6 Tips for Zoo Photography

The zoo is a great place to practice your animal photography until your next wildlife encounter! The variety of animals and exhibits will provide countless opportunities to practice your camera's settings. There are some obstacles you will encounter in zoo photography such as enclosures like cages and glass as well as crowds of people. We hope these tips will help you prepare for your next zoo photography experience.

1. Get up and close with the animals by using a longer zoom lens. We recommend at least 100mm or more. A good zoom lens will help you fill the frame of your image with the animal and avoid background (and foreground) distractions. If you do not have a lens with that reach, don't worry there will still be opportunities with a wider lens but you may have to get a bit more creative. Mary uses a Sony 100-400 GM for her zoo images, while Warren's lens choice is the Sigma 60-600. Another favorite is the Canon 70-200 2.8. We are both happy with our choices, however they are fairly heavy lenses for walking around the zoo all day. A suggestion to help with that is to bring a monopod. It is more mobile than a tripod but still offers some stabilization to avoid camera shake with the heavy lenses and it gives you somewhere to rest the weight of your camera when you get tired.

2. Zoo enclosures and fences are often the biggest hurdle in zoo photography. It is possible to blur out the fences to make them seem to disappear or at lest become less of a distraction. First you will want to get as close to the fence as possible, without breaking any barriers put in place for your safety by the zoo. This can be done by physically getting closer to the fence, or zooming your lens to reach as close to the fence as possible. Using the lowest F-stop number available on your lens (wider aperture) will provide a shallow depth of field, blurring out the fence. We recommend somewhere between 1.8-5.6 with a zoom lens of 100mm or more.

3. Glass enclosures are another obstacle in zoo photography. To reduce the glare and imperfections in the glass you may need to try different angles. A polarizing filter may help reduce the glare as well. Again, it helps to get as close the glass as possible and use a wide aperture to lessen any imperfections such as smudges. Do not use your flash as it will reflect off the glass.

4. Focus on the animals eyes. Patience is key. Have your camera ready, pointed toward your subject and wait to press the shutter when the animal looks your way down the barrel of your lens. Please do not disturb or startle the animals to get them to look your way. We need to respect the animals and the zoo while promoting positivity in the photography community. No one wants to be that photographer that gets photographers/cameras banned from locations like zoos.

5. Do some research prior to your zoo trip to understand the active times of the animals. Feeding time is the perfect time to photograph many exhibits as that usually gets the animals active and moving. Many zoos will publish or provide feeding times of certain exhibits, so plan your zoo route around those feeding times. Also, many zoos have certain animal encounters or experiences throughout the day. Try to research the times and locations of these encounters as it can result it some close up images without enclosure obstacles.

6. Be creative. Use different perspectives and angles when possible. Try to get at eye level with the animals. You may need to get creative with your angle to avoid background distractions such as people on the opposite side of the enclosure. Don't be afraid to zoom in on details such as eyes, patterns in feathers/fur, their paws, etc. Look for interactions between animals. If there is a new baby to the zoo try and get some interaction between the baby and parents.

Most importantly just get out and enjoy a day with your camera. It seems when you look through the lens of your camera you stop and slow down and often see things you otherwise would have missed. Be patient and creative and it's highly likely you'll come home with images that will put on a smile on your face.

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