Focusing in on Dr. Doolittle

A few weeks ago, before the winter weather returned, I broke out the camera and headed off to the Calgary Zoo.  Where else can you find people, plants, animals, landscapes and dinosaurs in one place?  Well, I didn't really take any shots of people or dinosaurs, and no landscapes caught my attention, so I ended up with some shots of wild and plant life.

My goal with these photos was to "create the picture" in my mind before pressing the shutter release.  Trying to capture the subject in interesting poses without having a distracting background.  A lot of things to think about, but it seems to be one of those unwritten essential rules.  It probably IS written, but I haven't read far enough along to find that chapter yet!  These are taken with a Canon 40d with a 70-33mm telephoto lens.