Click on the site name to be taken directly to each RSS/Email feed.

WhyGo

WhyGo is a member of the BootsnAll Travel Network and, among other travel related information, dispenses a daily photo from reader submissions.  The submissions are hand picked and loaded monthly, making this a great site to submit to if you are so inclined.  The subject matter spans the globe and is not only a great photo inspiration site, but very addicting for those with wanderlust.

Gadling

Gadling is another excellent travel site dishing up daily stories and photos.  The photo feed is often taken from their Flickr pool where Flickr members are encouraged to submit their favorite travel photos.  The pool is large for Gadling to draw from and all posts include a bit of information about the location or photograph itself.

Steve Gallow – A Year In Photos

Steve’s blog chronicles the same journey most of us have embarked upon; learning more about photography through doing it.  Currently in the middle of a Photo365 Project, he shoots daily and shares a wealthy of information about the photos he posts.  Almost every post contains a “Lessons Learned” section which serves a good reminder of how the basics in photography need to be followed for great results.

Dawnstar Australis

 A mysterious site with a lot of macros and a penchant for zombies (although they don’t figure largely into the feed).  I found this site through a Twitter search for #photo365.  As mentioned in the original post, this is a great way to find others interested in keeping their photography mojo working.  A lot of the photos are macros with a variety of subject matter.

Prague Daily Photo

  If you don’t have the time to travel to the Czech Republic every day, this site is a must for those interested in a black and white approach to documenting a city.  Ranging from a single picture some of the time to multiple shots telling a story in pieces, I really enjoy the subject matter and variety presented daily.

 365 McArth

Vincent runs a well designed site with nothing except his Photo365 project.  His photos tend to be contrasty and vivid with a great use of the subject matter at hand.  This site is also a pleasure to page through for the history of his Project365 journey to date.  While based in Germany, he does travel which adds variety to this project.

Clueless In Boston

Jim has been at the POTD game for while now with archives dating back to 2007.  His site is clean and easy to navigate offering up sites from all around Boston.  He runs a Monochrome Monday feature and has a great eye for composition and subject matter, only using B&W techniques when it adds to the image quality.  I like the mix on his site.

A Photo A Day From Planet Earth

I got in touch with Rich from A Photo a Day From Planet Earth the old fashioned internet way; someone he knows knew someone who sent a link that eventually brought him to my site.  Then he found a link to my Photo Of The Day and sent me an email.  I really do like meeting strangers in cyberspace!  Rich’s site dates back to June of 2007 and contains a wide variety of travel and eclectic photos from all over the world.  You can also submit photos to the Flickr Pool for inclusinon on the site, just like Gadling.

If the city sites are your particular interest, then take a look at City Daily Photo.  While the site doesn’t have an RSS feed for all the sites it lists, it is a great jumping off point for finding other blogs about particular cities.  The rules are strict to help reduce clutter, requiring blogs to about one city only and and one post a day only. With over  1000 blogs listed and more being added every month, it’s a wonderful place to find your city fix.

NOTE: Some of the blogs listed contain other posts and in those cases I’ve liked to just the photo feed.  Please feel free to poke around as most have other useful content.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

7 More Daily Photo Blogs That Provide Inspiration

Perhaps you ought to consider the possibilities of on location product shooting.

On location product shooting looks something like this: You go into a storefront, use the available and supplemental lighting to feature the pieces best, shoot to highlight the store offerings and other unique aspects, and present to the store owner for use and possible display.

While a generally simple process, follow these few tips and you will be sure to have a successful shoot.

1. Choose a storefront that holds your interest. Makeup technician. Clothes designer. Jewellery artist. Coffee shop. Anything you like or are drawn to may give you a more interesting perspective for shooting.

2. Evaluate the light: Your best hours for available light will entirely depend on which direction the store’s windows face. Scout ahead of time and find out which hours of the day will provide the brightest light for your work.

3. Visit the store multiple times. Buy some pieces. Study the arrangement of the displays to best capture the products. Remember you want to create art, and also draw the viewer to purchase the pieces.

