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Apr, 2013Views
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Contest Finalist in Green Shades Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Shades Of Green Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Small Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in We Love Animals Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Green Color In Nature Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Up Close Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the Houston Zoo's reptile and amphibian house.Time
I love shooting at the zoo in the early morning or late afternoon because that usually coincides with feeding time. The animals are more active so photographers have a greater opportunity to capture the animals personalities.Lighting
The reptile house at the Houston Zoo is fairly dark with the exhibits interiors illuminated. I typically open my aperture wide and bump up my ISO when I shoot in there, which is the case with this shot.Equipment
I shot this with my Canon 7D and Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L lens.Inspiration
Anything in nature has always been an inspiration to me. Living in the city, the zoo is one of my favorite places to go when I want to capture something new and interesting. The animals always provide great subject matter and I always leave feeling content and happy with with my work for the day. This leaf gecko just happened to be climbing up its exhibits glass wall when I walked by. It rested long enough in the top left corner for me to capture this shot in a very close up and personal way!Editing
I mostly do my post-processing in Lightroom. I have learned over the years that I really do not enjoy the editing process. Sitting behind a computer isn't very fun for me, so I made the conscious decision to learn my cameras settings so I could shoot well straight out of the camera. When I do get to the computer, I usually like to keep things very simple and quick by just increasing the vibrance and sometimes adding a touch of contrast.In my camera bag
I do carry a back back, but for outings like this, I usually just wear my BlackRapid Double Camera Strap on with my Canon 5D Mark iv and Canon 7D on it. I attach a long lens and a short lens to these so I can get various length shots throughout the zoo without having to change my lens out. My favorite go to lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L Lenses I use often and love: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6LFeedback
Timing and patience, patience, patience. Learning animal habits and feeding times helps a lot when you want to capture something other than them laying around. Knowing when they will be active and carving out the time to be present for that will help you capture the image you are envisioning. If an animal is inactive when you first approach their exhibit, wait around for them to move. Sometimes all it takes is for a large group of people to either walk up (or walk away) to change their behavior. Wait for those moments and you will be rewarded! Also, zoos often schedule behind the scene tours of the animal exhibits. These are great opportunities to catch great close up shots of the animals as well!
