Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago IL

[swkfilms]

Here are some shots from my first trip to a zoo with my 20d. Its been kind of cold and rainy here lately so most of the animals were inside. This caused me to have to use slow shutter speeds without a tripod or IS lens. These were taken with a refurbished Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM that I am borrowing from a friend. The one of the rattlesnake is with the 50mm f/1.8. Any tips or thoughts are welcome. Ill start:

I know the picture of the wallaby(? last picture?) has some extra blue in it, I had to take out some yellow and reds but left in too much blue :( Also I know that they are a little unsharp. This is because I didnt shoot raw, saved them through PS in jpg, and then had them compressed a little for my website.


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0082.jpg



http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0083.jpg


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0084.jpg


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0085.jpg


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0087.jpg


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0088.jpg


http://www.martingroark.com/20d/medium/0089.jpg

[swkfilms]

no thoughts?

[Benandbobbi]

Unfortunately, nothing cries out for comment, with the possible exception of thebear. cute.

[swkfilms]

Thanks, does that mean they are decent pictures boring ones? No critisicm?

[coreypolis]

The trick to zoo shooting is to really try and isolate the animal from the background, make it look more like it is in the wild.

Check out my zoo shots at www.polisphotography.com/flash/Animals/

[pttenn]

I think the last one has a bit of a 3-D effect. Cute. What is it? Kangaroo?

[dancinec]

All are nicely captured, my favorite are the flowers (1st) is well composed and leads the lead to the subjects and the wart hog (2nd) it seems natural and it too is composition. I think if you could have gotten a different angle of the bear (frontal and zoomed in) it would more interesting to me.

[swkfilms]

cool, thanks everyone, im new here and am trying to reply to others threads more as well so I appreciate any tips.

[Tess320]

I don't think the last shot is a wallaby, I can't remember the name of it though.

Zoo shots ARE a lot harder than people think, because while there is nothing really "wrong" with your photos - there's nothing amazingly special either. And there is more pressure on zoo shots than just being technically adequate because there are billions of people who visit zoos and come away with pretty good snaps. The trick is to make them stand out, somehow different. This means sometimes going back quite a few times and waiting for better lighting, better expression etc. It also really means learning the animals, just like in wildlife. I know all the names to the primates that I regularly go and shoot :)

Just keep trying and you'll develop your own style.

My zoo pics are here - http://www.pbase.com/durberville/zoo_animals

[Nidz]

That last animal looks like a cross between a kangaroo and a giraffe. haha.

Nice pics.

[JenzZx2]

They are nice photos, but they just don't seem to pop. The color seems a bit dull and not much contrast. There's definitely potential! I'm looking forward to my first zoo trip this weekend.