CameraCrazy

Zoo photography is a great way to get pictures of animals that most people really wouldn’t see otherwise. A lot of people think that zoo photography is pretty easy, the animals are right there in front of you and they’re not going anywhere. Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few challenges to zoo photography.

I think the greatest difficulty is taking a shot that makes the animal look like it is in its natural environment. The enclosures, cages, wires, fences, concrete, shooting through dirty scratched up glass, and people wandering around through your shot are just some of the things to consider.

The best advice I’ve been given for taking pictures of zoo animals is to shoot tight and wide open. It’s simple, straightforward and easy to remember. Shoot tight and wide-open. By framing the shots so that the animal fills the frame, you effectively eliminate all the man-made elements in the backgrounds. A lot of the best shots I’ve seen are almost “portrait” shots of the animal, where the head fills half to three quarters of the frame. I find tighter shots are more interesting compared to something looser showing the whole animal and its surroundings, we are there to see the animals after all.

There are times, however, that screams for us to shoot a little looser and show a bit more background. When you run into these situations the wide-open part comes in. By opening up the aperture you isolate the animal and blur out most of the distracting elements and take the animal out of its zoo enclosure and put it back into something more natural looking. So how wide open do you need to go? Personally, I like to open up the aperture as far as my lens will let me. Usually, that means I’m shooting at f2.8 or wider. Keep in mind that the closer you are to your subject and the larger your aperture the better your focus needs to be as the depth of field becomes increasingly narrow.

So now we’re all shooting tight and wide-open, too bad there’s dirty scratched up glass or cage wires in our way. These are hard to deal with and they change from animal to animal, zoo to zoo. When shooting through glass using a polarizer might help reduce some of the reflection and clear up a few of the scratches. Personally I try to avoid using the polarizer as it just cuts too much light. Instead I get right up to the glass and put the front of my lens against the glass. Try to pick the best area of glass in terms of scratches and dirt to shoot through and get right up against it. Inevitably, there will be some loss in contrast and there may be slight color shifts depending on the glass you’re shooting through, but I find most of these problems are easily corrected in Photoshop with some curves and color balance adjustments. When shooting through cage wires, there are a couple of options. If the wires are far enough apart, you might be able to get the lens between them and get an unobstructed view. Be careful if you decide to do this, you don’t want a lion having your lens for an appetizer with your fingers as the main course. Another option is again to get close. Sometimes the wires are fine enough that if you’re right up against them they’ll just blur away. You might also try to get the fences and cages to work for you and incorporate them into your shot. Unfortunately, some enclosures simply aren’t photo friendly and it just won’t work.

When going to the zoo, I usually try to go on an overcast day. My flash is good, but it’s nothing compared to having a giant softbox in the sky provided by Mother Nature. On overcast days you can get some very even lighting that won’t blow your highlights. When thinking about where to shoot from, try to find some unique perspectives. Just because everyone else is crowded around one spot doesn’t mean that’s where the best photo opportunity will be. Perhaps getting closer to the ground will produce a better shot. Maybe getting a little higher and standing on a bench would work? Move around and keep your eyes open, sometimes, you just need to be patient.