4. Talk at length with the owner: You want to portray the shop in a way that captures the viewers attention, but above all else, you want to capture the vision of the shop owner. As your work will add to the message of the store, it is vital that you work with the owner on the right look and feel.

5. Take your time. While shooting, watch the angle of your light. Slowing down will enable you to focus on manipulating the light to create the most appealing textures and shapes.

6. Use variety: Don’t get stuck in one kind of focal length or framing. Create shots that are wide angle to give setting to the entire scene. Use mid shots to illustrate pieces in an overal setting. And don’t forget about close up detail shots that will capture the true elements offered by the shop.

Once you have completed your shoot, back up and edit right away. Send a “Thank You” card to the shop owner during the time it takes you to process. A fast turn around time is what will set you apart from the crowd. And while you may simply be handing a disc of rights free images, remember that first impressions are everything and be sure to package the disc to stand out.

Really want to make a splash? Order a few complimentary prints. If your abilities are where your confidence is, the shop owner will be ecstatic to display beautiful pieces of their work by your own hand.

And that is a win=win situation for you.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

On Location Product Photography

Photo H@Ru

Earlier in the week I had the chance to sit down with a photographer whose specialty is photographing flowers. As I tend to do with pro photographers – picked his brain as we chatted and took as many notes as I could. Here’s what I gleaned from him and his flower photography experience:

By the way – he also recommended two flower photography books – Photographing Flowers: Inspiration*Equipment*Technique by Sue Bishop and Field Guide To Photographing Flowers by Rokach

Preparation is key

Getting your gear together and in working order, choosing the right lens, having a tripod set up and then preparing to take the image. Pause and examine your subject before pressing the shutter. Some questions to ask:

• how to crop it – get in close or take a wider angle shot?
• what is the focal point/point of interest? Insect, stem, colour, texture, shape etc?
• what angle will you shoot from to get the best perspective?
• how much depth of field do you want?
• how is the subject lit?
• which flower is the best specimen for your photo?
• what distractions are there in the background and foreground?
• which is the best format to shoot in? (horizontal or vertical)

Photo Ozyman

Highlighting subjects

One of the questions above is worth a little extra consideration – ‘what distractions are there in the background and foreground?’

Gardens are filled with all kinds of potential distractions. They might be the tool shed, a fence, other flowers, the clothes line etc. A decision needs to be made whether you want to include these elements or remove them from your shot. Either option is legitimate but in most cases you’ll probably want to remove them unless they in some way enhance your shot. There are a number of options open to you if you want to remove distractive elements:

• move them – some distractions can be moved pretty easily so that they’re not in your frame
• move yourself – find a new angle to shoot from that has a less distracting background
• crop them out - go for a tighter framing of the flower either by using a zoom or moving physically closer to it
• use aperture to narrow depth of field – as we highlighted in our introduction to aperture, if you choose a wider aperture (small numbers) you’ll decrease the depth of field. As you do this you make elements in the foreground and background more and more out of focus.
• move your subject - I’m not a big fan of intervening in a scene too much but some photographers will move the flower to a new location for the shot. This might include getting someone to hold the stem on a different angle or could even mean picking the flower and taking it elsewhere. If you’re going to do this make sure you are aware of the environmental impact of your photography.

Photo rosemary*

Don’t ignore the dead, marked or dying flower

Sometimes carcasses of flowers can present you with wonderful subject matter. While the perfect flower is the one you’ll probably be drawn to first sometimes the more interesting shot is the ‘ugly duckling’ beside it.

Identify a focal point

As in all types of photography you need to think about where you want your viewers eye to be drawn. Consider setting it off centre using the rule of thirds – but do find something in your frame that will grab your viewer’s eye and carefully think about how to position it.

Go abstract

Sometimes going in extra close and focussing in on a part of the flower can create wonderful and unusual images that take on an abstract quality. Look for contrasting colors, patterns and textures.

