Los Angeles Zoo - Opinions Please

[WesleyWong]

I know this is no where near the quality of most of the photos on this board but this is my first time posting here. I visited LA Zoo yesterday but I went on the worst day. The skies were gloomy all day and it rained. I was able to capture some images but I'm still mad that my best photos (tiger / flamingos / others) were on my first CF card which was corrupted. Here are the pictures please criticize.

Most of the pictures were taken with my 70-200mm - One funny thing is that the Giraffes were drying my AF crazy!

#1
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/LionSmall.jpg

#2
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo1Small.jpg

#3
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo2Small.jpg

#4
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo3Small.jpg

#5
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo6Small.jpg

#6
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo7Small.jpg

#7 (got bored and put on a +1 filter)
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/ReadyToBloom.jpg

I was also unsure about my crop maybe for some shots people may want to have more of closer shot.

Here are two of the shots cropped:

#8
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo100Crop.jpg

#9
http://www.aerotune.com/uploader/wesley/Zoo1Crop.jpg

[boomer1959]

Very nice shots Wesley :D

[Scottes]

Nice shots - I like #4 a lot.

After looking at these and your others from the botanical garden I have a suggestion - Try using a more wide-open aperture to blur the backgrounds more. This can be very nice for both flowers and wildlife IMHO as the blurred background will make the subject stand out more. It also boosts shutter speed and/or lets you use a lower ISO.

[thomascanty]

You have some very good shots here! I have one or two that are similar to your first one.

[WesleyWong]

Thanks a lot Scottes for your suggestion. I will keep that in mind.

[sparker1]

You have some nice shots. I would prefer a tighter crop on #1. Your crop of #2 improved it by eliminating several distractions. Too bad you couldn't get a clear shot of the entire animal. #3 is much better and more interesting after being cropped. #4 is my favorite, as the animal stands out from its background and you can't tell it's in a zoo (no tell-tale fences, walls, cages, etc). #'s 5 & 6 are good, but too bad the background is almost the same color. May have been nothing you could do about that. #7 is OK, doesn't do much for me.

[dsze]

Nice shots...I think you have great composition on most of them, but I agree with Scottes on trying a wider apert. and I might also suggest a little more USM and maybe play with levels or curves a little to bring out the midtones a bit more. Nice work!

-daniel

[WesleyWong]

Thanks a lot for the comments and suggestions!

[mr.photoguy]

F4L is amazing.

great shots.

[V6GTO]

Is it my screen or do the animals look superimposed? How much Photoshop has been used, Wesley? Maybe the sharpen tool has been used a bit too much but they don't look real.

Martin.