moffatman
FollowPanthera pardus orientalis. Taken at Edinburgh Zoo.
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Behind The Lens
Location
Taken in Edinburgh Zoo on Tuesday the 25th October, 2011Time
1534 (3.24 pm)Lighting
The lighting was natural, and adequate, despite branches of a tree overhanging the Leopard's enclosure.Equipment
Shot with a Canon EOS 450d and a Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD lens, using the enclosure fence as an armrest.Inspiration
These animals are endangered in the wild. I believe that to date (2016) there are less than 100 left. Even in 2011, these Leopards were an endangered species, and here I had an ideal opportunity to record this magnificent cat in close proximity.Editing
Some of the fence chain link was visible toward the edge of the image, so I cropped the picture to remove these rather than try and deal with them using software. I also increased the highlights slightly and added a little fill light in Picasa 2, otherwise the image is much as it was recorded in camera.In my camera bag
Nowadays I use a Canon EOS 70D DSLR, a Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM Zoom Lens; Canon EFS 55-250mm IS Zoom; Canon EFS 18-55mm Lens, and Fujifilm X-S1 Bridge camera.Feedback
I was very lucky to have managed a decent capture, despite the chain link fence, which often causes problems when photographing animals in the Zoo environment. In this instance I cropped, but would have preferred to have found a bigger gap in the fence (around gate hinges, or a glass panel for instance, although this has its own problems!), but this just wasn't an option. If the fence is blatantly obstructive, it helps to use a wide aperture, which may help resolve the problem. If you have the option to shoot through glass, again, not always ideal, try and keep the lens as close to, and parallel to the glass as possible to avoid reflections. Try wiping the glass to remove fingerprints, and avoid areas with scratches if possible.