Zoo Photography: Lions

Photographing lions, as with any other animal, will depend on what kind of exhibit the zoo has them in. At the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, they're outside but you can see them through glass. There are no fences, just a solid wall with three large glass openings for viewing. In Syracuse, the exhibit was actually indoors while the lions playing area is outside. This required different settings and lenses as the lions were somewhat closer.

In Washington, DC, at the National Zoo, the lions are fully outside but you are a lot further from them so you will need a 300mm with a teleconverter or a 400mm. When I say far away I mean FAR AWAY...my 300mm couldn't fill up the frame without showing a lot of the background, which I avoid doing so as to project them in the wild.

The shots I will show here were all taken at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore which has a couple of lions, a male and a female. The lions are not particularly active at any specific time that I know of, so you will more than likely find them lying down or in one spot they seem to like. The good thing is the spot is great for shooting their portrait.

As usual for outdoor exhibits, I used a Canon 300mm F4L IS on a Canon 1D Mark II and edited in Lightroom 3. For some of the shots, I had to remove a blue tint because of the glass reflecting the sky. Took all precautions I take while shooting through glass, but sometimes things just happen how they want, which is why we have computers and software to fix that.

Shot of lion and lioness resting while looking in opposite directions.

The lion posing for me. His intense gaze every time I go by his exhibit makes me wonder whether he has never seen a handsome fellow before, or whether I'm the biggest antelope he's ever seen. Hope it's the first.

Here he looks like he's about to attack but he's really just getting ready to lay down.  The intensity of his gaze is scary, though...I'm very glad for the invention of glass.

Lying down with paws crossed.

He's a good model whenever I pass by his exhibit. The lioness is normally in a spot with a fence showing prominently in the background, so her pictures will definitely come out as having been taken in a zoo.

If your zoo has a way to project these majestic kings of the veld as being in their natural environment, try to bring that in the images. If not, try to take portraits seemingly depicting them in the wild.

Good luck and happy shooting!!!

Tweet

Share

Zoo Photography: Getting Animals' Attention

Shooting at the zoo should be safe both for you and the animals, so there are a few things we all know we shouldn't do at the zoo. While the animals can growl at you, you are not allowed to grow, yell, or shout back. You shouldn't heckle them, throw anything at them to get their attention, or jump into the enclosures to get a closer shot. All of us know this, I hope, so what can we do to get attention of animals' attention?

 

The best thing to do is to go off and come another time, however, this might not be possible for many people. What you can do depends on what kind of animal it is, its exhibit, and how far it is from you.

Some animals don't need much to be attentive to your presence. Prairie dogs, one of my favorite to shoot, are already attuned to detecting predators. You don't have to do anything to attract their attention. Soon as you arrive, they'll be scrutinizing you. If they get ignore you, a slight cough will get their attention. Please don't yell at them. Sometimes, however, a slight noise after they've become acclimated to your presence will get them scampering. You don't want to do this, so the best is to let them get used to you then just get the shot they present you.

An unexaggerated cough is all you need for most animals. You might not want to do it for some of them, however. Some birds, such as ducks and geese, will be scared off. If they're not looking at you, be patient and wait for them or just move on to other animals.

The most you can accomplish with this is just to get them to look in your direction. If you notice the animals getting jittery, you need to stop and possibly even move away and let it calm down. I tried the cough/clearing throat move on the warthog at the local zoo and it stopped to look squarely at me, but then started dashing back and forth, clearly unnerved. I moved away and haven't done the same at his exhibit.

If the animal is a fish, you need more than luck for the fish to notice you. You just have to study their behavior and movements to position yourself to get the shot you need.

When you go shooting at the zoo, seek to understand the animal first. Even when the animal seems like it's doing nothing, snap a few shots to study later on. Zoom in to observe its facial expressions. What are its eyes indicating? What does its body language say about your or other zoogoers' presence?

 

If the exhibit is indoors and animals are protected by glass, coughing won't get the animals attention. In this case I'll stand in front of the exhibit until the animal notices me then I'll begin to shoot. Take note of the animal's behavior, though. Once shooting a blue iguana its head began bobbing up and down in a threatening manner as soon as I arrived. I quickly took a shot or two then stepped away. A few minute later I came back and it wasn't doing it, so I stayed longer and took more pics.

If taunted and feeling threatened, animals won't hesitate to strike at you. The bad thing here is that there's glass between them and you, and this might seriously hurt them. So, if you see an animal getting irritated, please move on...you have too much of its attention.

Also, some animals are attracted to certain colors, so you can choose your clothes depending on which color the animal likes. I won't tell you which, so you need to do your research and experiment with the animals you like to shoot at your zoo. One large cat at our local zoo is attracted by red, maybe because its the color of lunch. Every time you wear red and near his exhibit he moves towards you. I found this out by accident as a friend I was with was wearing red.