Photo Auntie P

Focus is Key

Sharp focus is important in all forms of photography but in flower Macro photography it is crucial and even a tiny adjustment can have massive implications for your shot as the depth of field is so small. In macro photography your depth of field is a game of millimetres so attention to detail in focussing is something to be worked upon.

Identify the point of interest that you want to be in focus and then work hard to ensure that it’s as sharp as possible. This can be a real challenge, especially outdoors on breezy days where you’ll probably end up taking a lot of images and relying on luck to some degree! You can improve your ‘luck’ a little by photographing in a more controlled environment (taking flowers inside for studio shots, shielding them from wind or just choosing to do your photography on a still day).

Photo StarLisa

Lighting

Ideally your subject will be wonderfully lit without you needing to offer any assistance, however the world of outdoor macro photography is often far from ideal and there might be a need to intervene with either artificial light or some kind of reflector.

Using a flash is something to experiment with. Generally you’ll find that direct flash on automatic mode might wash photos out a little so consider using a flash diffuser and/or bouncing your flash off another object. I find that the more subtle and indirect the flash is the more natural your shots will look.

Reflectors can also be handy in shooting flowers as they give a nice, natural, diffused light into areas of your subject that might not be getting natural sunlight. Experiment with different colored reflectors as they can really impact the colors in your shot.

Photo rosemary*

Lenses

Point and Shoot Cameras – if you’re shooting with a point and shoot camera with no interchangeable lenses you’ll obviously have less options here. You will probably have the ability to switch your camera into macro mode (which will allow you to focus a little closer and will tell the camera to use a large aperture giving you a shallow depth of field). Some point and shoot cameras do have the option of a macro lens attachment also to allow closer focussing (see your owners manual).

DSLRs – if you have a camera that allows interchangeable lenses (DSLR and some prosumer cameras) you might like to consider buying a purpose built macro lens. Most of the major camera manufacturers offer a range of them. For example offers a number including ones at focal lengths of 50mm, 60mm, 100mm (the one I own), 180mm etc. Each will have it’s own specifications and strengths (do some careful research before buying). Obviously a shorter focal length means you need to get physically closer to your subject to really hone in on your subject while longer ones allow you to shoot from further back (helpful when photographing insects).

I hope that you’ve found the above notes from my chat with a Pro Flower Photographer helpful. We did cover a lot more ground but I can only type so fast! Feel free to add your own flower photography tips in comments below.

Don’t forget to check out the two books on flower photography – Photographing Flowers: Inspiration*Equipment*Technique by Sue Bishop and Field Guide To Photographing Flowers by Rokach.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Photograph Flowers

Whether you want to invest a good amount of time in a project, or simply give a print, the opportunities to use your art for the good of the community are endless! Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Host an Art Fundraiser: Pick a nonprofit that regularly affects your community, and ask if you can sponsor a Art Fundraiser. Have the organization print invitations and send out email invites to their donors. Bring together a group of local artists who may be willing to contribute by donating a few pieces to raise money. Be creative in the kind of artists you invite: Jewellers. Photographers. Painters. etc.

2. Donate a family portrait session: Many families in need cannot afford the priceless memories garnered by family portraits. Inquire of the city officials or a local church and find out if there is a family in your area who is particularly deserving. Book a session with them, and give a complimentary 8×10.

3. Volunteer to shoot a holiday program: Holiday programs may produce fun times, but It is far too common for the pictures of these events to turn out less than noteworthy. Take 4 hours out of your schedule to shoot and edit photos for one such program, and then pass along a dvd of images rights free. You never know who may discover your work simply because you reached out to others.

4. Write a story: Know a particularly noteworthy event, family, or program? Interview the people involved and create a photo story that will inspire others. Submit this story to the local newspaper as a community interest piece.

5. Hold a workshop: The gift of teaching is one that keeps giving long after the class is over. Take the time to plan a class for the community on some aspect of photography. Put up fliers at schools and community bulletin boards to generate interest on the topic. The day of the class, hand out pdf guides of your subject and offer additional assistance if needed.

