Using the telephoto lens to capture wildlife

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.

A Day In New York City and B & H

No trip into New Jersey would be complete without crossing the Hudson River and taking in the sites of the Big Apple, a.k.a. New York City.

I took my Canon 5D, a 15mm Fisheye lens,the 24 to 70 Zoom, and the 70 to 200 Zoom lens with me. What is great about the 5D is it has a full size sensor.

Unlike most digital cameras that crop the image the 5D gives you the full viewing angle of the lens. No where is this difference more noticeable than when using the 15mm fisheye.

Look at the photo on the left and note how wide the angle is. The photo on the right is cropped because of the smaller size sensor found on most other cameras. It's just not the same. Two words to describe New York City are "tall" and "busy". All the buildings are tall and the streets are very busy. These are two things you don't want to crop out.

I especially like the busy streets. Where I live in Florida is great but people stay indoors. When we need to go to a store we get into our cars and go into the store. Then, we get back into the car and go back home. In a city like New York everyone walks everywhere because everything is fairly close at hand. You don't have to walk very far to find what you are looking for. In addition, there is something interesting on every block so even a long walk becomes pleasant.

For instance, look at some of the nice people I met on my way to B and H Photo. New York is truly the melting pot. As you can see in the photo on the left. These to guys owned an English pub of some kind and wanted me to go in for a drink. I think I upset them when I told them I didn't have time. Oh well.

When I got to B and H Photo I had to stand across the street to get the whole store in the photo. Wow! They occupy 4 floors in this building, 6 floors in a building across the street and 1 million square feet of warehouse in Brooklyn. Yeah, 1 million!

They have a doorman to open the door and greet you. When you go inside They have everything you can think of and things you would not have thought of.

The store is called B & H Photo Video. However, they also have everything in audio, surveillance, telescopes, binoculars, projectors, computers, screens, and more. If they don't have it here chances are it hasn't been invented yet.

They also have the Event Space. This is a meeting room that holds about 100 people. Free seminars are conducted here. Some really big names have and will lecture on every topic related to every product they sell. All FREE to the public.

As a matter of fact, they have scheduled me for a speaking engagement on Monday, September 14. Be there or you will miss out.

Their philosophy is that they are here to "inform" . Each rep is an expert dedicated to a specific section. They don't pull someone from audio to help a customer with a camera. This means that the person that is helping you really can help you.

I could write so much more because I was totally blown away with my whole experience. I have bought many things from them in the past and have no dought that I will by many things from them in the future.

Gotta love the Fisheye. I went outside and got a photo in front of the store with the 15mm lens.

What is New York City without the pigeons? These birds are afraid of no one. Don't mess with them cause they are tough. The one on the right kept giving me a dirty look. The one on the left kept saying something about giving me the "drop".

I didn't know what he was talking about but I figured I better leave.

Your probably wondering why I have this photo in twice. I mistakenly loaded it twice and can't figure out how to erase it. Oh well.

What's the next blog going to be about? Get tready for Boston!