How many times have you looked at those National Geographic photos and wished that you could get some great photos of wild and untamed creatures?
Capturing wild and exotic animals usually means traveling to an exotic place like the Arctic or Africa and the like.
Not so! If there is a zoo near you the possibilities are endless. In one place and one day you will be able to photograph animals that normally inhabit different continents. Think of the time and money you will save!
I decided to take my camera and the 70 to 200mm Zoom lens and go to the Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. It is about 45 minutes from where I live.
There are only two things you have to overcome. First, the distance between you and the animal you are trying to photograph. Second, the fence that is going to ruin your shot and let everybody know that you really didn't go to the Congo to photograph that Panther. Don't you just hate it when someone whips out their zoo photos to tell you about all the cool animals they saw, and all you can see is a fence.
Let's start with the distance. Your zoom lens set at 200 will bring your subject fairly close to very close depending on the size of the animals' habitat. That leaves us with that annoying fence.
Just do what I do. Jump over it. NO! DO NOT JUMP OVER THE FENCE. Even the most huggable and cutest looking animal will tear your face off and eat you alive. A wild animal is dangerous at all times even if it looks bored stiff and yawning.
So how do we get rid of the fence? Luckily the lens set at 200mm has "shallow" Depth of Field. This means that the only thing in focus is your point of focus and not much else.
(If you are not 100% sure of Depth of Field and how it works I will give you a precise definition and explanation of it in my next newsletter. Please sign up for it if you are not on it yet. I have heard a lot of explanations but this will be the one and only explanation for Depth of Field that will put you in the know.)
Get as close as you can to the fence but still at a safe distance. In other words, close but not close enough that the animal on the other side could stick it's arm or paw and grab you. For example I got close to this fence but there is a lower wood fence not visible to prevent people from putting themselves up against it. Safety first.
Next, put your cameras' auto setting on AV (Aperture Priority). Manually set the lens at the widest opening. Your camera will choose the appropriate shutter speed. Now when you focus the lens on your subject the fence magically disappears. Why? By focusing your lens on something far away only the point of focus is sharp. The fence which is close to you is so out of focus that the light is bent and goes around it. It is almost invisible. If you look closely at the very first photo in this article the fence is visible only as faint diamond pattern.
The bird wanted to disembowel me and peck at my face as soon as it saw me. So I kept a little distance between me and the fence in case it decided to
charge.I don't know about you but I like my organs where they are. Although some will say my face could use a little improvement I have become used to it. Which brings me top this last photo. This is a Rainbow Lori. At the Lowery Park Zoo you can buy this stuff they like to eat and go in the enclosure with them. They are very friendly and will not eat you. They will eat the food you bring them out of your hand. Bring the kids.
Tell your friends you just got back from the rainforest and you got these cool photos to show them.
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