Zoo Photography: Thunder on the Prairie

Sometimes being at the right place at the right times can yield a fruitful result. Hope you enjoy this little tale of tails.

This is what normally happens in prairie dog colonies. Love, kisses, and unity usually are the order of the day.

But then, one day, along came Sally- for that is what we shall call her-to the burrow of one Polly.  "Hey, the whole prairie knows all your dirty little secrets," said Sally.

"Stop spreading lies about me or I'll slap you," retorted Polly.

Thinking she had the advantage of surprise and first strike, Sally locked her jaws on Polly's hand. "Oh, yeah, you and what hand?" 

Somehow Polly freed her hand and unleashed a slap that was to become stuff of legends on the prairie. "Take that you spiteful, lying prairie dog b@#&*" 

Fearful of Polly and unwilling to partake of the slap sandwich Sally had just been handed, other prairie dogs could only comment about it in hushed whispers. "Hey, did I just really just see that?"

Meanwhile not too far away. "Mom, you are the best mom ever...I love you, I love you, I love you."

They hear a slap. "WOW!"

A few feet away, unhindered by the transpired events, some prairie dogs  continue to indulge in the peace, love, and unity that is normally the order of the day on the prairie. 

THE END

Hey, they do have tails and it was a tale, so lighten up. 

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Zoo Photography: Patience

It's been wisely said for ages that patience is a virtue, and there is perhaps no profession in which this is most evident than photography. Photographers know that you have to anticipate and wait. wait. wait. and more wait. Zoo photography requires the same thing. You have to know your subject, anticipate what they will do, and put yourself in the best position to get the shot you want.

Yesterday I visited the zoo for the first time in a few weeks and I only had about 90 minutes before closing time. I couldn't afford to see the whole zoo so I made a beeline for the animals I like to shoot the most around this time of the year.

The prairie dogs were my first stop. Prairie dogs, around this time, have shiny brown coats that look best under a cloudless sun. When I reached them, the sun was bobbing back and forth behind some patchy clouds. I waited until I got the light I wanted, took a few shots, and was fairly happy with the few shots I got. These guys are hands-down my favorite subjects year-round at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Next, I visited the African Aviary where I was rewarded with one of the subjects that have not given me many good shot opportunities: The Little Blue Heron. This little beautiful bird tends to stay near the fence where it's impossible to get a good shot that doesn't look like it was taken at the zoo. This time, however, it was in the middle of the exhibit and allowed me to get pretty good shots.

I was also lucky that it was a relatively quiet day at the zoo and the animals seemed more relaxed.

After that I hung around the gazelles before heading to the lions. I hung around hoping for a good shot, knowing that on cool days, they are more likely to move around in a particular location. I hunkered down and waited for my shot. I wasn't disappointed.

Patience doesn't mean you will get the shot that day, it just means that you might get your shot a few months down the road. Be patient, anticipate, and always keep hope that the animals will be kind enough to give you a good shot.

***Please note that I don't agitate animals. Hassan, the lion, wasn't snarling at me. This is the back end of a yawn.

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Zoo Photography: Prairie Dogs

Canon 1D Mark II with EF 300mm f4L @ 1/3200s F/5.6 ISO 400.

I love these black-tailed prairie dogs at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Their exhibit near the front entrance is normally my first and last stops whenever I visit the zoo. Whenever I first approach them, they become alert and some even rush to their burrows. The key to shooting them is using a long focal length lens, getting as low as you can to shoot them at their eye level, and waiting until they get acclimated to your presence. I've also found that sunny days are best to show the shine in their fur as cloudy days bring out more of the dark areas of their fur.

I like the closed eyes on the first fellow as it seems like he/she was trying to look cute for the picture. The second one takes a break from munching on his carrot to observe me and my intentions. After a few seconds, he happily resumed his snack.

I didn't do much editing on these images. I shot in RAW (as I always do) and edited in Lightroom 3. I use a preset I call 'QuickEazy' that I use on the vast majority of my images. Individual settings in LR3 will depend on your camera and the image out of the camera. Adjust and see what comes out to your liking. With the Canon 300mm F/4L lens, an excellent zoo photography lens, I almost always shoot at f/5.6 to give me some speed and a good bokeh. ISO 400 helps with keeping the shutter speed up, too. In shaded areas I'll pump it up to ISO 800. I have found myself using up to ISO 3200 but that was on indoor exhibits such as snakes and frogs. To help with the speed and because the animals are usually closer, I use the 100mm F/2.8L Macro lens instead. I'll talk more about low-light zoo photography in a future post.

Canon 1D Mark II with EF 300mm f4L @ 1/3200s F/5.6 ISO 400.

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