Taking photos at a zoo

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Pinaki - 14 Jun 2007 17:31 GMT

We'll be taking our daughter to the zoo (in Albuquerque). I want to
take photos of the animals, but also want to include her in at least
some of the photos. It won't help that the sun will be blazing. So,
what
are some good rules to follow? Any tips would be graetly appreciated.
Will a flash help?

Thanks,
Pinaki.

Equipment: Pentax *istDL, 18-55 zoom and 50/1.7
Photography skills: sucks :-(

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Draco - 14 Jun 2007 19:21 GMT

> We'll be taking our daughter to the zoo (in Albuquerque). I want to
> take photos of the animals, but also want to include her in at least
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Equipment: Pentax *istDL, 18-55 zoom and 50/1.7
> Photography skills: sucks :-(

Put the camera on auto and let the force take you. Sorry about the
StarWars theme there. Some of the best time to shoot the animals is
early morning or early evening. At these times they are more active
and will produce better images.
Having the camera on auto with the flash will allow you to capture
your daughter in front of the animal habitat. Have the sun behind you
or directly behind the cage. Set the camera for portrait mode and
shoot away. Or set it to lanscape mode for greater DOF. Or just leave
it on Program with the flash turned to always on and let the camera
judge the proper exposure.
Until you have learned more of what you can and can not do with your
camera, this is what I have to offer you. Keep shooting. Keep track,
when you can, of what the settings are on the camera. Keep shooting.
Take a lesson from your community college. Keep shooting.

Good luck and keep shooting.

Draco

Getting even isn't good enough.

Doing better does.

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Cisco Kid - 15 Jun 2007 13:21 GMT

As for time of day, early and late are best for color saturation -
midday shots can look bland.

As for the sun - doubt you'll be able to pick and choose the position
of the shot since the cages\pens are fixed - but try to have it 90
degrees off to either side. Directly behind will be good if you can
shoot at dusk or dawn. If it's behind your daughter and the
composition, better make sure you meter right - best to bracket for
those shots and use a lens hood if the shot is backlit.

Flash - ahhhh, not sure - for each composition take one with the flash
and one without. Also, will the zoo let you shoot flash - it may spook
the critters so it may not be allowed.

Shutter\Aperture\Shooting mode - do not set to portrait mode or have a
large aperture or what you will get is your daughter in focus and the
animals and surroundings blurry - shoot with a as small an aperture as
possible for a hand held shot (assuming you can't bring a tripod) or
shoot in landscape mode. Not sure how experienced you are - if not
very - landscape mode. If kind of - aperture priority mode and adjust
the aperture until you have a shutter speed high enough to hand hold
the shot.

Rules - DO NOT CENTER your daughter in the composition - set off to
one side. Don't feel you have to have her facing the camera - get some
candids of her looking at the animals - from the side - you don't need
the whole face - 3 quarters of the face is often very good - like one
of ner resting her arms on a railing and her head on her arms - that
kind of stuff. Once again - small aperture for max depth of field. If
animals are on the move - pan with them then shoot.

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Pinaki - 18 Jun 2007 18:04 GMT

> As for time of day, early and late are best for color saturation -
> midday shots can look bland.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> kind of stuff. Once again - small aperture for max depth of field. If
> animals are on the move - pan with them then shoot.

Thanks a lot to all of you for great suggestions. As you may have
guessed,
I'll have to deal with harsh sunlight - the zoo timings are 10:00 to
5:00.
I'll try to remember to use the flash if the sun is directly behind
the
subject. I don't have an external flash, so it will be the pop-up one.
I do
realize that it only works to a few feet. And yes, I won't center my
daughter
-- that's for another zoo (aka home). As you mentioned, it will be the
animals
with her looking on in some of the shots. I won't even try to pan.
That's way
too advanced for me. I'll try to post some photos once we get back.

Thanks a lot,
Pinaki.

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Nicholas O. Lindan - 18 Jun 2007 18:41 GMT

> I'll have to deal with harsh sunlight - the zoo timings are 10:00 to
> 5:00.

Then shoot 10 - 11am and 4 - 5pm. The sun will be higher [and the
sun is at it's highest for the year right now] in the morning
hour, but the day will be cooler/fresher. Some scenes will better
lit in the morning, some in the evening, so go both times. Take
a siesta in between. That's one of the nice things about going
out on a shoot: enforced siesta.

If you are stuck with harsh sunlight try and place the sun
(er, pick a subject where the sun is) off to the side at
45-60 degrees where 0 degrees is straight in front of the
subject. Now walk around the subject for the best view.
If the subject is next to a white wall or pavement it will
help fill in the shadows.

Don't be afraid to include the sun in the picture but
don't let the camera meter the sun.

Take a polarizing filter.

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

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Rita Ä Berkowitz - 18 Jun 2007 23:32 GMT

> Thanks a lot to all of you for great suggestions. As you may have
> guessed,
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> That's way
> too advanced for me. I'll try to post some photos once we get back.

I find it best to take a crappy lens like the Nikon 18-200mm VR and talk to
this guy for getting positioned for the best shots during harsh conditions.
Even with a light-attenuating lens like the 18-200mm VR you don't need to
use fill flash when you have Cart Blanc to the best shooting spots.

<http://www.geocities.com/ritaberk2007/hard_to_get.htm>

Rita

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Pinaki - 19 Jun 2007 01:16 GMT

On Jun 18, 4:32 pm, Rita ? Berkowitz <ritaberk2O04 @aol.com> wrote:

> > Thanks a lot to all of you for great suggestions. As you may have
> > guessed,
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Rita

Wait a minute. How did you get *in* the cage?

Pinaki.

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Rita Ä Berkowitz - 19 Jun 2007 11:14 GMT

> Wait a minute. How did you get *in* the cage?

It's a dirty job and somebody has to do it!

Rita

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Pudentame - 16 Jun 2007 00:19 GMT

Flash will help, depending on what flash you have. You'll want some sort
of fill in back-lit situations, and back-lit is good to get rid of
squinty eyes.

With the on-camera flash you'll have to remember to remove the lens
shade, because it can cause an arc of shadow at the bottom of the image.

IF you have an external TTL flash (like a Vivitar 285HV) to fit the
shoe, set the ISO to twice the camera ISO and you'll get 1 stop less
flash than ambient.

If you have the Pentax flash designed for their DSLRs (360FGZ or
540FGZ), you should be able to set it for -1 stop fill.

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Annika1980 - 17 Jun 2007 16:54 GMT

> We'll be taking our daughter to the zoo (in Albuquerque).

Glad you found her a good home.

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Pinaki - 18 Jun 2007 18:05 GMT

> > We'll be taking our daughter to the zoo (in Albuquerque).
>
> Glad you found her a good home.

LOL! Well, that's a very tempting thought. But we don't want to
be that hard on the critters.

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Annika1980 - 18 Jun 2007 20:28 GMT

> > > We'll be taking our daughter to the zoo (in Albuquerque).
>
> > Glad you found her a good home.
>
> LOL! Well, that's a very tempting thought. But we don't want to
> be that hard on the critters.

My grandfather used to take me to the Cincinnati Zoo.
He told me I needed two tickets .... one to get in and one to get out.

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