Seeing as there's a new macro and street life thread, just thought we could do a similar thing with animals etc. Share tips on how to shoot them, where to go, what equipment is useful.

I've just come back from wales and have shot loads of animals, hang on, took loads of photos of animals in various zoos :) and am quite proud of some of them, others were not so great but the experience really sped up my hands with settings etc. as the light changes so much in different areas. Anyway here's a handful of mine, all shot with Nikon D80 with the 18-70mm kit lens...















Honest comments and crit are welcome as always and please share your photos and stories!

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I love the penguin one. and the last one.

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froj - Some great photos there. Love the Penguin shot, where the one in focus, has turned to look at you. Great light on the fish shot which adds interest. The only one I'm not sure of is the Hawk/Eagle photo, as it doesn't look right? The butterfly shot is outstanding - who needs a macro lens!

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SK
The Best Photographer in the world 4th November - 5th November 2006 & 17th-18 November 2007
Oldboy’s Gallery

i am not a huge fan of b/w but i really love the cow/bull/yak thingie.. really very nice,

good thread, i shall look for some of my animal pics

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dcm gallery
or
reflections

thanks for the replies! I know what you mean about the hawk, I suppose because it's a bit panned but there's only grass to contrast the bird, this was the best focused one though and it was my first go at panning. Hawks are fast! You certainly don't need a macro lens for those butterflies some of them were as big as your hand, all flying around freely, quite scary really. That was at the conwy butterfly jungle

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i really like the 1st pic of the bear, i like how its darker in the center of the bears chest then highlighted at the edges of its fur... heres one from my hols

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Does he have a welsh cousin? :p

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Hi Froj,

Were you at the Welsh Mountain Zoo recently by any chance? I went there last Saturday and there's already a few pics of the animals in my gallery... I got one of those bears as well but the light was a bit naff and they weren't very cooperative when I was shooting them

I'll sort through a few more and post them later...

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Si
DCM
spiritflier.com
My Flickr
BPITW x 4

Certainly was :) much better zoo than I thought it would be, the only things it missed for me was elephants and lions (though you never see them even if the zoo has them) That gibbon is ace, hard shooting through the fences to get enough of a picture of them with my 70mm. The barn owl shot is great, I wanted one when they landed on the rock post but only have pics on the trainers' arms. I'll post the rest from the zoo later on I've got a couple of macaw photos that I quite like.

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Were you there on Saturday then Froj? Wouldn't it just be typical if you were...

Lightroom's currently running full tilt while I fit some more from the day that are suitable for posting.

Great idea for a thread though... nice one!

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Si
DCM
spiritflier.com
My Flickr
BPITW x 4

Here's a couple of mine from Edinburgh zoo the last time I was there:

 

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My Duff Photos

Nice shots Graeme... The chimp has some real character! The background in this next one was really distracting (couldn't be helped though) so I got rid of it...

[EDIT] Hmmm... the more I looked at the shot, the less I liked it. Oh well, it's back to the drawing board. Just had a flash of inspiration that might solve the problem...

Watch this space...

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Si
DCM
spiritflier.com
My Flickr
BPITW x 4

Some really great shots been posted in here so far!!!

Graeme Mather:

Here's a couple of mine from Edinburgh zoo the last time I was there:

Seen this before and I still love it

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Browse My Gallery

BPITW 8/9th Sept 07 - 16/17th Feb 08

Here are my ones:

 

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<°(())>< if you stand still, the world will move past you ><(())°>

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Nah I was there last wednesday, for the sealions could you not try masking and heavily blurring the background rather than removing it? Possibly couple that with a bit of desaturation to make the animals pop?
Graeme that owl is stunning.
Dive-angel the chamelion is a great shot, the moth's scary though.

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