Zoo Trip Tips???

[Kim]

Well I have decided to treat my camera to a day trip out. Poor thing is starting to gather dust bless it. So I am off out with my sister to Dusillas Zoo. Now judging what our weather has been like of late I am not expecting any ooutstanding shots, but the practice will do me good. I am keping my fingers crossed that at least one animal or bird decides to show it face. But I was wondering if anyone could offer any tips.
I have in the past done most of my work in good old (green square" mode (I have a Canon 300D). But I want to move to shotting in RAW, and as RAW seems to be in the more "manual" modes I was wondering how to get best used out of them (if that makes sense).
I am still finding apatures and shutter speeds a big challenge so any tips on those for the day would be great.

 

[Zookeeper]

My tips would be:
Patience theres no point just peering in and expect them to be sitting there in the perfect pose
Big elbows (if you get a good vantage point keep it lol blooming kids everywhere jj)
Keep shooting animals are so unpredictable and can be hard when their on the move to line up the perfect shot
Lighting from cage tops, wire cages and indoor quarters with strong flourescent lighting are usually my downfall

My love of animals gives me the perfect excuse to spend hours just staring and waiting for shots!
I usually go on a 'zoo tour' once a year and do as many zoos as possible and some zoos are alot more photography friendly than others

Enjoy hope you have a good time

 

[Kim]

I am just hoping that as we are visiting during the "winter" period, there won't be too many kids there (other than my niece).
What sort of ISO, Speeds, Apatures do people find that they use (I know that a lot depends on distance, animal, light etc). But I know some are manual 2settings" are more suited than others.
I know using the manual opitions are a case of getting to know them and your camera and just having a play, but trying to get a head start never hurt.

 

[EOS40D_isme]

KT Its a nightmare with the weather at the minute. I would suggest that you try and use the Aperture priority if you can and keep the lens at or above f6 to keep things sharp, but is depends on the light of the day. ISO will def depend on conditions...

If you are using a zoom lens then make sure the zoom matches the speed ie pic taken at 85mm then speed around 1/100th sec - so long as it is above it should be pin sharp.

Good Luck. Know I had a fantastic time at Eagle Heights and got some great shots..

 

[Kim]

Well I am hoping to have plenty to post tomorrow (the 2 new 2gb CF cards will help with that) so keeping thse fingers crossed.

 

[EOS40D_isme]

Will look forward to seeing them....