Frustrating Day at the Zoo

[PhotoTurtle]

I went to the Chattanooga Zoo today thinking it would be a great place to get some action shots of people and animals. Boy was I wrong! Almost all of the animals were behind pexiglass and you had to walk into dark little caves to look at them. So if I took a pic with no flash there wasn't enough light and if I took a pic with a flash, the light bounced off the glass.

I did manage to take a couple of pics of a camel ride they had outside in the open and some pics of a train for kids but that's about it for my photography class. I was really hoping for monkeys and meerkats and whatever else I could get.

My classmate, and friend, Melanie, managed to get an action shot of two tortises "getting it on". (parents were telling their kids they were wrestling).

I had my digital camera with me as well as the film camera and did manage one decent photo that doesn't look like its behind glass.

 

[Overread]

Zoo animals might not be in the wild and much easier to approach; but zoos themselves often present significant challenges to photographers - esp as many zoos are not geared up for photography (and most are often legacies of older generations and thus can't easily be made more accommodating).

A few tips I've picked up
Glass:
1) Take some of those quick screen wipes with you - because chances are kids have put their fingers alllllllll over the glass. So if you find a bad spot you can wipe off the marks on your side at least.

2) Flash and general reflections on the glass itself are a pain. The key is that reflections need to shine on the glass - then bounce off it and down your lens. So what can you do? You can either;
a) Get close - simple as the closer your lens is to the glass the less reflections are a problem; you can even use flash like this because the whole setup can be close enough that the flash light won't get a chance to bounce off a part of the glass that the lens is seeing though.

b) Block the light from reaching the glass - a square of cardboard (black) put over the end of your lens - now the card is blocking the light so it can't flash onto the glass and then back into the lens.

c) Block the light from reaching the glass - method two is to use a rubber lens hood (sold on ebay). This works best with lenses of a fixed focal length so that you've got a ring hood instead of a petal shaped one (petal have shorter sides so that the wider angle of the zoom lens won't get dark shadows from the lens hood).
By pushing the rubber onto the glass you block the chance for reflections to affect your shot - rubber also helps as it provides a nice tight seal whilst also being soft enough to cushion the pressure a little (not too much pressure mind as you don't want the hood to bed into and block the light reaching the lens itself.



In editing you might also find that boosting the contrast helps, glass or out-of-focus wire that you got up close to can cause a global (glass) or area specific (wire) drop in contrast and a boost can help hide the quality loss.

When in the dark also don't fear your ISO. A Good clean shot at a higher ISO is going to have less noise than one shot at a lower ISO. For wildlife I'd say start at ISO 400, or even ISO 800 on a darker day and see how your exposures and shutter speeds are - and adjust as needed.

Patience also helps, sometimes you've just got to wait an hour or two at one enclosure to get the shot; other times plan your trip so that you can work you way around the site to see what you want. Note also to keep an eye on feeding times and talks - sometimes zoos will time events so that they run in a loop around the site one after the other - creating an almost guided tour of the site - its a great way to get shots as many times food or activities with the animals will make them more mobile.

Talk to the keepers - so long as they are not rushed off their feet most are quite happy to chat about the zoo and the animals and you can pick up some good tips on where to get a good sight (might not be the best spot for a shot but at least you'll get tips on when animals might perform certain actions or be more awake). This can be helpful info as sometimes animals won't have a feeding slot on the day your visit (esp for big cats and wolves), the animals though will have a "slot" they become active in - but they are being fasted for a day as part of their normal diet so their food just won't appear (they'll still be active for it though)





Note fasting is oft used on animals that gorge their food - they eat loads in one sitting and then rest up a lot. Zoos adapt to this by staggering feeds so that the animals don't end up over-fed. It's also something used for "wild" or animals being set for re-introduction as in the wild food sources are not going to be regular for most predators.

 

[robbins.photo]

I went to the Chattanooga Zoo today thinking it would be a great place to get some action shots of people and animals. Boy was I wrong! Almost all of the animals were behind pexiglass and you had to walk into dark little caves to look at them. So if I took a pic with no flash there wasn't enough light and if I took a pic with a flash, the light bounced off the glass.

