I’d like to thank the readers for their awesome support and crazy sharing of the last few articles – please continue spreading the word and practicing your photography!

The Calgary Zoo is offering an exceptional opportunity on June 9th, 2012 to participate in the “FOCUSED” photography event.  Doors open early and help enthusiasts of all skill levels to explore the zoo without the hustle and bustle of kids running around while offering more opportune moments to capture the animals in their more active states.  Unfortunately due to some prior commitments with awesome Giant Pandas in Asia, I will not be able to make an appearance at this June event.  I wish you all the best at this excellent event and let’s all work towards spreading the word and ensuring a successful event so that we can get more of these opportunities!

By popular demand, here’s round 2 of Zoo Photography Tips

•  Patience Patience Patience  - Observing other visitors on multiple occasions leads me to believe a number of people stop, read the sign, peek to find the animal and then move on in pretty short order.  If you’re trying to capture a moment with your favorite furry friend, patience and the art of slowing down will pay huge dividends.   As mentioned in the last article, it took the better part of a few visits due to weather and circumstances beyond my control before I finally had the opportunity to capture the Siberian Tiger in the pose I’d imagined.  Alternatively, the Giant Panda pictures below took almost two hours of waiting in the enclosure before they finally positioned themselves and undertook activities that gave an interesting capture.   Pick the animal which you’d like to photograph, and carefully walk around the enclosure to find an interesting angle.  Then wait.  And wait some more.  Or heck, visit another fur ball and come back again.  But be mentally patient and wait for them to give you the photo instead of just taking a snap shot.  Exercise patience and don’t forget – Keep your eye on the ball!
• Invest in and use a support system – Tripods are simply too bulky and cumbersome to setup given the fences you butt up against as well as the potential hazards of other guests tripping over them or worse yet, knocking over your camera (I’m a photographer not a humanitarian ).  Invest in a monopod to help stabilize your camera and minimize the physical tasks that could otherwise distract you from getting a sharp shot.  Monopods can help stabilize shaky hands, balance the weight of long lenses, combat slow shutter speeds and even double up as a walking stick.  Check out my previous photographer’s tip to see what gear I bring with me to the field and adjust accordingly to suit your needs.
• Get down low (or at least eye level) – Eye level shots just like portraits of people help delivers an emotional connection.  We talked about focusing on the eyes in the previous zoo article, this tip is more about adjusting your perspective to shoot from the same level as the animal’s face instead of shooting down and shooting up.  It’s a subtle difference, but the finished image can deliver greater impact and intimacy by removing the ‘snap shot’ perspective normally associated with non-eye-level shooting.   The mental association that your viewer makes with an eye level shot is that they’re participating in your subject’s world instead of just looking into a world on the other side of the fence which is the feeling zoo photos can give off when we’re shooting from above or below.
• Watch the background – Trash can, fence, zoo signs can all detract from the experience of your viewers getting lost in your photos.   Part of the patience exercise should be evaluating not just the right angle for your animal shots you want, but also making sure any distractions in the background that doesn’t fit with the animals’ environment is not present.  Animal photos work best when we subconsciously view the background as an integral part of their natural environment.  A washroom sign in the background or a kid with his face pressed against the fence detracts from the depth of your photo and highlights the captive environment of the animal.  Keep an eye out and aim for the cleanest backgrounds you can.  Note – for those paying attention from the last article, a long lens and large aperture will help to diffuse your background.  Know your camera equipment!
• Watch out for reflections – If you’re attempting to shoot through fences, get your front element as close to if not through the openings but be mindful of the sun.  If the front of your lens is too large to fit in the gaps of chain link, choose to shoot from a shaded area to minimize reflections from the fencing which can appear on your images and fuzzy lines and ruin your perfect shot.   If you’re shooting through glass, as inopportune as it might be for your framing, shooting directly against the glass and try to avoid shooting at an angle against it.  This will cause both distortion as well as a loss in image quality due to the light diffraction as the glass can act as a prism reducing the quality of light hitting your camera.
• Charge your batteries, bring an extra one and don’t be embarrassed to bring your charger – If you have to, be that person sitting by a power plug waiting to get a small charge on your camera.  Whatever you do, don’t be the person stuck walking around with a useless camera and never ending missed opportunities because your battery doesn’t hold enough of a charge.   Going with the entire Photographer’s Tip theme of knowing your gear, knowing the shooting endurance of your camera’s batteries is crucial.  As we covered before, when it comes to animal photography – shoot shoot shoot.  This takes a massive toll on your batteries especially if you’re the type to continuously review your shots as you go.  Pack extra batteries, bring your charger and don’t get left out.   As a side note, find out from your camera manual where your battery charge indicator is, how to read it and if possible, find out what the rough lifespan of shots you should get our of it are.  Make a mental note of this number and be conscious to look at your charge indicator regularly so you’re not in the middle of the lion finally walking into your frame after you’ve patiently waited for 30 mins and your camera gently powers off.   It’s happened to me before.  Profanity ensues.

Thanks for stopping by – good luck to the Calgary shooters participating in FOCUSED and a big thank you to everyone who has shared and supported this site.  Remember to stop by our Facebook page and show your support by liking our page.  As always, feel free to drop me a line via e-mail at francis@fymphoto.com or write on the Facebook wall for what you’d like to see, what we’ve done well or share some of your shots!