Wildlife Safari, Winston Oregon

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JaniceL

JaniceL

Super Moderator
Staff member
Nina and I did a little road trip and headed to the Wildlife Safari, in Winston, Oregon. I haven't been there since it first opened it's gates. It has gone a long way since then.

Here are a few of my favorite shots.

One of the challenges of shooting there is that sometimes you have a cyclone fence between you and the critters. It shows in this one, but the long lens and shallow DOF helps some.
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A case of bed head.
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An East African Crane.
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Lastly, my personal favorite.
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Very interesting place to visit. I like the shot of the bear too its a keeper. And the lion photo is great considering the heavy fencing. Nice shots.

Its great that you feel almost like you're on a safari, then you just get back on I-5 when you're done.
 
JDueckPhoto said:
Very interesting place to visit. I like the shot of the bear too its a keeper. And the lion photo is great considering the heavy fencing. Nice shots.

Its great that you feel almost like you're on a safari, then you just get back on I-5 when you're done.
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Safari on a budget :D
 


Looks like a nice fun day to visit and get some pictures. I've never stopped there, always kept on going down the freeway when I came to that exit. One of these days...
 
Great shots. The lion is amazing, if you hadn't said anything about the fence, I probabley wouldn't have noticed. The bear made me laugh out loud, too cute.
 
Tony S said:
Looks like a nice fun day to visit and get some pictures. I've never stopped there, always kept on going down the freeway when I came to that exit. One of these days...
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You can do the drive through twice. It's nice when two can drive so you can switch seats in the car. It's not far from the freeway.
 
These are all great shots, especially that bear - looks like it is grinning! You're getting pretty good with that long lens. I'm guessing you were shooting from the car. Did you have something to support the camera on the car window?

I've only been there once - it was mid afternoon on a hot summer day, and the animals were just about all out of sight. I've been told that you get much better results in early morning or evening, or around feeding time.
 
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neat shots, Janice! i'd never have noticed the fence in #1 if you hadn't mentioned it... it's really rather difficult to see. love that one and the bear, who looks immensely pleased with himself...

i'm considering retiring in southern Oregon, and i expect that spot will become a "target-rich environment" for me. i've never been to the safari park, though i did drive through Winston once (might be a great place to open my gallery, since my given name is Winston! LOL!), and picked up a brochure for the place on the way through town. can you get out and take shots from the roadside, or do you have to stay in the car?
 


Mike-PDX said:
These are all great shots, especially that bear - looks like it is grinning! You're getting pretty good with that long lens. I'm guessing you were shooting from the car. Did you have something to support the camera on the car window?

I've only been there once - it was mid afternoon on a hot summer day, and the animals were just about all out of sight. I've been told that you get much better results in early morning or evening, or around feeding time.
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No I supported it by hand. I found that resting the lens or my elbows on the door picked up the vibration from the truck.

I've found that shooting in the morning or evening has always been better for me when shooting birds or just observing. These were an exception because it was midday when we were there, but not hot. But as the day progressed many that had shade did find their way there.
 
squirl033 said:
neat shots, Janice! i'd never have noticed the fence in #1 if you hadn't mentioned it... it's really rather difficult to see. love that one and the bear, who looks immensely pleased with himself...

i'm considering retiring in southern Oregon, and i expect that spot will become a "target-rich environment" for me. i've never been to the safari park, though i did drive through Winston once (might be a great place to open my gallery, since my given name is Winston! LOL!), and picked up a brochure for the place on the way through town. can you get out and take shots from the roadside, or do you have to stay in the car?
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Wow, they named a town for you! :D :rolleyes:

Southern Oregon is an unexplored area for me. I like the S. Oregon Coast and I agree that whole area has a lot of potential. You have to stay in your car. The bears are kept from you only by an electric fence and the rest of the critters have horns. Although they have put some protective measures into place on the pointier ones.

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Some PS required. ;)

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shame you have to stay in the car, but i suppose it is for your own - and possibly the animals' - good... nonetheless, it looks like you can get some pretty close shots even with that restriction in place.

that part of the country seems very promising to me as well... the south central Oregon coast is fabulous, and Crater Lake is just a couple of hours away. Shasta, the Redwoods, even Big Sur are reasonable drives if you have a weekend to spare... and since i'll be retired when i move there (assuming i do), i'll have all the time in the world! ;)

i'm not certain that's gonna be my destination, but the weather is better than Seattle (drier and warmer), it's cheaper to live there, and the photo ops are excellent. what's not to like? LOL!
 
Love the bear shot, that's great!

We visited there years ago, and it is quite nice. I still felt sorry for a few of the animals, but most of them had lots of room to roam and seemed well cared for.

As with pretty much all animals, be it a safari park, zoo, or in the wild, morning and evening are often the best time. If you can, get there early or stay late. You'll probably see more activity, the light is better, and as an added benefit, the crowds will usually be smaller too.

I'd visit this place a lot more often if it wasn't so dang far away from Seattle!
 
It is far from Seattle and a bit from PDX too. Although for those that live in Southern Oregon we are a bit far from them too.

I feel sorry for most animals in zoos and game parks. It's not a natural environment. Overall they do have room to roam. I wonder at times about their level of protection from the elements in winter, especially those that are from warmer climates. This area can still get snow and cold weather.
 
Janice, I would tend to agree, but at least in that Safari Park they have a lot of space to roam and explore. While it's not a natural way of life for them, I think it's probably pretty good, they're well fed, cared for, protected from predators (at least for the most part) and generally live in good conditions.

Not sure about the cold and snow, though I do know that most animals will acclimatize to the conditions they're in, as long as they're there on a routine basis. For example, dogs do well both indoors and outdoors, but you wouldn't want to suddenly put the indoor dog out in the snow.
 
These are great, thanks so much for posting them! I have always wanted to go there and still haven't made it. Every time I'm down in that area it's for something specific and I just don't have the time to stop by. I will be driving by there the end of June but again, doubt I will have time to stop unfortunately. What lens were you using? Is my 80-200 with a 1.4 TC long enough to make a go of it there?
 
BobH said:
Janice, I would tend to agree, but at least in that Safari Park they have a lot of space to roam and explore. While it's not a natural way of life for them, I think it's probably pretty good, they're well fed, cared for, protected from predators (at least for the most part) and generally live in good conditions.

Not sure about the cold and snow, though I do know that most animals will acclimatize to the conditions they're in, as long as they're there on a routine basis. For example, dogs do well both indoors and outdoors, but you wouldn't want to suddenly put the indoor dog out in the snow.
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You are right about having space to roam and there could be worse fates, especially if an animal was from an already captive animal. And most do get acclimatized. They probably won't have any there that don't do well.
 
Julie said:
These are great, thanks so much for posting them! I have always wanted to go there and still haven't made it. Every time I'm down in that area it's for something specific and I just don't have the time to stop by. I will be driving by there the end of June but again, doubt I will have time to stop unfortunately. What lens were you using? Is my 80-200 with a 1.4 TC long enough to make a go of it there?
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Perfect combo. It's a drive through and the animals are very comfortable with the cars. Try to be there on a cool day or early in the morning when the animals will be out in the open and close to the road. They close at 5:00 (unless there summer hours are different) so evening is out. If they seek shelter in the shade then they may be out of range and too close to the fences.
 


Thanks for sharing. We were just there last week! It's about an hour drive north of home and we have never stopped by. Fun place.
 
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