Giving back to the community with your gifts and talents will always pay back. Whether you simply acquire a good name, or become connected with new relationships, a little bit of time and donated art will go a long way to inspiring others. And you will never feel so fulfilled.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

5 Ways to Use Your Gifts and Reach Your Community

There’s a great new site I recently found, that makes the process of merging Flickr images with virtual mapping, much quicker and easier; and takes the entire process to the next level. Although I’m a big fan of Flickr, for a long time one of its major drawbacks was that I couldn’t embed Flickr maps.

That was then, this is now; you’re able to easily create embeddable maps by combining Flickr and Map Flickr, a “powerful tool to create an interactive map with geolocated images on it using the Google Maps and Flickr API.”

First things first, to use Map Flickr, you have to be a Flickr member first. Indeed, DPS recently had a wonderful new beginner’s guide to Flickr, so I hope you’ve already joined. BTW, a pro membership of Flickr isn’t required for Map Flickr, but for $25.00 per year, it’s a reasonable price if you’re a professional, or are involved with, downloading and storing a large amount of bandwidth for your photos.

After you download your photos into Flickr, you need to create a set, which is basically a grouping of your photos by whatever criteria or category you determine works best for you. For me, I prefer to group my photos by the location where I took them– like I did with my Fine Arts Building story and shoot.

After you create your set, use the mapping feature on Flickr, and add them to your Flickr map.

Now comes the fun part.

Go to Map Flickr and register, which is free.

As soon as you hit the “Find my Sets” button on the registration page, Map Flickr will automatically connect to your Flickr account, and a list of all of your Flickr photo sets will be available for you to view, and work with. From that point, all you have to do is to is just click Create Map,” and watch the magic begin. From this point forward, you’re able to customize your maps as well as being able to incorporate other features into your efforts, such as its sizing, the photo’s height, width, and so forth.

After you’re done with customizing you, hit the “Finish and Share” button to publish your masterpieces. That’s it, from that point, all you have to do is link to the map– or better yet– embed it into your website like I did.

With the foregoing in mind, I hope that you’re able to have as much fun using Map Flickr and all of its features, as I do, for anything and everything that may be beneficial for your photographic and mapping needs.

Because I’m both a photojournalist, and currently involved in the Mapping Los Angeles Public Art (MLAPA) project, it’s great to be able to just add a quick picture to my Flickr map, and then have it easily appear on my sites, with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Combining Map Flickr and Flickr allows for easy Online Mapping

One way of dealing with the software is to work initially with the multitude of plug-ins available and deal with specific tasks to gain confidence.

Zuckerman and Stulberg’s book, ‘Digital Photographer’s New Guide to Photoshop Plug-Ins‘, suggests you revisit your earlier images and revitalise them with the aid of specific plug-ins.

The book opens with a novel one in Instant Mirror, which allows you to duplicate sections of your image and reposition them into appealing and wonderful ways.

Another is Flood: this creates water surfaces and reflections that embellish an image and relocates it to a fantasy location. This chapter, like most of the others covers many pages and explains the plug-in’s potential to a thorough degree.

The authors also move in to the controversial territory of High Dynamic Range photography and eschew Photoshop’s HDR feature in favour of the Photomatrix Pro plug-in. Sure convinced me in 12 pages!

Just as convincing and subtle is the book’s treatment of plug-ins like Liquify and Silver Efex Pro … showing that delicate changes to an image can often be far more convincing and rewarding than wild and woolly transformations.
In style, the book is excellent, moving through every step slowly, carefully and thoroughly. This approach has a price: you get to look at only a handful of helpers. Despite this the book is encouraging and inspiring.

Authors: J Zuckerman & S Stulberg.
Publisher: Lark.
Distributor: Capricorn Link. 160 pages.
ISBN 978 1 60059 212 6.

Grab a copy of Digital Photographer’s New Guide to Photoshop Plug-Ins at Amazon for $16.47 (34% off).

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Digital Photographer’s New Guide to Photoshop Plug-Ins

Step 1

Start with the finished kaleidoscope image document. If you didn’t see the original article, here’s a link to it.

Step 2

Save a copy of this image and this time flatten the image layers – not any solid color or white background layer you may be using.

