My visit to Zoo Park

[ravikiran]

Hai Everyone,
Last weekend I planned a trip to the Zoo Park nearby. I enjoyed a lot in the company of natures wonderful creations, though I had some problems shooting them. I don't have an tele lens, but only 18-55 Nikkor lens. And here in Hyderabad Zoo, most of the animals were locked in an enclosure with a mesh. The animals were usually far from my focus range. Anyhow, some did give me a chance to take their photos which I am posting here. Please tell me what aspects I should improve regarding shooting animals (No harm meant - I mean Animal Photography ). Thank you in advance.

#1.
My Favourite. One of the oldest found here. Sorry forgot to get her age. Pity that I was unable to get her into more zoom. But she's the most laziest I have ever seen. Never bothered to walk towards me and give a pose.

#2.
Quite opposite the above one. Been very active and gave more than a dozen poses. Unfortunately, she is not aware of the fact that I don't own an VR lens.

#3.
I just love this baby. Too meek character. I love her eyes the most.

#4.
Sorry to spoil the good photo. But I was not yet an expert in outfocussing the mesh. (Though on and on I overcame the difficulty). Excuse me for that. Still thought that you shall like to see the picture.

#5.
The royal couple, though not in a great mood indeed, might be a family problem. I would have given anything at that moment for a tele lens. They are very far away from us.

#6.
Felt like giving company. Waddling in the cool water and Staring at the gazers and Starring the photographs.

#7.
Thinking of how to scare me off. But I didn't budge. Gave her a few scares, moved her a bit here and there and got the pose.

#8.
Atlast, I did got the secret of how to outfocus the mesh. I focused this celebrity right, though you can observe the mesh if you look keenly. Now I shall spend more time mastering this concept.

#9.
Posted this just for Corinna. Thought you'd like the Green all the way (mixed with white).

#10.
She gave me all the time to adjust myself without flying away. Thanks to her.

#11.
I was unable to compose it right. But still would like to share it.

#12.
Hornbills always amuses me a lot. They are awesome. Got two varieties.

#13.
This one gets my "Best model Award". Hope you agree with me.

#14.
This is my first macro without using the default settings (program mode and manual focus). Please don't forget to give an opinion on this.

#15 .
Two more lazy heads. Got them in a sleepy mood.

#16.
This is a shot my friend took. His most favourite in the reptile species. We waited for more than 1 hour for a change of pose. But believe me, it's sleeping like a log. My friend would be very glad to know any comments on this shoot.

Over all, I enjoyed the visit very much. It's lively to be in the company of these adorable animals. Though it hurt me many times to see such innocent creatures to be kept in an enclosure. But that's how nature goes. Man still thinks he's superior.

 

[lostprophet]

#6 is a wonderful photo
#14 makes me laugh, it just looks like its jumping

great set of shots

 

[Dan28607]

Love #5!

 

[W.Smith]

Nice photos, ravikiran. I like the birds and the Malay bear.

Question for everyone:
do photos from the zoo belong in the 'Nature/Wildlife' section? Or should we have a separate section?

 

[ravikiran]

#6 is a wonderful photo
#14 makes me laugh, it just looks like its jumping

great set of shots

Thank you Lostprophet and Dan.

 

[ravikiran]

Nice photos, ravikiran. I like the birds and the Malay bear.

Thank you Smith. That's vey encouraging.

Question for everyone:
do photos from the zoo belong in the 'Nature/Wildlife' section? Or should we have a separate section?

I did get the same doubt. Anyhow, as the question is asked I think we can expect an answer from the moderators and members soon.

 

[Antarctican]

Given you don't have a zoom, you did a good job!

It's always nice (but not always possible) to compose the picture to eliminate elements that show the shot was taken in a zoo (eg fences, bars). You were able to do this in several pictures (for example: 2, 6 and 9). If you have a program that can crop, you might want to zoom in and crop the shot of the fawn in #3, to get rid of the fences in the background - it's a lovely shot. I really like #6, and the stark (vs. stork) contrast in #9. The bear shots are nice too. The caterpillar in #14 is nice and clear/detailed.

 

[LaFoto]

:hug:: Ravi for the photo that you took and posted only for me. I :heart: :heart: :heart: GREEN!!!

Your zoo photos are good!

If you want to get closer to your lazy tortoise and exclude some of the things that got themselves into your frame because you could not zoom in any further with the lens you have you can always crop the picture. If it was well exposed and well focused, you should have enough clarity also in a cropped version. I like how she put her head on the stone as her pillow.

I really do like the hippo photo. That one is close, clear, and he looks at you with a smile on his face ... erm ... or am I having visions here ??? :scratch:

And I also like your two bird photos of the hornbills, mostly so the second of the two, that one has some nice colours. And you nicely excluded the fence here, too (as you did for the friendly posing stork, too).

(When my sister and I went to the bird park in May, I struggled a lot with the fence, so I know well about your pain! I think I took a photo of a hornbill at the time, too. And of storks and of many other birds )

Yes, Mr Malay Bear did deserve his award as Best Model and his drink afterwards ... but isn't his pose a bit indecent for This Friendly Family Forum ???

The caterpillar in the air is very nicely focused and has a wonderful background :mrgreen: ! Of course it is not in the air like that, something holds it there but we don't see it. Cool. Nice DOF in that one!

Wow, that is ONE long snake there!!!

All in all, if these had been mine, I would have cropped quite a few here and there to enhance composition and get rid of things that distract ... I take it these are straight off the camera?

(And on another side note: I stumbled across a couple of zoo pics that I had all forgotten about ... this thread might inspire me to post them .)

 

[ravikiran]

Yeah, Thank you Corinna. I did a bit of cropping and they are not straight away from the camera. So you can understand what long shots I was forced to shoot. Anyhow, I didn't have much time to work on them. I shall remember to frame them with a border. I shall make the necessary changes and store them in my database.

Yes, I did see your thread. I was thrilled by the brightness you got in those shots. Especially, as you say of the poor light and non-availability of a flash (which I too lack). Next time I too shall concentrate on the colour adjustment and exposure.

 

[LaFoto]

Your photos here are good! I said so before.
Thanks for checking out the thread I put out just for you . Was my pleasure to do so.

 

[ravikiran]

Hai Antarctican,
Sorry didn't note your reply. Anyhow thank you so much. That's very encouraging from you.

 

[Tantalus]

Nice series, some of 'em look real interesting like the white tigers and the bear.

 

[ravikiran]

Thank you Tantalus. Glad to know that you enjoyed the photos.

 

[Puscas]

nr 13 is hilarious and I have to agree with LaFoto; this one is NSFW...:lmao:

The caterpillar is amazing. Everybody knows what's going on, but these are the kind of pictures that make you go...huh? I like that.



pascal

 

[ravikiran]

Thank you puscas. The caterpillar is hanging from a tree and I thought of trying a macro. That's it. It's straight from the camera, just size adjustments were done.
Thank you once again.