C&C of everything here welcome, I'm pretty new to photography and made some mistakes in my excitement to use my new Sigma 150-500 at the zoo.
Per the "zoo" above, all of these were taken through a chain link fence, and have another in the background. Afraid that's a bit non-negotiable given the size of the enclosure this poor beast resides in.
Exif data is still in the files; if there's a simple way to grab it and post it for easier review please let me know and I'll update the post - I poked around for a bit and didn't find any straightforward process for doing so.
First, I am curious. I see the chainlink fence behind the tiger but no obvious artifacts from shooting through the fence. What was between you and this beautiful animal?
Second, is this from a zoo in or near Rochester?
OK, the pics.
Zoo shooting is a challenge in terms of distracting elements. And a great opportunity to practice technique and sometimes get some great images. You had a beautiful subject and the colors are rich and full. I wont comment on the backgrounds, "cos what can you do? Only so many options to get cleaner images, if at all. One reason to crop tightly is to eliminate or minimize distracting elements.
I like the poses in the first two. Positioning in the frame in the first is especially dynamic. Second might benefit from a tighter crop from the top and perhaps a portrait crop again, similar to your first image.
Third does not work as well in part because of the shadows on the left. You might crop out or clone out the bright area lower left edge. I would tighten the crop from the right since the fence and background add little. The cut off legs dont work well. Once again you might tighten the crop to near the top of the chest and eliminate the background on the right.
Last: tighter again. I would darken the bright post behind his head.
Thanks much for the feedback!
Regarding your questions: Yes, these were at Seneca Park Zoo, Rochester.
There was indeed a chain link fence between the tiger and myself - I have quite a few pictures which have more artifacts, but the ones I posted above were taken with a friend providing a shadow on the fence for me to shoot through - having no light reflecting off of it greatly reduced it's appearance in the photos.
Jakuub wrote:
I posted above were taken with a friend providing a shadow on the fence for me to shoot through - having no light reflecting off of it greatly reduced it's appearance in the photos.
