Zoo tomorrow! Any advise?

[mdd770]

Headed to the zoo tomorrow. Any suggestions besides "don't fall in the cages!"?? :lol:
Thinking 75-300 for most of the day, or nifty 50 if close, and a monopod if they let me.
Any other tips? Thanks!

[Skrim17]

I'd leave the monopod at home, have fun!!

[snakekid]

watch your kids so they dont fall into the cages?

[Overread]

There is a recent thread with some good advice on zoo work here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=846749

As for lenses I used to have a 70-300mm sigma and for the zoo that was pretty much all I ever used at the time (ok it was all I had barring the kit lens). Certainly it should be more than enough for most shots - the 50mm you might find a use for with some enclosures and shots, but often as not you need telephoto ranges to help get closer so that the wire on the cage has less effect.

Monopods are not a bad idea, heck I used to use a very cheapy and light tripod (the sort with the leg bases fixed to the centre of the tripod column) and for a 70-300mm lens it makes a lot of difference to have some support for the long end of the telephoto. More pro end tripods I don't tend to favour for such work as whilst they are more versatile they take longer to setup and also are a pain to carry and move around with.

[markol]

Leave the monopod at home. In general when shooting animals you have to be patient. A shot of an animal just sitting there (which is what 99% of them do all day long) is kind of boring so it's always good to get them in action like at feeding time or if they are playing with their cage mate. So be prepared to just stake out a spot somewhere and wait. Or just click and move on; your choice!