WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER AT CHESTER ZOO

A wedding photographer at Chester Zoo! My wife and I have taken my son to Chester Zoo several times now, but this was the first time he’d really engaged with the animals, pointing every time he saw something new. We have a season pass which is really handy as we can call in for just a few hours and work our visits round our son’s midday naps without any pressure to see everything in one day.

Visiting the zoo is a great experience for my son. He’s able to see animals he’s only seen before on TV, which is particularly good as he’s only 13 months old. It’s also great for my wife. She’s had an interest in biology and zoology for years and is a huge fan of the great Sir David Attenborough (aren’t we all?). She’s also an avid watcher of Secret Life of the Zoo!

The last time we went to the zoo I was armed just one camera and one 35mm prime lens. By the time we reached Chester my son was fast asleep. Rather than wake him up, we found a car park near my old family home (yes, I grew up in Chester) in which to wait before he woke up. My wife promptly fell asleep – parenthood is tiring you know – so I wandered off to the shops then took a few photos.

After he woke up, we carried on to the zoo. My son first had a stare down with a Guatemalan Cow of Paradise then was in awe of the giraffes. He’s never been so close to an animal so big! We then followed a family of ducks around and then had a quick gawp at the penguins. The Rhinos are always impressive and one baby rhino appeared to enjoying a doze under a sunbeam, just like a cat. The monkeys were fun as usual, and a large Orangatan came right up close to the window. He stared right into my son’s eyes and my son tried to touch his face, putting his hand to the window. Alas, I couldn’t get a photo of it since I was holding him in my arms. The Meerkats ran around a lot making my son look from side to side, and I tried – and failed – to take a photo of a sunbear who kept sticking his head in a hole in the wall of his enclosure every time I tried to take a shot.

It seems the animals weren’t the only things that caught my son’s eye. As usual he did a fair amount of people watching, and again, as usual, tried to stick his fingers up his mum’s nose. I promise, he hasn’t learned that from me.