First C&C (Go Easy)

Dodgykeeper

At the Zoo on Monday

Carrigman

Fine shots. Well done.

Paulw

Nice photos. Good timing with the lion and a lovely shot of the baby elephant. Well done.

Alanstrainor

Great stuff, it looks like the lion just woke up after paddy's day!
Can i ask what gear you used?

Dades

Great stuff.
I really like the capture of the huffalump. Very sharp, too.

Dodgykeeper

Nikon d300 and 80-200mm 2.8

Eirebear

Very nice...the fence at the lion enclosure almost works as a frame, well done.

The Baby elephant looks like that kitchen roll advert...its teeny!:D

Mellor

Nice captures.
Doesn't look too much like its a zoo

Ruu_Old

Good stuff, you done well to get a capture of the lion. Nicely composed shots. Keep it up!

Borderfox

Love the baby Elephant one, great catch..

leche solara

Love the way the lion looks like a bear with a sore head

pickarooney

The lion's face looks fantastic. If you could somehow get rid of the pole and maybe blur the fence some it would stand out even more.

The heffielump must be the most photographed beastie about Lovely shot - have you any more of him/her?

Dodgykeeper

Rest of Pics are:

HERE

AnCatDubh

Oh i'm so glad you posted that extra link. Sorry but i don't think the baby elephant that you posted originally is a great take. I mean he/she is cute and all that and definitely gets the 'ahhh' factor but I think for me its that there is very little contrast in the image. The sand and its colour is quite overpowering to the overall image. Granted - not much ya could do about that.

On the other hand you didn't post the following for C&C but to my humble eye its about 1000 times better than the one you did post (maybe just me - everyone else seems to be sharing the love at the moment!)



I think the reason its rather better than the original you posted (again only to my eye) is that there is more contrast, more colour (greens, blue, black, white-ish, and brown). You've managed a nice 'Depth of Field' in this shot if even a little too much (i'd be a big fan of appropriate depth of field). With the depth of field used, your subject really stands out which is generally the desired effect.

Just a note of caution - as you took the image at f2.8 and 200mm focal length you are into fairly extreme DOF. Just be mindful that you are dealing with a fairly strong optical effect at this point (nice and all as it may be!) and it may not always suit an image - infact could ruin it on you. Been there - loved the way my new DSLR gave me ability to create DOF which previously I struggled to create effectively. But you can end up using it to point where you'll start asking yourself 'whats all that blur from?'. Done that too.

As to the lion - I've a few issues which leaves the image just 'strange' for me. Don't get me wrong - The subject is great. Technically its ok. You've gone with a depth of field here which is giving me a little 'dizzy' tunnel effect (again maybe just me). I think in this case (although previously stated that i like DOF) the depth of field is actually giving a motion blurr kinda effect. You've also gotten a little horizon straightening to sort out if its a text book approach that you're after - but i appreciate that the desired effect maybe at the angle that you took it at(?). I love the symmetrical appearance of the face (ok perhaps that would be what you'd expect), but i think it kinda just hangs there - you've lost the context of its body (obviously its there but i think the eye/brain just kinda ends up slightly puzzled).

Hey - for a first, take it that it's not bad at all and you've been brave enough to request C&C which given the last day or two around this place has probably demanded a bit of guts. You are obviously enjoying the hobby and i think you'll probably have lots to show us into the future. Well done and good luck.

EDIT: Just been reading another post which made me think - that there's (obviously) more to depth of field than aperture and focal length referenced above. In fact it is pointed out in the other post that technically its not focal length at all but magnification. Yet the DOF calculators incorporate focal length as well as aperture, distance to subject and sensor size. Hmnnnnn..... may take a while to get the head around the specifics of the difference! Sorry if this confuses.

YeahOK

Like the one of the lion. The expression reminds me of the Godfather for some reason! It has that maltesers in the mouth look to it. The foliage at the top of the head is a bit distracting though.

Nice shots though!

Dodgykeeper

Was at the lion enclosure for about five mins looking at the lioness when the Lion lept up, roared scared the **** out of the kids and then flopped back down again, no time to compose the shot and lucky to get what I did.

Am really encouraged by your comments first time posting pics that are not of sport and will have no fears about doing so again!

Cheers

City-Exile

Great capture on the lion.
The fence almost frames his face.

The elephant is too cute.
Well done, nice shots there.

P.