To do this, select all the layers containing content by Control or Command clicking on them and choose Layer > Merge Layers.

Create a duplicate of the image layer so you have two copies of it.

Hide the top layer for now and select the second of the image layers.

Choose Image > Image Size and read off the image width and height. Divide each by two and write down the resulting values. Click Cancel to exit out of this dialog.

Step 3

Choose Filter > Other > Offset and enter the values for half the width and height of the image. Select the Wrap Around option and click Ok. This offset command creates the repeating part of the pattern and it saves quite a bit of manual work in carving up the image.

Step 4

Reveal the top layer again and your canvas will now be complete. Flatten this image and use it to create your pattern. If it is a large design you may want to reduce its size to 25% or less before making it into a pattern by choosing Edit > Define Pattern. Type a name for the Pattern and you’re done.

Step 5

Create a new empty document many times larger than your pattern image and fill it with your pattern by using Edit > Fill > Pattern and choose your pattern from the very end of the pattern palette.

Step 6

If you start with a regular rectangular or square image you can create it as a repeating pattern in a similar way. However instead of getting a big empty area in the middle of the image you will have seams. Use your clone tool or some other tool of choice to remove the seams without touching the edge pixels. Then create your pattern and it will repeat perfectly!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Master Repeating Patterns in Photoshop

If you’ve got thousands of images sitting in hard drives around your house, you can put them to work for you by making gifts with them for family, friends, coworkers and all those other people you feel you want to give those little holiday somethings to.

First, start with family and others you love with a big gift. If you assess the living space in which your family members reside so that you can match a photo with the decor, you can make them a framed photo, getting all the supplies you need from the Internet. You can even have the photo printed to any size you want up to as big as one of their walls (see BigHugeLabs.com below), all using the Internet. You can do it yourself by buying the frames at FrameDestination.com or have all done for you at Pictureframes.com (click on Print & Frame Images). You’ll begin with uploading a high resolution photo on at their website. That means if you want an 11X14 framed print, you should have taken the image with a digital camera (preferably a dSLR camera) of at least 8 MP. If you print any bigger than that you’ll get pixelization (those pesky little colored dots that appear all over your photo).

At BigHuge Labs you can get moderately priced gifts such as jigsaw puzzles and posters made from your photos. The site has a generator that lets you make posters in different styles, from Andy Warhol art to giant baseball cards. The best feature on that site is their generators, which allow you to upload your photo so you can see how it would look as one of the featured poster styles available on their site. If you like it you can have it printed in high resolution and buy it.

For that little something you want to pick up for the mailman or your child’s teacher, there’s zazzle.com, a site where you can create mugs, t-shirts, greeting cards, calendars and even shoes with your pictures on them. The site has a feature where you can upload your image to see how it looks on the product you are purchasing. Also, there are hundreds of sellers on the site who sell their one-of-a-kind designs. If you feel entrepreneurial, you can set yourself up to sell your designs on their site.

This is just the beginning of a gift-giving adventure. For more ideas check out the book, 101 Quick and Easy Secrets for Using Your Photographs. Happy gift-giving!

Have you used your photos to produce gifts using services like these? Share what you’ve done and what services you’ve used in comments below.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Adventures in Photo Gift-Giving

We wanted people to look at the less looked at things around them with our assignment on Architectural Detail. We got to see some very interesting parts of buildings that we wouldn’t normally see. Our winner this week was kurtwall’s Stucco and Beam. This shot really captured the idea of the assignment with looking at the details and showing how the details don’t have to be grandiose in order to catch our eye. The stucco gave the image a nice texture and the wood added to the warmth. Our first runner up was Boscopix’s BMW World. This picture of two lights on a corner showcased how the shadows and lines created an interesting detail. The photo had very nice contrast and the simplicity really showed off the detail well. And last but not least was crockny’s Horse on Horse. This shot was really well considered and well executed. The architectural detail was captured well by showing the horse in the window in the foreground and the out of focus carrousel horse in the background, further accentuating the horse concept.

