Learning From an Early Age

As a kid I was dragged from museum to museum both in school and by my parents. Even though I wouldn't have visited those places by myself, I actually liked it. Kids are naturally curious and observant, so I think it's really good that parents take their kids for a quick visit, as long as they learn them how to behave in such a place at the same time.

Simple

When photographing art I do like to keep the compositions simple, like this one from the national Museum of Art in Copenhagen. I think they make much stronger photos than when there's too many details in the frame.

Too many paintings?

At the National Museum of Art in Copenhagen they do have a lot of paintings and they would like to show as many as possibly. This, however, seems a bit extreme to me; hundreds of paintings on every wall in a couple of big showrooms. It makes it kind of hard to focus on one single painting, but that might be the idea behind this.

Shadow Play

Look closely at this photo from Copenhagen's National Museum of Art and you might notice something odd about the shadow behind this sculpture. It is in fact a shadow of another sculpture standing beside it.

The Lady with the Hat

Another photo from the National Museum of Art (Statens Museum for Kunst) in Copenhagen. I do like to photograph sculptures as they are much more patient with my fussing with the camera than most other models:-)

Photography allowed

Many museums don't allow photography, especially the art museums. But some of the big ones in Copenhagen actually do, like the National Museum of Art (Statens Museum for Kunst) where it's not frowned upon, as long as you don't use flash or tripods. Even though photos here are photos of other peoples art, you have the opportunity to make some interesting compositions like this combination of sculpture and painting. The museums, castles, churches and other interesting places in and near Copenhagen and their art, their architecture and the people there will be my theme for the next couple of weeks, though I might digress from time to time.

A Rare Hare

In Denmark the hare is almost extinct many areas, but I managed to capture this one enjoying the spring not far from yesterdays farm.

Dancing cows

Last Sunday I went with friends to a special occasion; the first day on grass for a stable full of cows. These so-called eco-cows (might be shortened to e-cows:-)) enjoyed to be on grass after a winter in a stable. But they might have thought this a bit overwhelming as 10.000 people (I kid you not!) was there to see them dance in their field. I must admit that I too was a bit surprised at this turn-out, but it was fun anyway. You can see more of the photos from this day on http://picasaweb.google.dk/christopher.leth/DancingCowsAndOtherDelights#

Furball

I've moaned about how it can be difficult to photograph red squirrels, but at my Saturday walk through the nearby park two of the locals did give me more than plenty opportunity to get some nice shots of them.

Keeping out of troubles

After the female kestrel had called it a day after the fight with the crows at Tipperne, she needed a rest in some bushes nearby. And who was also hiding out of sight of the crows? The male kestrel of course. Being wise he decided to keep a low profile until all was quiet again. After having relocated to a higher branch, he was quite relaxed as he let me get really close, maybe within 10 m, before he had had enough of the crazy photographer and flew away. The last of the photos is un-cropped and taken with my 500mm lens at its longest focus length.

The fight for the sky

I've told you before of the park near my home, the Valbyparken. This is often a good place to see some wildlife in the city and I often take a stroll there in the mornings in the weekends. Last Saturday morning was one of those days and as I crossed Tipperne, as the wild area furthest away is called, I saw this; a female kestrel being chased away by crows. She quite clearly annoyed them and chose to get out of Dodge, before they could peck her. Tomorrow I'll show who was hiding behind the bushes nearby.

Keeping a Distance

The black-headed gull here did like the polar bear's treat laid out on the cliffs, but it kept its distance before it became dinner itself.

Watch out for the bears

Some of the birds of Copenhagen enjoy the Zoo as a place to get some extra food. This hooded crow does seem to tempt fate a bit, though, as the background is one hungry polar bear. So it kept one eye on the bear and one on the food, and before it became dinner it took to the air.

No steak today

The polar bears are omnivorous so this watermelon was a treat though i bet they would have preferred a bloody steak instead. The Copenhagen Zoo have a policy that their animals should work for their food instead of getting it on a silver platter so to speak, so it's often hidden in small portions around their enclosure.

The Bear Family

The two brown bear cubs are fast growing into adults. Here they are posing with their mother.

Mine!

The other bird at the bird of prey show in Copenhagen Zoo was this Harris Hawk. When taking some of the prey from the falconers it showed how possessive theses birds can be in regard to their food. It did take some gentle persuasion to get it to give up the plastic lure in exchange for some real meat.

Flying low

The owl from yesterday did perform well for the camera at the birds of prey show. This time it seems to be headed for yours truly. It missed by a wide margin; there were even room for a telephone book between us.

Duck! No, Owl!

I've told you about this event before, the birds of prey show at the Copenhagen Zoo. Even though I've seen it a couple of times before, it still amaze me that they can get the birds to perform like this on command. Here an owl is sent over the heads of the spectators to the falconer behind them.

Owl

The Lapland Owl or Great Grey Owl has the most fantastic eyes, yellow, staring and mesmerising. It can be quite hard to break eye-contact with this one.

Curious?

The stork on today's photo seems to look at me as if it's curious. As a matter of fact it was looking downwards after food, and I was just lucky to capture this funny expression.

Head of a Rhea

This might look like an ostrich, but it is in fact a rhea from South America. The one here were very interested in my camera, but I managed to keep it out of reach of the beak.

Who's behind bars?

Sometimes it can be difficult to see who is actually behind bars. The lama here is staring at some small intruders in it's yard. It wasn't some of the regular visitors to the Copenhagen Zoo that had climbed the fence, but some kids with a guide from the zoo, that got to feed the lamas. I wonder if they do the same with the lions?

A lot of feathers

This bird did have a lot of feathers on the head. It's a red-legged seriema from the Copenhagen Zoo.

Pulling your weight

These tiger cubs need some serious disciplining from time to time. Here the father decided to be rough on the son by standing on him with the full weight of a grown male tiger.

Jumping tiger cub

The tiger cubs in the Copenhagen Zoo sure do get their exercise. I caught this one as it was chasing one of the other cubs in big jumps.

Be serious

It's a mother's first obligation to teach the young ones how to behave in the real world. For the tigers that mean that they have to learn how to hunt. But when the lessons drag on and on and on, even the best behaved might get sidetracked. This seems to be the case with this moment, where the cub seems more interested in ambushing the mother rather than the prey, which BTW was the father.

Portrait of a penguin

The penguins are ready for a quick portrait at any time.

A high-speed performance

The sea lions of Copenhagen Zoo seems to like the attention they get from the spectators, as they (the sea lions, that is) play in their basin. This one made sure that I got it from the right angle by swimming at high speed right at me, before diving again.

The art of relaxation

The musk ox seems to master the art of relaxation here in the Copenhagen Zoo.

Looking

This seal did give me a short glance, when it was playing in the basin with it's mates.