

'Nuff said.

Cougar!

Cougar!, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

In my head, the title of this photo is being yelled by Tom Cruise as he yells at his wing man, "Cougar". He's holding on too tight. He's lost the edge.

A Polar Bear, Under Water

A Polar Bear, Under Water, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

This is either Nikita or Aurora, one of the female polar bears at the Toronto Zoo.

Giraffe Head

Giraffe Head, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

The closest I've been to a giraffe at the zoo so far.

Seagull Pyramid

Seagull Pyramid, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

In keeping with the Seagull theme from my previous post, here's another guy perched atop a hut in the African pavilion at the Toronto Zoo.

The Goodfeathers

The Goodfeathers, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

So, if you've ever seen the old cartoon "Animaniacs", you might remember "The Goodfeathers". Despite being seagulls, these guys reminded me of them.

The Goodfeathers

The Goodfeathers, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

So, if you've ever seen the old cartoon "Animaniacs", you might remember "The Goodfeathers". Despite being seagulls, these guys reminded me of them.

Sleeping Cheetahs

Sleeping Cheetahs, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

On this, the first day of school, I look at these two with such envy.

Stingray Bay

Stingray Bay, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

One of the stingrays swimming around. They felt a lot tougher then I thought (for some reason I was expecting their wings to be squishier for lack of a better word).

Grizzley

Grizzley, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

The good ol' Grizzly at the Toronto Zoo.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

I tried photographing these guys back in May of 2008, but it was so dark in there that all the images came out soft. I decided to bite the bullet and increase the ISO this time (I think this was shot at ISO 1600), and that helped a lot. I was worried about noise, but in retrospect the dark background really works to minimalize it. Plus, my d40x is an amazing camera and really controls noise well even at high ISO's.

Inukshuk

Inukshuk, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

The first time I saw Inukshuk was back in 2003 when he was about 6 months old. His mother had been killed up in Churchill, Manitoba, and the Toronto Zoo rescued him. He used to play with a bucket and a giant barrel, pushing it up a wall or jumping up and down on it with his front legs. After a few months, he was shipped off to another zoo which really bummed me out. But, now with the new polar bear enclosure, he's back and much bigger! I love Inukshuk because his facial features are very distinct, and one can certainly tell him apart from the other bears. Welcome back, Inukshuk!

Snake!

Snake!, originally uploaded by Christian Stepien.com.

We went to the zoo yesterday, and of course the ol' Nikon came along. I'm not too fond of snakes, but this guy was awesome. Expect more animal shots in the days to come! And if you like these, check www.thedagobahproject.com for my older zoo pictures (May of 2008).