In a recent blog entry, I wrote about my experience photographing the young animals at the Babyland exhibits inside of Bear Country, USA in Rapid City, South Dakota.

On the day of my visit, the conditions were ideal for photography. The weather was pleasant--it was warm and there was very little wind. The light was nice--just enough cloud cover to diffuse the light much of the time. The young animals were active. There were no obstructions (i.e., cages, bars, glass) between the visitors and the animals. And, there were very few visitors.

I thought that afternoon at Bear Country, USA provided one of the best photo shoots of animals that I've had in quite some time. Click here to view some of the animal portraits that I captured that day. Here are a few of my favorites:

Red FoxRed fox (Vulpes vulpes) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

BobcatBobcat (Lynx rufus) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

Timber wolfTimber wolf (Canus lupis) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

While I was shooting, one man approached me and started talking about photography. We were talking about what an outstanding opportunity it was to have access to photographing these young animals in that environment. Yet, he was far more interested in the gear than the pictures.

Most of his questions centered around my gear. He kept making comparisons between his Canon gear and my Nikon gear. Honestly, I don't find discussions about the brands to be very interesting as I know that outstanding images can be captured using either brand. The differences between these two large companies is negligible in my mind. For a while, Nikon has a slight advantage in certain areas before Canon recaptures the lead. Then, Nikon leapfrogs ahead again--and so forth. I would recommend going with one of the two brands and just sticking with it.

The most shocking think to me was that he was capturing the pictures of the animals with his iPhone. He left his top end Canon gear in the car because he didn't feel like carrying it through the park! 

What good is it to own high quality gear if you aren't going to take pictures with it?