Please remember, these animals don't need to be heckled to attract their attention. Treat them respectfully and they will give you good shots. Remember they're intelligent beings who are capable of recognizing you, so work on being on their good side.

.

Tweet

Share

Zoo Photography: The Little Addra Gazelle That Thought It Could

There are several animals that seem to recognize me every time I come to the local zoo, which I do often, and either walk towards me or put on a show for me. Of course all of these could just be in my head, but seems like that's the way it happens. One of these animals is a little addra gazelle.

For those who frequent the winter in the zoo, you know this is the time animals get frisky...frisky as in "get it on." This little gazelle, however seems to be a little confused.

That's him trying to get frisky with a lesser kudu in the same exhibit. These gazelles are the largest gazelles in the world, but still don't measure up to the kudus. 

That's him following the kudu around. 

This is him trying to do the unthinkable...at least to me it's 'unthinkable'. The lesser kudu chased him off and he went to look at a female gazelle, where he was chased off by the dominant addra gazelle in the exhibit. 

The next time I went to the zoo, he stopped grazing when I came near the exhibit and moved towards the poor lesser kudu. This time she wasn't going to take it, though, so she engaged him in a fierce head-banging battle. 

The little gazelle stood his ground and actually forced the kudu to disengage and saunter away. A couple of times I felt bad for the little fellow, though, as I thought his neck would be snapped in two or more pieces.

Good news is nothing bad happened and after a while they went back to just grazing. I'm thinking the dominant addra gazelle should just let this poor fellow get a little pleasing from the females rather than him going out and risking breaking his neck.

Maybe he can pull it off, maybe he can't, but he clearly thinks he can. 

Tweet

Share

Baltimore Police's Lack of Respect for Photographers Deserves Action

Recently, Baltimore City Police Department has released a memo to its officers to stop harassing photographers as a result of action from the ACLU and previously harassed photographers threatening to sue the city because of officers' behavior. To me, however, it comes off as a PR stunt and half-assed attempt to stave off a lawsuit.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Bealefield hugs member  of the city's police force.
Recent actions by his officers raise doubts as to whether he can keep them in line. 

I have been approached by the police several times while shooting in places around Baltimore City, but, luckily, the encounters weren't with those officers who consider themselves "top-flight security of the world." According to the Law of Probability, however, it doesn't mean I won't run into some sooner or later. 

There is absolutely no excuse for the officers to behave in the manner they did. I'm going on a limb and say the officers in the video below are rejects who couldn't hold a night gig as clerks at a Kwik-E-Mart, let alone warm the seats at NASA or Morgan Stanley. I could be wrong, of course, and they're just acting on a well-held and enforced belief that they're above the constitution when it comes to carrying out their duties. 

If this is the first time it had happened I would just overlook it. But Baltimore PD...actually police in Maryland in general...is notorious for stamping on people's rights. You folks might remember the cowboy who sprung out of his unmarked car with his pistol drawn to arrest a speeding motorcyclist. Or the photographer who was harassed by transit police while taking pictures at a light rail stop. Or the photographer who was arrested, camera confiscated, and all the pictures erased during the Preakness race. 

There are many more instances which are not publicized. Last year as a group of us waited for the potential appearance of the Poe Toaster on the campus of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, a female university police officer approached talking on her cell phone, passed us without asking what we were doing, and proceeded to lock the gate that the curator of the Poe House and Museum had left open for the legendary gentleman who leaves a bottle of cognac and roses at Edgar Alan Poe's grave every January. When I took a picture, she threateningly retorted that I couldn't take her picture. Being one who never backs down when I know I'm right, I took her picture anyways, but we were baffled as to how someone affiliated with the university didn't know about the tradition. She could have at least asked us or called it in to see what the gathering was about. 

Ignorant University of Maryland police officer

When I was stopped another time while shooting with friends at the inner harbor, I took the opportunity to inform the Baltimore PD officer that a terrorist is less likely to carry a large camera and lenses to scout out the location. It's just not conspicuous enough. The attention I attract with my gear would be too discomforting to a terrorist scout. By the end, the officer was joking with us. I have to give credit to this officer, he wasn't threatening, barking out questions, or intimidating in any way...he was simply inquiring. This made us give him replies we wouldn't even have considered had he not shown us respect. In the end, both sides didn't have any wasted time and avoided creating a mess. 

Anyways, here's the video: 

Tweet

Share

Zoo Photography: Some Basics

You've finally saved enough money to get yourself a nice camera and maybe a telephoto lens and now you're ready to delve into the world of nature photography. It has taken you months, years if you're one of those hardest hit by harsh economic conditions, and you are ready to show the world what you are capable of now that you have the right tools. Alas, however, a ticket anywhere outside your city's limits is, well, out of limits. Even if you sacrifice two meals a day for the next six months you still won't be able to get a ticket to Yellowstone let alone Serengeti. Oh, but you've seen those images of stampeding wildebeest, giraffes's heads towering over trees, lions stalking their next meal, cheetahs speeding through the veld. You've seen them all and you know you're as capable as the next photographer to capture the next National Geographic Image of the Year.

