Going to the zoo tomorrow and got my canon powershot and Camcorder charged up. I hope the animals will be out so I can take some good shots. Anyone got any tips for good animal shots? I love animals and nature and prefer this for my hobby photography skills.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Taking pictures of animals
- Thread starter jwolf6589
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
try to focus on their eyes as with any animal or reptile.
also try to get these caged animals to be playful or not jailed somehow, that makes for a great scene.
i taken orangoutangs photos i thought were incredible at their place, but sad while uploading the photos.
example sad:
while this was freer
Mountain Lion by expo bill, on Flickr
also try to get these caged animals to be playful or not jailed somehow, that makes for a great scene.
i taken orangoutangs photos i thought were incredible at their place, but sad while uploading the photos.
example sad:
while this was freer
Mountain Lion by expo bill, on FlickrWow the last one of the lion is incredible. How can I get them to be playful without being eaten? Well I guess I need patience to get the good shots. It’s supposed to be sunny here in Colorado Saturday so I hope the animals will be out and not hiding. Thanks for your tips.try to focus on their eyes as with any animal or reptile.
also try to get these caged animals to be playful or not jailed somehow, that makes for a great scene.
i taken orangoutangs photos i thought were incredible at their place, but sad while uploading the photos.
example sad:
View attachment 1735607
while this was freer
no problem, i used a sports backpack that lemurs and other small animals focused their attention on while the larger ones like giraffes and lions were content on just enjoying the sun.
since most Zoo animals hare noise and children, i would try to be alone as much as possible.
My Friend would record gibbons in madison Wi and i would try to keep the kids away from that area of the zoo from time to time but that never worked because the kids were okay with that but not the parents.
since most Zoo animals hare noise and children, i would try to be alone as much as possible.
My Friend would record gibbons in madison Wi and i would try to keep the kids away from that area of the zoo from time to time but that never worked because the kids were okay with that but not the parents.
Amazing they can fit that in such a small camera.Apparently the PowerShot SX740 HS goes from 24-960mm equivalent
Cheers
Hugh
Try it, and see how you get on.
Don't get disillusioned if the photos don't come out perfect, as photography has as much to do with composition as how good your camera is, and that will take a lot more practice than most folks imagine when starting out
Cheers, and just enjoy yourself
Hugh
Last edited:
They always say, the best camera is the one you have on you.
Lighting conditions will be important, of course, and the better the light in the environment the more likely it is that you'll come home with a few nice snapshots. If the zoo has buildings where one has to go inside to see and photograph the animals, that is more problematic in terms of light, especially at that fully-zoomed-in point of 40X/960mm, and if one is handholding and not using a tripod or monopod chances are much higher that there will be motion blur and such.
When shooting animals and birds, always aim for the eyes, yes, and also try not to inadvertently clip out an important body part of the animal or bird -- that is, don't clip the fully-extended wings of a bird in flight, or show only part of a Lemur's tail when you've managed to get the rest of the body just finel, and don't whack off the ears of a mammal when doing a head shot.... Sharp focus is important, too, showing fine details in a bird's feathers, a mammal's fur, whatever....
Have fun, enjoy the zoo and its inhabitants, and shooting photos!
When shooting animals and birds, always aim for the eyes, yes, and also try not to inadvertently clip out an important body part of the animal or bird -- that is, don't clip the fully-extended wings of a bird in flight, or show only part of a Lemur's tail when you've managed to get the rest of the body just finel, and don't whack off the ears of a mammal when doing a head shot.... Sharp focus is important, too, showing fine details in a bird's feathers, a mammal's fur, whatever....
Have fun, enjoy the zoo and its inhabitants, and shooting photos!
Last edited:
Try and capture a shot that could have been taken in the wild. Avoid the fences and other man made objects.
The difference between
this
and this.
I like the second shot due to the expression, but the car and fencing spoil it for me.
And, due to what is probably too-low resolution on the sensor, trying to crop out situations such as AFB points out above are simply not going to work and are only going to make the situation worse.....too much detail would be lost and the image would not be satisfactory.
I'd say shoot in RAW if possible but I don't think he would want to edit the photos.
Get confortable with it. Maybe at some point you will want to upgrade if you feel your skills are not being challenged enough.
Been a while since I've dealt with P&S cameras but I'd be surprised if they still have all the customary functions (Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Full Manual) -- more likely just Program Mode, full Auto Mode and Scene Mode..... I would be even more surprised if any of them permit someone shooting in RAW -- I think the point of having a P&S camera in the first place is to be able to just fire off quick snapshots (in JPEG) in a given situation, and not having to deal with editing them afterward in any way.
I had a hybrid Canon that I got when I was pregnant with my daughter, thinking I could learn manual but not have the bulk of a big camera. I was thinking maybe his camera was like that. It did have full manual control. But I never really learned to use it properly and 90% of my daughter's baby photos are blurry or used flash....any good images were accidental. When my son was 6 weeks I got a real camera (which at the very least removed camera shake) and within the first two months I was shooting Av and raw. His baby images are considerably better.
If the OP's camera has any manual controls I'd recommend setting a minimum SS of 1/250. Camera shake/motion blur are the hardest things to overcome on a P&S and SS seems to be the first thing the camera throws out the window when left to its own devices.
If the OP's camera has any manual controls I'd recommend setting a minimum SS of 1/250. Camera shake/motion blur are the hardest things to overcome on a P&S and SS seems to be the first thing the camera throws out the window when left to its own devices.
Raw is raw, unedited. Most likely for your Canon it will be .cr2. But you would need a raw editor to edit and convert them to a useable format.