The Other Half of Me

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." - Albert Einstein

Last Tuesday, I went on an adventure to the Zoo with a friend. I hadn't been to the Norfolk Zoo in years, and was looking forward to the trip. In preparation for my trip, I spent an hour or so, Monday night, cruising the internet looking for tips and tricks about shooting Zoo photography. Now I know some of you are probably wondering why on earth would I spend any time at all looking for such a thing, I mean photography isn't that hard, you point the camera and click the button that takes the picture. Although you are correct in that sense, over the past year or so, I've learned that in order to take really magnificent pictures (the ones we all aspire to take) that maybe a little research is necessary. My DSLR camera is still new to me, although I have owned it for about a year now, I'm still figuring out how to use it to best suit me. For that reason, I always put in time to research anytime I will be in an environment I am not used to shooting in. For example, last December, I went to the Luray Caverns while on vacation. I knew that if I wanted any usable images from the caverns I would have to research how best to take pictures in such an environment, or I would end up spending the first half of my trip trying to determine which settings my camera should be on (here are a few images from that adventure).

In my research about Zoo photography, it was simple, try to take pictures where the animals look like they are in their natural habitat, move around and try to avoid fences. Simple enough right... I learned that animals that are more "dangerous" to the general public are harder to shoot then those that are more docile, because predatory animals need bigger fences or more substantial fences. I also learned that Zoo animals live an "easier" life then wild animals, which means to capture really unique pictures, I would have to be patient and willing to stand around for a little while. Either way, I think I did pretty good, and am rather proud of the images I managed. Not to mention, who doesn't love a day trip to the zoo!! Enjoy!