Zoo Critters C&C

[DennyCrane]

 

[phocus78]

cool shots

 

[WhyNotMe]

I love the last one

 

[Samanax]

They all look a little overexposed to me. #3 has the best contrast.

#1
Camera: Canon T1i
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 220mm

#2
Camera: Canon T1i
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 250mm

#3
No exif

Why are you using such high ISO on what looks to be a very sunny day?

 

[DennyCrane]

1 and 3 were indoors... these were all using auto mode.

And yes, I am learning to use the manual settings.

 

[robertwsimpson]

on your camera, there should be a mode that will blink areas that have been blown out due to overexposure. That will be useful in learning the manual stuff. Keep shooting, and switch to manual!

 

[DennyCrane]

It was much easier... or it seemed much easier... in the old days with full manual. But I'm crash coursing this. Making friends with all the electronics now is a lil' overwhelming. I think I finally have a handle on the camera's built-in light meter. Stay Tuned.

 

[Plato]

It was much easier... or it seemed much easier... in the old days with full manual. But I'm crash coursing this. Making friends with all the electronics now is a lil' overwhelming. I think I finally have a handle on the camera's built-in light meter. Stay Tuned.

Do you remember the "preset" lens?

 

[hchristensen]

Good use of composition on these shots - for captive photos, it is always good to crop out as much of the false environment as possible, which you have done well here. I think the photos could use a little more contrast (you could bump up the black levels a little bit). As far as subject matter, a connection with the eyes would make the photos much stronger. Try to be patient and wait for those moments where the animals are looking straight at you - those shots can be striking. Overall, good work.....

 

[DennyCrane]

It was much easier... or it seemed much easier... in the old days with full manual. But I'm crash coursing this. Making friends with all the electronics now is a lil' overwhelming. I think I finally have a handle on the camera's built-in light meter. Stay Tuned.

Do you remember the "preset" lens?

HEARD of them, never used them.

Good use of composition on these shots - for captive photos, it is always good to crop out as much of the false environment as possible, which you have done well here. I think the photos could use a little more contrast (you could bump up the black levels a little bit). As far as subject matter, a connection with the eyes would make the photos much stronger. Try to be patient and wait for those moments where the animals are looking straight at you - those shots can be striking. Overall, good work.....

I waited TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES for that damned dirty ape to even glance near me! lol. And thanks, all for the advice.

 

[benlonghair]

Since it says it's ok to edit your photos, I took a little liberty with the gorilla, which seems like the strongest one here to me. I worked with the curves a little, basically left the white and black points alone and made a nice easy curve down between the two. Upped the contrast a little, pulled some blue and cyan out of the highlights. This is what I came up with.

 

[Plato]

It was much easier... or it seemed much easier... in the old days with full manual. But I'm crash coursing this. Making friends with all the electronics now is a lil' overwhelming. I think I finally have a handle on the camera's built-in light meter. Stay Tuned.

Do you remember the "preset" lens?

HEARD of them, never used them.

As you are probably aware, the human eye can't see very well through an f/16 lens opening, especially in the dark. You compose the pic with the lens wide open and it automatically stops down when you push the shutter button. It wasn't always automatic. In the early days of SLRs, you would manually open the lens, compose the shot, then manually close it down and finally take the shot.

A "preset" lens was an improvement over full manual. You decide on the exposure first and, of course, the required aperture. You set a mechanical "stop" on the lens so that you can manually close down to the desired aperture without looking at the lens.

The "Honeywell Pentax" Spotmatic (1964) was advertised as the "world's first automatic SLR" because the aperture automatically opened wide for composing and automatically closed down to the (manually configured) shooting aperture when you pressed the shutter button.

That's why I get a laugh out of those that scream "Manual is the only way to go." Hell, most of them don't know what full manual really is. (There was also a time when you had to manually move the mirror out of the way!)

 

[Plato]

I waited TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES for that damned dirty ape to even glance near me! lol. And thanks, all for the advice.

Many years ago, a co-worker spent nearly a full day getting a single nature shot. He went through several 36-shot rolls of film and caught one hell of a cold. The pic was beautiful, though.

 

[DennyCrane]

Since it says it's ok to edit your photos, I took a little liberty with the gorilla, which seems like the strongest one here to me. I worked with the curves a little, basically left the white and black points alone and made a nice easy curve down between the two. Upped the contrast a little, pulled some blue and cyan out of the highlights. This is what I came up with.

Looks interesting... I can't wait to see it at home on a real monitor. Work notebook is... well... marginal... for pictures. Thanks! I may be asking some more details on the hows of what you did.

 

[DennyCrane]

Do you remember the "preset" lens?

HEARD of them, never used them.

As you are probably aware, the human eye can't see very well through an f/16 lens opening, especially in the dark. You compose the pic with the lens wide open and it automatically stops down when you push the shutter button. It wasn't always automatic. In the early days of SLRs, you would manually open the lens, compose the shot, then manually close it down and finally take the shot.

A "preset" lens was an improvement over full manual. You decide on the exposure first and, of course, the required aperture. You set a mechanical "stop" on the lens so that you can manually close down to the desired aperture without looking at the lens.

The "Honeywell Pentax" Spotmatic (1964) was advertised as the "world's first automatic SLR" because the aperture automatically opened wide for composing and automatically closed down to the (manually configured) shooting aperture when you pressed the shutter button.

That's why I get a laugh out of those that scream "Manual is the only way to go." Hell, most of them don't know what full manual really is. (There was also a time when you had to manually move the mirror out of the way!)

My first camera was my grandfathers kodak rangefinder 35mm. It had shutter speed, aperture, and ISO on a VERY small lens. But, my first SLR experience wasn't until the 80s. I had a Brownie, once, too.