Icecream
May, 2016Views
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Winner in Monkey around Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. This zoo has a "Gorilla Kindergarten" where orphaned Gorilla babies from european zoos are raised until they can be integrated in a group.Time
It was about 4pm. The picture was taken indoors in the gorilla kindergarten. It was a hot summer day and the young gorillas got some ice cream as a treat.Lighting
The light in the room is rather dim. As flash is forbidden (and I wouldn't use it on zoo animals anyway), I had to increase ISO to 800 and open up the aperture to 2.8 to get the shot. I had to shot through a glass wall, so I put the lens almost against the wall to prevent reflexions.Equipment
I used a Nikon D200 with a 2.8/70-200 VR lens. No flash and no tripod (as the gorillas were constantly moving and I had to shoot through a glass pane, I had to adapt my position continously)Inspiration
I always liked to go the gorillas, as they are always good for some interesting action or facial expressions. Especially the kindergarten with the gorilla babies and children is fun to watch when they are playing.Editing
The background in the original raw picture has greenish tone and there were some distracting things in the background, so I darkened that area to prevent distraction from the main subjectIn my camera bag
In 2007, when I took this picture, I had Nikon gear, so whenever I went to the zoo, the 70-200 (and a 1.7x converter) where my standard lenses for those occasions (later I bought a manual 400/3.5 lens, which got me some great pictures but the equipment got quite heavy. When I went to the zoo, I had to carry a heavy backpack and a sturdy tripood. Some years ago, I switched to the micro four thirds system. Nowadays, I use my Olympus E-M1 and a 50-200/2.8-3.5 when I go to the zoo.Feedback
If you want to take pictures in a zoo, try to get there on weekdays (or if you have an annual ticket - go there early before the masses arrive). Take your time, do not rush from animal to animal. Sometimes you have to wait, until an animal moves or does something interesting. But if you take time, you sometimes can get some unique shots...
