at marc poljak photography, we usually don't play favorites, about anything. ask my wife. however, the above photograph may be the most favorite i've shot up to this point. taken in, i think, 2006 or 2007, this is from a day at the pittsburgh zoo (i can't afford a trip to africa and national geographic still has not beaten a path to my door). i'm fairly certain it was early spring, somewhat cold and very few people there that day. if memory serves me correct, i sat down in front of the glass windows facing the outside enclosure of the lowland gorilla troupe. i was taking photos off and on for a couple of years - primarily of this fellow here. this gentlemen died not long after so my ongoing series came to an end. i think i was sitting there for a couple of hours waiting for something to happen. at some point, he came over to where i was sitting, sat down, with his back to me, and every now and then would peek around the corner at me. very casually. not like some kind of game or anything you see. just sitting a spell and observing. kind of like what i was doing. i assume that of course though i've no real understanding of what he was up to. only he does. maybe he was looking at someone behind me or his own reflection. or maybe he was wondering how to steal my camera and trade it for a bushel of mixed salad greens. i am pretty certain that they're much more intelligent than most people assume. anyway, this went on for maybe 30 minutes or so. i got a about a dozen frames. this was the best. i believe that i shot this digitally with a 50mm lens.