I did manage to take a couple of pics of a camel ride they had outside in the open and some pics of a train for kids but that's about it for my photography class. I was really hoping for monkeys and meerkats and whatever else I could get.

My classmate, and friend, Melanie, managed to get an action shot of two tortises "getting it on". (parents were telling their kids they were wrestling).

I had my digital camera with me as well as the film camera and did manage one decent photo that doesn't look like its behind glass.

Pexiglass can be a challenge, no doubt about it. When your shooting indoors a fast lens is a must, it is possible to use a flash with a diffuser of some sort and even then the results will be iffy and unpredictable because pexiglass, unlike regular glass, reflects light on multiple levels.

Your best bet is a fast lens of some sort, and when possible get as close to the glass as you can to minimize reflections. If you are getting reflections it helps to move slightly to your right or left, and if needed change the angle a little, and try to push them to the outside of the frame where you can crop them in post.

 

[PhotoTurtle]

I appreciate the tips. I probably wont go back to this zoo. In the future I will find out ahead time if the animals are in a more open enclosure like the traditional bars vs behind glass so I can plan my visit better.

 

[SCraig]

I have been to the Chattanooga Zoo a couple of times and haven't had any problems with the plexiglass enclosures, at least none worse than shooting through a chain link fence at other zoos. It's a trip of about 120 miles each way for me and personally I will go back again since I think it's a great place.

However, if you have problems at the Chattanooga Zoo I'd recommend that you also refrain from taking photos at the Tennessee Aquarium since, as you might guess, pretty much everything there is behind glass or plexiglass as well.

The advice others gave above is dead on the mark. Get your lens as close to the glass as you can and shoot with as wide an aperture as you can get by with. I normally put my hand on the enclosure and hold the end of my lens hood with it. The Jaguar above was taken at the Chattanooga Zoo a couple of years ago and I don't own a "Fast" lens. That was shot at f/6.3.

 

[snowbear]

You can try to schedule your trip around feeding times, if the zoo posts them. Earlier in the morning is better than noon, especially in the summer.

Yes, distance (and crowds) can be a bear, at times. 210mm and I still had to crop like crazy.

 

[PhotoTurtle]

SCraig, thank you for your reply. I am taking a black and white film class, and the situation at the zoo did not really lend itself well to what I am doing for class. At the moment we are not using a flash and not taking photos indoors. I had my little digital with me at the zoo as I usually do when I go out to take pictures.

The Aquarium holds no interest for me. It never has.

 

[annamaria]

Good tips on here. Wish I had known a few months ago, but I know now.

 

[CameraClicker]

I have rubber lens hoods. They work well with any glass/plexiglass you can get close to. Squish the hood against the glass and it will keep out ambient light behind you, and flash if you are using it. Hoods are not expensive, but sometimes they are too small. I was shooting full frame with 16 mm, so I took the top of the box reams of paper come in, and cut a hole to fit the lens body at the mount end, then put the lens through the hole and attached it to the body again. Pulled toward the front element, the lens sealed the hole, the box top provided a large dark area, and let me tilt the camera as needed. For a zoo or other areas with people around, something a little smaller might be better, a shoe box perhaps.

The largest rubber hood you can find might be best, then get a reducing ring or two, they come in some odd sizes. That will let you shoot with a shorter lens without the hood vignetting.

Sometimes a CP filter will work too. It depends on the light source.

 

[Civchic]

CP won't work on plexiglass. Too many weird directional layers.

 

[Braineack]

I just shoot at ISO 6400 if I have to:


Sleeping Fishing Cat by The Braineack, on Flickr

I was using a CPL as well--can't completely knock out reflections, but most of the glares will.

What's more annoying than glass is the new fences they've put up around ALL enclosures to prevent depressed drunk people from jumping into enclosures:


Sleeping Clouded Leopard by The Braineack, on Flickr

what's dumb is that you can still easily climb over it, but it just makes taking pictures at the National Zoo nearly impossible.


If you drag the shadows sliders down on you posted pic, it will improve it significantly. I find that if an image is washed out from shooting at the sun, or through glass/fence, that simply adding shadows does a great job in recovering the image.