A few from the Dallas zoo...

littlebayzombie

I'm not sure I'm, er, ready for posting photos here... but everyone seems to be so kind, and I guess I'll have to get over my fear eventually.

I've had my DSLR for a couple of months now and am still way green, but- less a three week period Ilene spent vacationing in her bag while I was sick- have really been enjoying myself!

These are from the Dallas zoo (106 acres). Taken sometime before I nearly died of sunstroke. :rolleyes I have sepia and b/w conversions of #2 and am not sure which is better, but in the interest of keeping it short, I'll stick to the original color shot for this post. I wish I'd chosen a smaller aperture for that one, but it's too late now. Boo.

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Netgarden

Those are really nice, Jenifer, and welcome! The first one, I found if I got closer and use a wider aperture the fence would disappear. Give it a try, you might have to manual focus on that! The name thru the face is a bit distracting.

littlebayzombie

Thanks!

I wasn't able to get any closer, unfortunately- as it was I was hanging over a split-rail fence. That little guy was pressed right up against the enclosure fence (the vines you see in the foreground are actually growing through from the inside). I'm definitely going to try the larger aperture next time, thanks! I think I've gotten into the habit of trying to stick to F/8 and below because it seems even in-focus things get so soft otherwise... possibly because I haven't developed the understanding of focal lengths that I need to make it work? Back to the books for me!

The name through the face... do you mean the watermark on #3? Maybe I should change my Smug settings and drop it into the lower-right.

Harryb

Good work Jenifer. Its not easy shooting at zoos with the fences, glass etc. You did pretty well under those circumstances.

tshaddick

Good work - it is tough to get pictures of animals at the zoo with the fences and glass. The second picture turned out nice. The first and third are ok, but like said above, it would be nicer with out the fence in the way, but we all know there is nothing you can do about that. Keep with it.

littlebayzombie

Thank you! I definitely have a lot to learn about how best to capture zoo animals. I wish this one were closer so that I could practice more!

Someone pointed out that #2 is underexposed, and after I checked the post-edit histogram I saw that they were right... boo! Must be more diligent there, I really liked that shot.

Harryb

littlebayzombie wrote: »

Thank you! I definitely have a lot to learn about how best to capture zoo animals. I wish this one were closer so that I could practice more!

Someone pointed out that #2 is underexposed, and after I checked the post-edit histogram I saw that they were right... boo! Must be more diligent there, I really liked that shot.

I don't agree about the exposure on #2. The subject seems to be well exposed. The BG may be underexposed but your subject sure isn't.

littlebayzombie

Whoo! That makes me feel a little better, hahah.