A Day at the Zoo.

[ArntorFTL]

I spent the afternoon at the zoo today taking some photos. Please let me know what you think of these and what I could have done better, composition or exposure-wise.

Also, look at the last two of the same butterfly...which one of the two is better exposed/looks better? Also, how would I want to crop them? Thanks.

These next two are the ones I mentioned above.

 

[iflynething]

Those are nice.

As far as the last two go, I like the darker one. I wouldn't say it's exactly underexposed, but it is darker but nice. It brings out the detail on both the butterfly and tree trunk. Cropping wise, I don't think you really have too many options (that I would do). Although neither the butterfly nor tree trunk are dead center, they could have used a little more area to the right to keep a little with the rule of thirds. Some others may argue that filling the frame like you did, works just as well.

Did you use any flash on those last two? The lighting on the left of the tree makes me think you did

~Michael~

 

[LaFoto]

As to the last two: I agree with Michael. The blown-out part on the trunk takes away too much in the second of the two. The first is just more pleasing to look at. Plus it looks sharper at first sight, as if a minute amount of camera shake came into play upon taking the second.

I also like that kind of butterfly on the ground - first photo showing something so tiny and fragile, second showing the massive and big rhino ... what contrast . With regards to the photo of the rhino, I think it could work to crop off all those parts of the background that look man-made. This would mean to crop further into his shoulders, too, but when I did the "scroll-cropping test" on my screen I got the feeling that it isn't too bad. I went even as far as to cropping out the dip in the background rock on the right. That makes that rock less irritating, too, as at first I thought it was yet another animal, only to find that it isn't.

My favourite one is the backlit butterfly.
I'm such a sucker for backlit photos!!! I love the colours you got through the backlit leaves! And the sun on his wings just looks so RIGHT for a butterfly.

 

[ArntorFTL]

Thanks for the compliments

Yeah, I used flash with both. Basically, I cranked the ISO up and lowered the shutter speed on the brighter one so as to get more "natural" light. There was a lot of bright sunlight shining through the glass roof but an otherwise funky lighting situation inside that butterfly house.

Those are nice.

As far as the last two go, I like the darker one. I wouldn't say it's exactly underexposed, but it is darker but nice. It brings out the detail on both the butterfly and tree trunk. Cropping wise, I don't think you really have too many options (that I would do). Although neither the butterfly nor tree trunk are dead center, they could have used a little more area to the right to keep a little with the rule of thirds. Some others may argue that filling the frame like you did, works just as well.

Did you use any flash on those last two? The lighting on the left of the tree makes me think you did

~Michael~