Photo sharing: Zoos

[AndrewWG]

Andy,

I took a course in photojournalism my senior year in college, back when the Earth's crust was still cooling, and the instructor's constant comment was to "go for the tight closeup". That was 30+ years ago, and I still hear his voice, in the back of what's left of my brain, whispering, "go for the tight closeup" whenever I have a camera in my hands.

~Ed

Doesn't that stink when you can't get those types of things out of your head? I think for me it is just the fact that I have spent most of my life looking in field guides and looking at those photos. Of course, they are up close and tight so that you can see the animal/bird that you are looking for. This is just how I like to see wildlife. There are some exceptions, but overall, I like the detail and to get that, you have to ZOOM! That is why I bought the S2 IS when I did.

Andy

 

[handicap18]

Nicely done once again Ed. Nice to see the D50 paying off for you. I too LOVE the 70-300 VR. It is very sharp. Much much sharper than my old Quantaray.

We're heading down to Providence tomorrow to visit the Roger Williams Park Zoo. I've heard very good things about it. I'm very excited to get out the 70-300mm VR. I'll post results sometime on Mon or Tue.

Andy, if your still up for it. I'll be down in Onset with the kids on June 30. The Gatemen have a home game that day. I'll definately have my D50 with me for the game to get some shots. If you haven't made up your mind by then, your certainly welcome to try it out.

 

[KimAshton]

Your pics look amazing for a cheap camera.

 

[AndrewWG]

Nicely done once again Ed. Nice to see the D50 paying off for you. I too LOVE the 70-300 VR. It is very sharp. Much much sharper than my old Quantaray.

We're heading down to Providence tomorrow to visit the Roger Williams Park Zoo. I've heard very good things about it. I'm very excited to get out the 70-300mm VR. I'll post results sometime on Mon or Tue.

Andy, if your still up for it. I'll be down in Onset with the kids on June 30. The Gatemen have a home game that day. I'll definately have my D50 with me for the game to get some shots. If you haven't made up your mind by then, your certainly welcome to try it out.

Kyle,

That sounds good. I will be in Sandwich during the day on that day for a 40th bday party of a friend of mine but I should be home again by 6pm or so and the game starts at 7pm. I'll plan on going to that for now, for sure! Of course, I really don't want to even touch a Nikon as I'm afraid it will burn my hands, but I'll give it a try!

Andy

 

[YEKCIM]

Kyle,

That sounds good. I will be in Sandwich during the day on that day for a 40th bday party of a friend of mine but I should be home again by 6pm or so and the game starts at 7pm. I'll plan on going to that for now, for sure! Of course, I really don't want to even touch a Nikon as I'm afraid it will burn my hands, but I'll give it a try!

Andy

Andy, if you are serious about the D50, I suggest you consider making a move reasonably soon, as they are becoming like the proverbial hens' teeth.

~YEKCIM

 

[Shane]

Great pictures, thank you for sharing them.

 

[Shane]

Wow, amazing photos. I love the colors on those parrots (They are right? )

 

[AndrewWG]

Andy, if you are serious about the D50, I suggest you consider making a move reasonably soon, as they are becoming like the proverbial hens' teeth.

~YEKCIM

Actually, If I were to go Nikon, I would probably just go with the D80 rather than trying to find a D50. If they were still readily available, I would go the D50 route though. I am still in money saving mode so that I can actually buy anything at this point though.

Andy

 

[YEKCIM]

Wow, amazing photos. I love the colors on those parrots (They are right? )

Yes, the colors are correct; the birds are actually Lorikeets and are about as colorful as any bird I've ever seen. Our local zoo has a Lorikeet aviary and the birds are loose inside, of course, and accustomed to humans being around, so the main problem in photographing them is *not* getting close enough...it is getting far enough away to be able to focus, at least with the lens I used, which has a minimum focus distance of about 5 feet.

~YEKCIM

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing. We were fans also. I've never actually seen pictures of the zoo (or a kookaburra) before, and the memorial looks incredible.

BTW, are you talking about your S3? I wouldn't exactly call it a cheapie, LOL.

 

[steery1]

Lovely shots Yeckim. I like the "go for the tight close-up" quote. It has served you well.

 

[YEKCIM]

Lovely shots Yeckim. I like the "go for the tight close-up" quote. It has served you well.

Thanks; the "tight closeup" deal has proven to be a good substitute for good composition skills, at least for me!

~YEKCIM

 

[Groucho]

You can right click on any of the photos to get the full exif, except for the ISO which does not show on Nikon pix, for some strange reason.

~YEKCIM

It's possible that it could be from your RAW processor? One thing that startled me a little when I switched from the Pentax RAW software to Lightroom was that my exif data suddenly looked a bit different. The data was pretty much all still there, but not always in the same order and sometimes formatted slightly differently. Perhaps the RAW processor is not putting the ISO in when creating the JPG.

Oh, and if you really want to practice for AK (at least, the Safari part), have someone push you around on a mechanical bull on wheels while you try to take your shots!

 

[hjd0411]

Oh no - this was a little Kodak "cheapie" I bought last year to practice with, before I got to the S3!!

Thanks everyone for commenting on the photos - I really enjoyed going there, and hope to go back again soon.

Heather

 

[SherKhan]

Very beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing it. The memorial definitely touched me. I can't wait for the day when I can visit the zoo in person.

 

[handicap18]

It's possible that it could be from your RAW processor? One thing that startled me a little when I switched from the Pentax RAW software to Lightroom was that my exif data suddenly looked a bit different. The data was pretty much all still there, but not always in the same order and sometimes formatted slightly differently. Perhaps the RAW processor is not putting the ISO in when creating the JPG.

No, its some sort of Nikon firmware issue Groucho. I have the same issue with all my JPEGs straight out of the camera. The ONLY place I've found I can read the ISO from my D50 is with the software that came with it from Nikon.

I've noticed it on anyone who shoots with a Nikon dSLR.

Its actually quite annoying.

 

[YEKCIM]

No, its some sort of Nikon firmware issue Groucho. I have the same issue with all my JPEGs straight out of the camera. The ONLY place I've found I can read the ISO from my D50 is with the software that came with it from Nikon.

I've noticed it on anyone who shoots with a Nikon dSLR.

Its actually quite annoying.

I d/l and installed Opanda something-or-other, which picks up the ISO, along with more information than I can possibly figure out.

Oh, and by the way, I shot those in (shhh)JPEG-Large/Fine) so it's not a RAW issue. Please don't tell anyone I'm still shooting JPEG. Oh, I'm so embarrassed. I'll probably be banned, now...

~YEKCIM

 

[Cricket2]

If your using IE you need to download a plug in to be able to do so.

Search on Opanda

You can save them localy as well and get info that way if you can't use the plug-in.

 

[jann1033]

Opanda works great. I use it with Internet Explorer. If you are using Firefox as your web browser, then go to the Firefox homepage and they have a plug in that you can use.

Yekcim,

Great pics! You are making me think Nikon... Man, all of you are gonna hate me by the time I finally decide and buy a DSLR aren't you!?

Andy

no one has shot me yet and i've been a pain much longer than you

great shots yeckim esp. love the black swallowtail (?)

 

[Groucho]

Oh, and nobody mentioned it by name, but if you use Firefox (and if you don't - you should! ), grab the FxIF plug-in to view the exif data without having to install a stand-alone program (ie, Opanda.)