Detroit Zoo

[ComputerWhiz]

This week I went to the Detroit Zoo with my photography class.
I took these photos with my Fujifilm Finepix S8300 camera.
I have done some minor Photoshopping (GIMPing), but mostly just contrast adjustments.

These are only a few of the 237 pictures I took there.
Please tell me what you think.
Anything I can do to improve?

 

[loveebugg3]

In the last one maybe next time you could try and get all of the giraffe?

 

[TheNevadanStig]

Looks like you missed the focus on all but the last two. I would also ditch the vignetting.

 

[ComputerWhiz]

In the last one maybe next time you could try and get all of the giraffe?

Thanks for the suggestion.
I find animals very difficult to photograph because they never stop moving.
This giraffe had actually just came from hiding behind a tree and went back on the move right after I took this picture.

 

[ComputerWhiz]

Looks like you missed the focus on all but the last two. I would also ditch the vignetting.

I think I did too.
What is wrong with the vignetting?
Personally, I have always loved the vignetting, but I guess it may not be for everyone.

 

[bribrius]

lol. that's cute.
it almost looks like the giraffe is hunched down trying to fit into the frame.
:mrgreen:

 

[astroNikon]

I also don't like the vignetting. I can see it's use in selected photos but still, don't make a habit of using it.

Learn to focus your camera on a single point and how to follow & focus on an object. just don't "point and shoot".

I kinda like the giraffe photo, though you have to learn to crop more, or crop less (I have an example, but you list "It's NOT okay to edit my photos"). I think a more close up as the "pose" would be cute to have it neck up. And you focused on the giraffe's neck, instead of his face which looks out of focus (OOF).

Your photos list full Auto Exposure mode too.

 

[yahgiggle]

i like vignetting but as long as its hard to tell if you have used it or not in your photos i think the vignetting is over kill, out of all your photos i like 2 the most :-D

here is a example of what i think is good and bad vignetting. please note this is just my opinion others may not like vignetting at all but that's up to them

Good vignetting


Bad vignetting
.

 

[robbins.photo]

Greetings CW,

Critters do have an annoying habit of moving, that's for sure... lol. I've never worked with an S8300, but if possible I've found my best results are to set the camera to a single focus point and then put that focus point on the animals eye. I'm assuming or at least hoping the S8300 has that ability, but it's one I've found that is really effective for getting the focus you want when taking animal pics.

Someone else mentioned the vignetting and I'd tend to agree, on the right background when done lightly it can be a cool effect, but my recommendation to start with would be to shy away from using it at least in the beginning and then when you do use it make it as subtle as you can.

Also, on a side note, Giraffes are a really tough shot. You can try to get shots that are just head shots, but the minute you start including much more than head and a little bit of neck composition gets to be a royal pain in the keester. They take up a lot of the frame and tend to bob around a lot, it's just not usually an easy shot at all. But like most critters when you can try to shoot wider than what you need, you can always crop out portions of the frame you don't need but you can't really go in and add stuff that didn't get captured on camera.

Hope that helps.. it's a good first set - Keep shooting!

 

[ComputerWhiz]

Thank you all for your feedback.
I agree about the vignetting.
I like that effect on the chimp picture, but not the other ones really.

I can see many people like the giraffe picture, although the prairie dog picture was my personal favourite.

 

[robbins.photo]

Thank you all for your feedback.
I agree about the vignetting.
I like that effect on the chimp picture, but not the other ones really.

I can see many people like the giraffe picture, although the prairie dog picture was my personal favourite.

I love prairie dogs myself - they crack me up.

 

[astroNikon]

...Also, on a side note, Giraffes are a really tough shot. You can try to get shots that are just head shots, but the minute you start including much more than head and a little bit of neck composition gets to be a royal pain in the keester. They take up a lot of the frame and tend to bob around a lot, it's just not usually an easy shot at all. But like most critters when you can try to shoot wider than what you need, you can always crop out portions of the frame you don't need but you can't really go in and add stuff that didn't get captured on camera.

Hope that helps.. it's a good first set - Keep shooting!

You get better photos if you give them a kiss

 

[Tye]

I definitely agree with most of the other posts as well. For wildlife I find that patience is key sometimes you just have to sit there and wait for the right moment till you can get that sharp in focus shot.
Composition wise I noticed you clipped out just bit to much on the butterfly on its wing tip as well as the prairie dog on it's toes (the giraffe is a giraffe so good luck ever getting a nice full shot if your anywhere near the things, I have never been able to get a shot I've been happy with myself). Usually I will go with a couple well composed full shots of the critters, then zoom or move in closer to get a few more tight shots where composition is a bit more flexible. Your prairie dog shot for example you have a nice full shot so the next thing I would of tried is get a tight shot of the cute little guy's arms to face, then from there possibly (though probably not since there was more then likely a fence in the way) just the hands and mouth nibbling on the food.
One other key part I find for taking pictures of smaller animals is getting down to eye level with them which from the prairie dog pic looks like you already know

 

[ComputerWhiz]

I definitely agree with most of the other posts as well. For wildlife I find that patience is key sometimes you just have to sit there and wait for the right moment till you can get that sharp in focus shot.
Composition wise I noticed you clipped out just bit to much on the butterfly on its wing tip as well as the prairie dog on it's toes (the giraffe is a giraffe so good luck ever getting a nice full shot if your anywhere near the things, I have never been able to get a shot I've been happy with myself). Usually I will go with a couple well composed full shots of the critters, then zoom or move in closer to get a few more tight shots where composition is a bit more flexible. Your prairie dog shot for example you have a nice full shot so the next thing I would of tried is get a tight shot of the cute little guy's arms to face, then from there possibly (though probably not since there was more then likely a fence in the way) just the hands and mouth nibbling on the food.
One other key part I find for taking pictures of smaller animals is getting down to eye level with them which from the prairie dog pic looks like you already know

Thanks for the tips.