The past few weekends we’ve been on a kick of taking animal photo workshops with Arizona Highways Photography Workshops.  Arizona Highways is a regional magazine known for stunning photographs of the southwest, and the workshops are an associated organization.  The workshops cover quite a range of subjects from technical “how to” courses to multi day photo trips.  I’m somewhat ambivalent about photographing animals in a captive environment.  On one hand it seems kind of like cheating, but from a realistic standpoint some of these animals are either rare enough or so remote in the wild that a trip to their natural habitat is plainly outside our means.  One thing that doesn’t bother me, however, is the care and condition of these animals.  Having met and observed some handlers and trainers, I’m comfortable with the care and effort made to keep the animals healthy and engaged.  I realize that not every place operates to that high a standard, that’s why some research is helpful before deciding where you want to shoot.

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