My first zoo visit with my christmas present (C&C very welcome)

dreamer_ire · 31-12-2008 6:50pm #1

Folks

My first day out with my new D60 - today in Belfast Zoo. C&C very welcome. Am a newbie so am very keen for any pointers on what you think worked/could be improved.

Many thanks

Malayan Sun Bear

The old man on the hill

Barbary Lion (shot through glass)

Howitzer · 31-12-2008 8:14pm

Looks like a good trip out. Nice pics.

Your lioness pic is nicely cropped. Some photoshop work might help remove the glassy look from the eyes.
(I see you said you were shooting through glass)
Selecting around the eyes and playing with contrast and levels might do it. Then an unsharp mask filter.

I feel the monkeys are a great pic but would look better cropped more drastically:

Nice work! Happy shooting in '09. The zoo is on my list of things to do!

challengemaster · 31-12-2008 8:17pm

Like the monkeys shot, nice composition.

Advice: Don't use flash in the zoo.

AnimalRights · 31-12-2008 8:19pm

Monkeys pic looks silly cropped that tight.

AnCatDubh · 31-12-2008 9:35pm

AnimalRights wrote: »

Monkeys pic looks silly cropped that tight.

Perhaps / perhaps not. Both views are only an opinion and OP, it is up to you to see what you'd rather yourself.

Often tighter crops can yield new perspectives on compositions which you may not have originally seen.

In terms of C&C, I like the 2nd the best probably with a wider crop which respects the original aspect ratio. I think tighter crops can work too with it but given the layout of the animals to my thinking you may be better maintaining the original ratio.

I'm not gone on the lion eyes - I think they are quite dull and lifeless which is probably the murkyness of the glass coming through. Was it an indoor enclosure?

How did you shoot? Aperture Priority / Shutter Priority / Fully manual / Fully Automatic?

#3 is ok, but i'd have given the composition a bit more context with a wider crop I think. Its quite desaturated. A B/W may do well for this with a little added contrast.

All the above just an opinion - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Good luck with the new D60.

AnimalRights · 31-12-2008 9:37pm

I should have maybe said that particular picture which come to think of it surely I was referring to it, its one thing cropping a picture tight but surely not when you cut a 2nd animal in half.
What I will say is that the plastic you had to look through most of it had condensation on them.

AnimalRights · 31-12-2008 10:11pm

New version.

Old version.

dreamer_ire · 01-01-2009 3:32pm

Thank you all for your comments... given me food for thought!

AnCatDubh - I'm not sure I know enough yet to answer your questions lol. The dial thingy was on auto but I was manually focussing the lens. Someone gave me the tip of setting the ISO at 400.... which somehow I managed to do!! I'm a complete novice and my bedtime reading is now the D60 manual and "Understanding Exposure".

Thanks again all

My first zoo visit with my christmas present (C&C very welcome)

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