Photographing Zoos

All aspiring wildlife photographers would agree that there’s no substitute for shooting in your subject’s natural environment, but in the case of the more exotic mammals, such as the big cats, that means a long and very expensive trip to a distant country.
The cost of such ventures is beyond the reach of most people but it’s surprising just what kind of results you can get by visiting your local zoo. Sceptical? Then just look at this beautiful image by Monique Bogaerts, taken at a zoo in Belgium.
No specialist equipment or technique was used, just a digital SLR with a long zoom lens, and lots of patience, followed by some careful post-production work in Photoshop.
To have a go myself I visited London Zoo – by no means the easiest zoo in the UK where you can get natural-looking wildlife shots – armed with a Nikon D2X fitted with Nikon’s new 18-200mm superzoom.
The day, it must be said, was something of a disaster, because I failed to follow what I have since learned is rule number one: check the weather forecast in advance. Just as I arrived the heavens opened and it bucketed down all afternoon. The animals, understandably, hid in their shelters and refused to come out. I also failed to check with the zoo first, so I didn’t know that the entire primate section was being
re-built, and there were no monkeys or apes of any kind to be seen, along with the hiding lions, bears and other animals.
Despite the fact that I only saw about half a dozen big mammals, I still managed to get a couple of reasonable shots.

what you will need

LONG TELEPHOTO lens
To crop in close on your subjects and exclude as much of the giveaway surroundings as possible, you’ll need a lens with a focal length that goes up to a 35mm equivalent of at least 300mm (so around 200mm with most DLSRs). A zoom lens offers the most flexibility, enabling you to pull back if the animals move closer to you. The time taken to switch to a wider lens could cost you the shot.

Photoshop or similar
You’ll probably need to do a bit of work on your best shots to remove any giveaway intrusions in the background, or to burn them in so they don’t show up. Almost every basic image-editing program provides the tools required.