That's when you realize your city has its own zoo. You get your equipment, get some coins from the change jar, and hitchhike your way to the zoo. You smile, grasp your equipment- we're talking camera and lens here, folks- and head for the nearest exhibit. You snap away, but something is missing. It just doesn't feel like you were on Safari. The animals are there, but even you know your images won't fool any of your friends, let alone win you a prestigious award.

You know what's to blame. Those darned fences, glass barriers, and unnatural exhibit environments. Seriously, who has ever seen The Lion King's Timon sitting under a red light? Or a chimpanzee swinging on a tire swing in the wild?

You don't have to worry, though, there are others who've been through your shoes, yours truly being among them. I'll show you simple ways to shoot different exhibits.

1. Through Wire Fences

The trick here is two-fold: Use a long focal length lens and get as close to the fence as possible. Some zoos don't allow you to go right next to fence, so make sure you don't jump over whatever barrier they erect. Those barriers are there for your safety and that of the animals, so obey the rules.

You also have to watch where the sun is as it will reflect off the fence and will be noticeable in the image.

Leopards mating.

See the milky areas around and on the leopards? That's the reflection of the fence. The opportunity was a godsend...how often do you see mating leopards? It was the perfect situation at the wrong time. The sun was setting behind me, so the fence threw the reflection at the camera. Another factor, which I would have been able to overcome if it wasn't sunny, was there was about 3 or 4 yards between the fence and where I could stand. So, if I was closer, or the sun wasn't too bright, it would have been a much better shot.

In the image below, the arctic fox was shot through the wire and the sun was not behind me throwing a ghosting effect in the images. However, the animal was close to the back fence and it still showed in the image.

Arctic Fox

2. Through the Glass

Some people say you have to put the lens, preferably with the hood, at a slanting angle to the glass, but from my experience it's best to put the lens at a 90-degree angle perpendicular to the glass. This works to minimize reflections. Look at the glass and pick an area without reflection. 

Lion through the glass. Outdoor exhibit.

Blue Iguana through the glass. Indoor exhibit. 

3. Environment

The hardest thing to accomplish is to make the animal look as if it's in its natural state. The key is positioning and isolation. Position yourself in the best place to isolate the animal. Obviously, this eliminates wide angle lenses, I have yet to shoot any zoo animal using anything less than a 100mm lens, which I use primarily for indoor exhibits. 300mm is ideal for the zoo and there are a lot of good inexpensive lenses at that length. 

Another trick is to use a large aperture. I normally shoot at F/5.6 to isolate the animals. Indoors, I increase it to F/2.8 and would go higher if my lens allowed.

Elephants with fence in the background

You can see the fence in the background and there was just no way I could get it out with the longest lens I had. The elephants exhibit at my local zoo is really not set up to allow good shots, so I only go by there to look at the elephants and not to shoot. 

Here's one of a bird with the background blurred. You can't tell there's a net above the bird. You can see two large wires that help hold up the net, but they're blurred enough not to cause a distraction. 

Abdim's Stork

Sometimes you just have to walk away from exhibits without shots, or you need a few visits before you can identify the best way to shoot that particular animal- I imagine it's that way even in the wild-so don't feel bad about not getting a great shot of every animal in the zoo. 

4. Be Alert

You never know when a great photo opportunity will throw itself in your proverbial lap. Visiting the National Zoo one day, I exited the Invertebrates house and found myself in the pollinarium.  I didn't plan to shoot butterflies and I'm a lousy macro photographer but I managed to get off a few good shots of the only model who stayed put for me.

Zebra Longwing butterfly

So, keep your eye out, shoot more than the animals most people associate with the zoo. Find animals hiding in interesting places. Shoot flowers and other plants. make it seem like you were there in the wild. 

Roseate Spoonbill

Also watch out for shadows as they will mess up your image. Cloudy days are good to avoid shadows, but the diminished light can affect how some animals look in photographs. Experiment and see which weather is best for the animals you like to shoot. For me, prairie dogs are reserved for sunny weather, while others such as the white stork are good in cloudy weather. If the dark, you want sunny...if it's white, you want cloudy. 

Go, Go, Go

Well, now you have a few basics down. The rest is up to you. Some photographers haunt the same exhibit day in and day out hoping to get the money shot...you might want to try their tactic. Study the animals, their environment, and keep practicing. Never fear being wrong or missing a shot, even the best photographers miss good shots from time to time. All you need is enough great shots to increase your confidence. Even though it won't take you to exotic wild places, it will get you on the way to being a good wildlife photographer. 

Tweet

Share