Photo sharing: Zoos

[mikamah]

What absolutely stunning photos. The talent here on this board is amazing. Does it filter out through the computer, or is practice the only way to get so good?

 

[YEKCIM]

What absolutely stunning photos. The talent here on this board is amazing. Does it filter out through the computer, or is practice the only way to get so good?

My five step process:

1. Good equipment
2. Good subject material
3. Take LOTS of pix
4. Toss the bad ones
5. Post only the good ones

Others use a different technique, which has less steps, but involves more skill.

~YEKCIM

 

[GrumpyOne]

My five step process:

1. Good equipment
2. Good subject material
3. Take LOTS of pix
4. Toss the bad ones
5. Post only the good ones

AKA the "even a blind squirrel finds an occasional acorn" approach? That's what I call my approach. Take lots of pics, find the good ones and try to figure out what I did that made them decent.

 

[YEKCIM]

AKA the "even a blind squirrel finds an occasional acorn" approach? That's what I call my approach. Take lots of pics, find the good ones and try to figure out what I did that made them decent.

That's it exactly! And now, with digital, I find a few more "acorns" since I take exponentially more shots that I ever did with film. Of the 2000 (give or take) shots from WDW last July, I have a handful of shots that I'm really pleased with (not up to many forum regulars' standards, but pretty good for my skill level) and a couple hundred that I thought were good enough to make 4X6's of.

~Ed

 

[handicap18]

Took the family to the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence yestureday. Kids had a great time. Lots of cool animals, though they are still redoing the polar bears exhibit. I was hoping to see those. Oh well.


Mostly used the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR lens.

Here are a few of the better pics. We were there at the worst time for lighting, so it was hard to get some really nice pics. Plus many of the animals were behind glass which made for terrible glares (off the glass, not from the animals) and the glass was dirty too.

 

[YEKCIM]

Nice pix, Kyle, especially given the less than optimum shooting conditions (glare, dirty glass). The 70-300VR is a great "zoo lens", isn't it?

~YEKCIM

 

[Gdad]

Gee Kyle- Is the 2nd camel getting a little personal there?

Nice work- I really like the last one.

 

[mikamah]

My five step process:

1. Good equipment
2. Good subject material
3. Take LOTS of pix
4. Toss the bad ones
5. Post only the good ones

Others use a different technique, which has less steps, but involves more skill.

~YEKCIM

Thanks for the advice. I do 2, 3, and 4, and just started out with rebel xti. I have taken a few hundred pics since I got my camera last week, but haven't been happy with too many of them. I guess I thought that an slr with the kit lens on automatic would be way better than my sony cybershot, but I've gotten some pretty good shots with the p+s. I do love the speed of the slr, with my son being my main subject, it's great to get the the pic I'm trying for, not 2 seconds later. I'm going to continue to play with the program modes, and figure out what kind of lens I want to invest in first. I also see a trip to the zoo in my near future. Lots of photo ops there.

 

[YEKCIM]

Thanks for the advice. I do 2, 3, and 4, and just started out with rebel xti. I have taken a few hundred pics since I got my camera last week, but haven't been happy with too many of them. I guess I thought that an slr with the kit lens on automatic would be way better than my sony cybershot, but I've gotten some pretty good shots with the p+s. I do love the speed of the slr, with my son being my main subject, it's great to get the the pic I'm trying for, not 2 seconds later. I'm going to continue to play with the program modes, and figure out what kind of lens I want to invest in first. I also see a trip to the zoo in my near future. Lots of photo ops there.

I'll be honest...I wasn't thrilled with my initial results either, but the more I shoot, the more pleased I am with the pix I'm getting. I think it's just a learning curve thing and, fortunately, with digital, there is no monetary penalty for practicing/experimenting.

~YEKCIM

 

[jann1033]

i agree, with a new dslr even from a film slr, it's like another "acorn free" world at first, at least for me it was...from a p&s to dslr you are now trying to do some of the things your camera did before so naturally it'll take a while to learn but practice practice practice should help.