This week our assignment focuses on The Economy. We know that times are tough everywhere, so why not use this as an opportunity to challenge yourself to show the concept of a troubled economy through your photography. As always, a quick reminder of the rules if you want to enter the contest to have your photo featured on the blog. Your photo must have been taken between 28 October – 11 November 2009. You must include the words “Assignment: The Economy” and the date that the photo was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points (e.g. camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO). Next week’s assignment will be “Sound”.

Hot Threads

• Basic Texture Tutorial: If you’ve ever wondered about how people get those great textures on their images, one of our forum admins has offered a great tutorial for how to get started using textures on your photographs.
• Composition vs “Croposition”: As the number of megapixels on cameras increases you have more and more leniency to crop and still get a good size picture. So do you rely on getting good composition the first time around? Or do you rely on croposition and crop to get the composition you want after the fact?
• How to remember everything you learn about photography: As you learn any new topic you learn lots of new information. But how do you retain all of this information? One forum member has offered a suggestion for how you can learn to keep all of this information in your head. Come read about it over on the forum and offer some of your own advice.
• Are kit lenses rubbish?: Many cameras come with lenses when you buy them. These lenses are often referred to as the “kit lenses”. These lenses are typically lower cost lenses, but does that mean that they’re all rubbish? Pop on over to this thread to learn about how to get the best from your kit lens and learn some ways to tell if you need new glass or if you just need to learn how to get better results from what you have.
• What would you do?: Every week we run a post-processing challenge on the forums where you get the chance to edit someone else’s photo. Whether you’re a beginner or a post-processing pro, you’re welcome to participate in our “What Would You Do” weekly challenge.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (1-7 Nov ‘09)

I recently took a trip to my cities zoo to do a test on a camera that I was reviewing and thought I’d share a few tips that I put into practice along the way.

Zoos are great locations to practice photography as they present us both with a great variety of subjects (both animals and the people watching them) but also with some real challenges. Some of the things you’ll need to overcome in getting great shots at a zoo include:

• Distance – the space between photographer and animal
• Moving Subjects – animals rarely stay in the one place for long
• Tricky Lighting – foliage and indoor/outdoor shooting can prove to be challenging
• Cages and Glass – while many zoos are improving in how they contain their animals and are giving them more natural surroundings the challenge of photographing them without the distractions of reflections off glass or grim looking bars both in the foreground and background add to the ‘fun’ of zoo photography

Zoo Photography Gear

What camera and gear will you need to get good photos at a zoo?

The answer to this question will vary a little from photographer to photographer depending upon their style, the type of shots that they want to take and the type of zoo that they’re visiting – however, a long zoom lens will almost always be handy to have attached to your camera.

Camera/Lenses – This means you’ll either need a DSLR with an attachable longer focal length prime lens or telephoto lens (something with an upper length of 200-300mm would probably be handy) or a point and shoot camera with a super zoom lens (probably a 10-12x Optical Zoom).

Also consider taking a macro lens if you’re lucky enough to have one. At our zoo we have a number of enclosures where they are handy (a butterfly enclosure for example).

Tripod – Also consider a tripod or monopod (depending upon the weather and how light it is, you’ll probably find that in some animal enclosures you’ll need to use slower shutter speeds which mean you’ll need the extra stability).

Lens Hood – the combination of shooting outdoors, having limited angles to shoot from (which means sometimes you’ll need to shoot into the sun) and that at times you’ll be shooting through glass means that a lens hood might be handy to have. I actually left mine in the car and as it was a bright day my images suffered considerably as a result.

Zoo Photography Tips

Photo Big-E-Mr-G

1. Points of Interest – Before you start photographing an animal ask yourself ‘what is it about this animal that interests me?’ What has drawn you to photograph it above other animals around you? Does it have great colour, is it in a humorous pose, is it about it’s expression, is it something about it’s surroundings? The reason to ask these questions is that they help you to identify potential points of interest for your image (something that will take your shot to the next level) and will help you to determine how to approach the shot.

