Zoo Photography (C&C please.)

[redonyx]

Here's a shot I took at a zoo in Virginia. I'll admit that it probably qualifies more as a snapshot than as a serious photo but I don't really know how to take serious animal photos.

You can't really pose zoo animals so I was wondering how to get from a snapshot to a frame worthy animal picture. I'm luck enough to have a lot of opportunity to practice coming soon. My nephew has decided he wants to be an elephant keeper so I imagine I'll be taking him to the zoo often this summer.

Thanks for looking.

 

[reznap]

It's a little soft, might be able to sharpen up with an app.
(edit: look at my post count and camera.. take that crit for what it's worth, lol)

Reading into the content, I like that he has his hand on the bars, like he's imprisoned or something and reaching out, but the food (orange slice?) takes away from that a bit.

Any more?

 

[the iconic image]

Here's a little something you might want to think about should you get the opportunity to get anything "behind the scenes," at ANY zoo.. PETA slams zoos on a regular basis and most well established zoos are VERY sensitive to things behind the scenes where the public isn't allowed to be.. You mentioned elephants and they in particular at night in most zoos, are chained by their feet in areas where the public isn't allowed to be/see.. There are many other issues similar to this that I won't get into but suffice to say, if you get behind the scenes you are going to want to be sensitive to these issues and understand why THEY are going to be also.

As for the shot you posted, I don't like seeing animals behind bars. I can't get to the rest of the image because I'm bothered by the cage. You want to get a long lense, get as close to the cage as possible, and shoot "through it," or between bars to keep it out of the shot for my taste.

the Iconic Image