 

[jann1033]

that glass is really annoying..it makes for nice viewing but bad photos...one of the zoos by us is still mostly glassless ( cleveland) but akron is almost totally glass viewing and dark as well so it's hard to use a cp( which i thought might help but it was to dark even with my f4 lens, maybe a 2.8 would be ok)

but nice photos and a fun time anyway...

side note i made granddaughter a photo book from our last few zoo trips( shutterfly, i got it for free) and she loved seeing herself( modest huh) and the animals. she kept saying "cool" when she got it..something weird about a 2 yr old using 70-80's slang must be the "other" grandparents who are so "un-cool"

 

[handicap18]

Thanks for the compliments. I might try going to the zoo in Boston. Its smaller, but worth trying to see how their setup is.

here are 2 that have some glare from the glass. These were 2 of the better ones. Some are just plain awful.

This one I tried a number of times to get a shot, but the glass was awful, very dirty and scratchy so getting a focus was tough. This was the best, kinda of adds that the craine is giving a heck of a look.

Jeff, funny you mention the camels... but it was really the giraffe's that were getting personal. I wont post those pics, for the sake of the board....

 

[MicMin]

Nice pictures! I really like the one of the eagles.

 

[MicMin]

Great pictures! I want to get a 70-300VR for my D40. I think that it would be a good walkaround lens for the parks.

 

[YEKCIM]

Great pictures! I want to get a 70-300VR for my D40. I think that it would be a good walkaround lens for the parks.

It's a great lens, and the more I use mine, the better I like it. I wonder, though, how it would "balance" on the much smaller D40, as it is a pretty hefty lens. The new 55-200VR, at $250 is no slouch, and might be worth a look-see. Pix I've seen on another board are very impressive.

~YEKCIM

 

[jann1033]

as much as i love my 70-200 lens it is just a little to long for me as a walk around..the 50 would be better imo if the iq is good..

 

[MicMin]

It's a great lens, and the more I use mine, the better I like it. I wonder, though, how it would "balance" on the much smaller D40, as it is a pretty hefty lens. The new 55-200VR, at $250 is no slouch, and might be worth a look-see. Pix I've seen on another board are very impressive.

~YEKCIM

I have a 55-200VR and I think that it is a great lens. I was hoping to get a 70-300VR for more zoom. Thank you for the info about the size of the lens. I really hadn't thought about how much larger that it would probably be. I haven't seen the lens in any of the stores around here to check the size.

 

[Jeanne B]

We got back from our first trip to California and Arizona about 2-1/2 weeks ago, just now getting back on the DIS and getting some pics posted (lots of them actually, it's hard to narrow them down!!). These were all taken with my Pentax K100 using my 18-55, 50-200 and 50 mm 1.4. I left my S3 at home and brought my more pocketable A610 instead as a backup, I only missed the S3 a few times, mostly at the Grand Canyon.

Here's some of the California pics, I'll post the Arizona pictures later. The weather in California was beautiful but Arizona was hot, hot, hot!! We had a fantastic time though, loved the quaintness of Disneyland, it was small and although it was crowded it didn't feel like it, not like it feels at WDW. The most shocking thing was how small the castle was, I knew it was small from riding Soarin at WDW but it's strange to actually be there for the first time and to walk around the corner and find this little tiny castle that isn't any taller than many of the other buildings on Main Street!!

Hope you enjoy!!

 

[YEKCIM]

Nice shots. I know you are enjoying your new Pentax. What PP software do you use, btw?

~YEKCIM

 

[Jeanne B]

Nice shots. I know you are enjoying your new Pentax. What PP software do you use, btw?

~YEKCIM

Thank you. Actually none of these are PP'd. I have both Elements 5.0 and Paint Shop Pro X but I'm yet to use either one on more than just a few pictures, I never seem to get around to doing any PP once I get my pictures downloaded (truth be told, I need to make the time to get over the learning curve of them both ).