Lions, Tigers, & Bears. Oh my, a day at the zoo
The other day, my wife and I, took my son to the zoo. This great family time and a perfect opportunity to take the camera out and capture some photography of animals I do not normally get to shoot. Its kind of like a safari with out the plane ride and thousands of dollars spent.
The zoo is a hard place to shoot. The animals are not always active. The zoo is generally not open during the time that light is ideal for photography. The sun is high in the sky and the light is very harsh. If your lucky and go on an overcast day you can get some softer light.
Harsh light can create some dramatic black and white photos. I have learned when shooting in harsh light make sure they are either lit up with up completely without any shadows falling on the subject and with the sun toward your back. This keeps the subject lit up fairly evenly with out extreme dark spots from the extreme dynamic range of light. Or make sure your subject is completely in shadow. If the subject is completely in shadow then try to limit the amount in the background of the image that is unshadowed. If the subject is properly exposed and there is an area behind the subject that has direct sunlight on it usually creates some very unsettling blown out areas of the photo.
These are not the know all rules. I have broken them from time to time and turned them into decent photos. Sometimes you can use the harsh lighting to your advantage. That's the great thing about photography. Rules are made to be broken. Sometimes the harsh light can create a very dramatic photo. You just have to be patient and know how to read the light and sometimes just lucky.
On of the nice things about shooting photography in the digital age is it cant hurt to snap another photo. If I see an animal interacting which is usually a big thing. Alot of times I will shoot just to capture the moment. Ill take the photo back to light room on my computer and decide then whether I want to do anything with it or not. Now over time I have managed to make my percentage of keeper or usable photos higher. But I still go on shoots and strike out from time to time.
Sometimes it takes waiting a few mins at an enclosure. Its nice taking my son because we can stop and look at the animals and point them out. All the while I can wait for a moment where the animals do something. Zoo animals are not always the most active animals. So sit back and see if they do anything interesting. And if they are not doing anything interesting. Take a photo of them sleeping or laying around and move on to the next exhibit.
Also pay attention to the gardens at the zoo. There are good opportunities for some macro shots of flowers and smaller creatures of nature. We went through the butterfly garden and let me tell you those little guys a hard to get in a frame. They rarely stay on the same leaf for any length of time. But its a fun time and I found live view to be helpful to hold the camera up and take the photo instead of using the view finder, I was also carrying my son at the same time.
Anyways, the zoo was a good ole fun. We spent some good family time together. Seen some animals, seen my son smile and have a great time, got some steps in, and captures a few good photos of us and the animals at the zoo.
