Zoo Photos

This is my portrait. This was the closest I could get with my 50mm (or 75mm w/ x1.5 crop factor..if you want to get specific) I liked how he was looking straight at it, and the fact that he was semi mooning me with his back turned at an interesting angle gave this photo a lot of impact.
This was my second choice. I liked how the water created a pathway and a line to the rest of the environment. It looks balanced with the birds in the foreground and some emphasis on the background. I liked how this photo turned out despite the fact that the birds have big pimples on their beaks.

This was my 1st choice. While disregarding the order that I put them in, I liked this one better than the first one because the ripples gave the photo some radial balance, although it's a bit off to the side because I framed it that way. I really like how the black and white contrast with the murky (gross) water.

This was my pop art. I liked how the leaves turned out when I put the paint brush strokes(?) filter on it. I like the tree in the background which sort of complements the giraffe and the spots on the giraffe just look awesome.

This is my environmental photo, because it reminds me of a "find Waldo" kind of thing in a "find the hungry lion before it finds you" type of deal. The lion is a powerful symbol, and minimizing it even to the degree that I did isn't enough to overbalance the environment with the subject. I think the lion still looks powerful and balances out the entire photo.