Monkeys and Tigers, OH MY!

shelby16 · May 15, 2013

C&C would be LOVELY. I really have been trying to take in everything that you guys have been saying. These photos may or may not have been taken at the zoo with my Nikon D5100 at 55-300m... who knows.

Thanks,
Shelby

#1 Relaxing in the sun.

#2 I see you.

#3 Eye of the tiger

#4 Peek a boo!

#5 Lion

shelby16 · May 15, 2013

Oh, and I love this one so I had to share!

pixmedic · May 15, 2013

im going to say missed focus on the monkey shots.
love the tiger shot!
green bird is good.
lion is framed too tight.
kinda looks like missed focus again on the two white birds.

personally, the Tiger and green bird are the winners here.

shelby16 · May 15, 2013

pixmedic said:
im going to say missed focus on the monkey shots.
love the tiger shot!
green bird is good.
lion is framed too tight.
kinda looks like missed focus again on the two white birds.

personally, the Tiger and green bird are the winners here.

Thank you so much for posting!

I really appreciate your opinions, and I will take them into consideration next time I shoot.

shelby16 · May 15, 2013

Bump.

I want as many critiques as possible. I really do take it all in.

wackii · May 15, 2013

It would be cool if u can wait till the tiger looks at you. Cool shot though. Consider different time of day to shoot these as they all seemed to have shadows. Thanks for sharing.

globeglimpser · May 15, 2013

As a person who loves shooting big cats (with my D5100) I lve these!

Are you into shootng animals or was this a one off?

globeglimpser · May 15, 2013

1+2) Missed focus as metioned
3) Love the tiger but may have stopped down to get a little more focus on the back - tigers have very prominent stripes and having these stand out adds a lot to a tiger shot imo
4) The bird is well shotbut was it maybe possible to reframe and avoid getting the bowl.
5) For the lion I wuldneitermhave zoomed out to get the full mane or in to get a great portait - trya crop and see what it looks like - maybe even change the orientation
6) I love these, they look like egrets but my birding knowledge is limited to what you find in Africa - can anyone shed some light here? Anyway, great shot this one

The trick to shooting in a zoo is to always try and eliminate any manmade objects as you would if you had to in the wild. Some wildlife photographers don't like it when people do this and would be justified especially when people claim their zoo shots to be wild. The whole point of wildlife photogaphy is tracking and finding your subject and working to get the shot. You ar clearly not one of these people since you clearly mentioned zoo.

Anyway thats me nd my thoughts. Great job, and hope to see more of your shots

Ps - I also have the D5100 and 55-300

shelby16 · May 16, 2013

Thank you so much Globeglimpser!

Yes, I am VERY into shooting animals, they are my main subjects. Birds especially.
Also, love the advice you gave me, I will take it into my next session.

I don't mind sharing that it was at the zoo, haha! But I know some people that would never tell.

The closest I could get to the tiger "looking at me" was this:

Judobreaker · May 16, 2013

Why bother not admitting a shot wasn't made at a zoo.
For one, you're trying to deceive people (which I think is rather low) and second... If a shot is good it is good.

I've made some of my coolest shots at the zoo.

shelby16 · May 16, 2013

Judobreaker said:
Why bother not admitting a shot wasn't made at a zoo.
For one, you're trying to deceive people (which I think is rather low) and second... If a shot is good it is good.

I've made some of my coolest shots at the zoo.

I totally agree!

I'm always going to share that it was at the zoo. I don't believe it tricking people into thinking it was in the wild. But I TRY to get rid of manmade objects as much as possible.

globeglimpser · May 16, 2013

shelby16 said:
Judobreaker said:

Why bother not admitting a shot wasn't made at a zoo.
For one, you're trying to deceive people (which I think is rather low) and second... If a shot is good it is good.

I've made some of my coolest shots at the zoo.

Click to expand...

I totally agree! I'm always going to share that it was at the zoo. I don't believe it tricking people into thinking it was in the wild. But I TRY to get rid of manmade objects as much as possible.

This here is the perfect attitude

The goal is to get the best photograph possible. The zoo mention is just to avoid images in zoos being compared directly with images from the wild - both are photographically good but some of the work wildlife photographers do should also be credited (searching, tracking, waiting in a hide, following, never getting close enough...)

I'm sorry for hijacking your post to talk about this - I was just really happy to see posts of wild animals where the publisher clearly stated these were zoo shots. This has never been a problem in this forum as far as I know but as a potential wildlife photographer and a person currently studying via distance to be a field guide in Southern Africa, this is something I feel quite strongly about along with rhino poaching

globeglimpser · May 16, 2013

shelby16 said:
Thank you so much Globeglimpser! Yes, I am VERY into shooting animals, they are my main subjects. Birds especially.
Also, love the advice you gave me, I will take it into my next session.

I don't mind sharing that it was at the zoo, haha! But I know some people that would never tell.

The closest I could get to the tiger "looking at me" was this:

View attachment 45088

I love this, so dreamy

So wildlife photography, birds and? I'm sorry for all this curiosity - you are the first person I have met on this forum who is interested in wildlife and big cats...

shelby16 · May 16, 2013

That's totally fine Globeglimpser! Hijack away. haha
Yes, I LOVE wildlife photography and birds. I'm trying my hand at more portraits with natural light, like starting with my family. I have a friend who wants me to take photos of her baby girl for Fathers Day!
Living in Florida there are LOTS of wildbirds and pelicans that like to be photographed, so sometimes I'll see the weirdest things show in my backyard. Like this one:

Not my best work, but what the crap is that?!?! haha.

globeglimpser · May 16, 2013

This looks like it was a tad too far away for the 55-300. I have the same lens and the exact same camera and I know that while it is great, you can never have enough focal length, especially on a student budget

PS. I Pm'ed you