Featured Image of the Week – 9/8/2014


“A Tiger in the Rain”

This week’s featured image of the week is a shot from a while back that I took of a Sumatran Tiger at the National Zoo (in Washington, DC). The reason I chose this shot for my featured image this week is because I just learned that this shot will be one of the featured images in the Plus One Collection Volume III.

Getting the Shot

One question I get asked a lot is:

“Why is that tiger standing in the rain like that?”

The answer is actually much simpler than people might think. The tiger in my featured image is a female named “Damai” and she recently had two young cubs (a girl named “Sukacita” and a boy named “Bandar”).

On this day the weather was really lousy and when it wasn’t raining the two young cubs were playing in their outdoor enclosure. When it started to rain they took cover in one of the many special shelters in their enclosure. Here’s one of the two cubs waiting out the rain storm:

At one point the rain started to really come down and the two cubs took shelter in different locations. Damai, being the good mother tiger, paced between the two cubs and called out to them with a mighty roar to make sure they were safe. Whenever Damai roared the two little cubs answered. This went on until the rain ended and everyone could get together again.

Dealing with the rain

It’s not uncommon to see everyone running for cover when the rain starts coming down and that’s especially true when photography gear is involved. I’ve always been the one guy that breaks out some foul weather gear to protect me and my equipment because sometimes you’ll capture a shot that everyone else is going to miss. That was the case on this day.

Here’s a look at me just minutes before I snapped the shutter to capture my shot and you can see how I’ve covered myself, my camera and even my backpack:

Foul weather gear is something that goes everywhere my camera goes. If the rain starts to come down you’ll probably see me standing by myself (getting all kinds of wet) in an attempt to get the shot that everyone else misses…

The Plus One Collection

Three years ago a man named Ivan Makarov (an amazing photographer) decided to see if he could mobilize the incredible community of photographers on Google Plus for a great cause. His project came together to help raise money for a really good cause.

In the first year of the Plus One Collection, top photographers submitted one of their best images to be published in a book with all of the proceeds being donated to charity. I wasn’t part of that first year but every year since I’ve submitted one of my images.

Last year one of my images was selected and I couldn’t have been prouder. Here’s a look at last years hard cover book open to the page with my image featured (on the left):

I was thrilled to find out last week that the image I submitted for this year was selected to be included in the Plus One Collection Volume III. My Sumatran Tiger shot will be seen by countless people and it will help raise money for a little girl named Eliza O’Neill who suffers from a degenerative genetic disease called Sanfilippo syndrome.

For photographers like me it’s super important for my work to be about more than just making money. Whenever an image I create can be used for some serious good I jump at the opportunity and being part of the Plus One collection is super important to me.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Plus One Collection or ordering your own copy of the incredible photography book they’re putting together be sure to stop by this website and please donate what you can to help this special little girl.


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