2. Get in Close – as with many styles of photography, if you’re able to get close to your subject you create a feeling of intimacy with it and are able to capture details that you’d not otherwise have been able to see. Of course with animals in cages this is a challenge and getting close will almost always need to be done using a longer focal length (you can of course help a little by shooting for as close as you can get – without breaking any zoo rules). Tightly cropping the animal’s face or body helps you get shot with a real impact but also helps eliminate any distracting elements in the photo.

3. Focus on the Eyes – the eyes are the ‘window to the soul’ in portrait photography and a similar thing is true when shooting animals. Get the eyes in focus and in a prominent position in your shot and you’ll help create a more personal connection between your subject and the viewer of your image.

4. Get down Low - photographing an animal down at their level is another way of creating a sense of closeness and intimacy with your subject. This might mean you need to get down on your knees (and get a little dirty or look a little silly) but it will give your shots punch.

5. Eliminating Reflections – shooting through glass is a real challenge and something to avoid if you can. If you can’t get around it get in close to the glass, give it a wipe with a cloth (or your sleeve) to get rid of finger prints, find a spot that is less scratched than other parts, use a lens hood and/or your hand to try to eliminate any reflections and attempt to shoot at right angles to the glass. If you can’t eliminate reflections you might also like to try to work with them. Take a few steps back and incorporate the reflections of those watching the animals into the shot (hard – but if you get it right it could make for a great shot).

6. Shooting through Cages – there’s nothing worse than trying to shoot through the wire or bars of a cage. On occasions you’ll be able to find a wider opening (look for the bigger gaps around gates) but when you have to shoot through cages get up as close as you can to them, use a longer focal length, choose a wider aperture and wait for the animal to move back from the cage. In many instances when you do this you’ll not even notice the distraction of the cage at all. But what if you are using a point and shoot with no control over aperture? Try switching to portrait mode which is a mode that uses a wide aperture and should narrow your depth of field.

7. Shoot People – speaking of people – they also make a great subject when at the zoo. Don’t just focus on the animals but look for the wonderful reactions of those around you as they react to the animals (they can sometimes be more animated than the animals as they mimic them).

8. Look for Humorous Situations - animals do the funniest things. Keep your camera up to your eye for that moment when the monkey points at you, the giraffe picks it’s nose with it’s tongue (sorry – they do do it) or when the Emu pokes its head through the cage to steal something out of someone’s bag.

9. Treat Animals as Moving Subjects – to overcome the problem of your subjects always being on the move consider shooting with a fast shutter speed. You might like to switch to shutter priority mode at a fast shutter speed or let your camera do the work by shooting in ‘Sports’ mode. You can also help with this by shooting in continuous shooting mode so that when your subject is on the move you capture a burst of shots quickly one after the other.

10. Plan your day - I’m a fairly spontaneous kind of person but when it comes to photography have learned that it’s worth thinking ahead. When you get to the zoo get yourself a map and work out which animals will be on your hit list. Also note any feeding times that are publicised (these can make for some action shots). You might also like to find a zoo keeper to ask them what times certain animals are more active. Another good strategy is to head to the gift shop of the zoo and take a quick look at their postcards and picture books that might give you a little inspiration and a few ideas on good shooting angles for different animals.

11. Patience – occasionally you’ll stumble upon an animal in the perfect pose for a shot when you first see it – but in many cases you’ll need to wait for it. Once you’ve picked the animals you want to capture give yourself extended periods of time to camp out at their enclosures. This way you’ll hopefully see them in a variety of positions and with different expressions. This is what often takes your zoo shots to the next level.

12. Think About Context – the beauty of zoo photography is that you get relatively close to animals (something that is obviously difficult in the wild). The challenge is that the environment is not a natural one and that on many occasions there will be distracting elements in the background or foreground. Where possible try to shoot from angles where ‘natural’ looking elements are included (vegetation etc) – but where there are distractions you might like to try using wide apertures (small numbers) which narrow depth of field and throw foreground and backgrounds out of focus. Also try cropping with focal length (or later at home with photoshop).

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Zoo Photography