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Awful weather this weekend, but I was in the city Saturday and found myself at the zoo, almost alone.



Not sure what this bee-eater was trying to say... ...but it looks angry.




Much easier to get a shot of these when it's overcast.

#2 is insanely good.
great angle, excellent eye contact. the only thing i would suggest is that its lacking a little contrast.

I like the limited depth in #2. He does look a bit grumpy doesn't he.

Second shot is great.

Rooz wrote:great angle

Actually, I'd try straightening it, so it is looking levelly at us.

The last one is a good pose, a shame the feet were cropped.

Daniel

Kevin,I like what you were trying to achieve in shot 1 - it is really hard to get that sense of movement and keep the head sharp. Also admire you for getting down low at the pond!! The bird shots are good especially as you have to shoot through the cage.

Love that little bird!

Sits in a tree just outside the nocturnal house if I'm right?

Take a couple of photos of him each time, and he gets angry and attacks the cage trying to scare my camera away each time.

Great photos!

Great work...I love how you have frozen the water in the first and the low angle works well however the head of the flamingo looks a bit soft.

with the others, the eye contact in the 2nd is superb

Great stuff!

Hi,
looks like you had a sucesfull day
I really like the flamingo I've never seen her in the water like that and I love the fluffed feathers and moving water - youv'e worked hard to get this shot well done ! I'd like to see the eye /head sharper perhaps a little selective sharpening ?

That little bird must be everyone's challenge I think we all try a couple of shots each visit as it's cage and location is a real challenge especially on a dark day (think its a South Africian honeyeater ???), like them both but the eye contact in #2 is so engaging.
The monkey is really nice in the soft light and youv'e done a great job with the backlight on the hair.
DebT

Thanks everyone. I got a better result with these than I expected. I'll probably try these same shots again after the photo walk next weekend, see if i can make some improvements.

Rooz wrote:#2 is insanely good.
great angle, excellent eye contact. the only thing i would suggest is that its lacking a little contrast.

Not sure what to do about the contrast. Upping it in PS doesn't give me a result I like, probably because it is lacking in the original. I might try some remote flash next time.

DanielA wrote:Second shot is great.
The last one is a good pose, a shame the feet were cropped.
Daniel

This version has the feet, but I find it less pleasing.

Big V wrote:Kevin,I like what you were trying to achieve in shot 1 - it is really hard to get that sense of movement and keep the head sharp. Also admire you for getting down low at the pond!! The bird shots are good especially as you have to shoot through the cage.

Thanks Tony, though I wish the flamingo's head was sharper. The cage is hard to shoot through, hence the lack of contrast. There are other problems as well. I shoot holding the lens hood against the mesh, and got bitten by the bastard parrot around the corner from the bee-eater. The marks are still there now.

coming in a bit late here but, I agree with the others on the second shot, absolute cracker, real character to it, I am not sure whether straightening it will make it better or not - it would be interesting to see the two options side by side.

I shoot holding the lens hood against the mesh, and got bitten by the bastard parrot around the corner from the bee-eater. The marks are still there now

no surprise that there are no pictures of him then

Kevin, when you have to work with the mesh try using a slight adjustment in curves to increase the contrast ever so slightly. Place your cursor on the mid point of the black and pull it down just a tad and see how that works for you.

Big V wrote:Kevin, when you have to work with the mesh try using a slight adjustment in curves to increase the contrast ever so slightly. Place your cursor on the mid point of the black and pull it down just a tad and see how that works for you.

A slight contrast improvement


For comparison new - old:

Just brilliant.
Number 2 and 4 are beyond reproach in my mind. Focus fabulous. Eye contact spot on. No distractions, just the subject and beautiful blur in the background. Would yo thing about upping the contrast on 4 ever so slightly, just to get the grey fur a little darker? I love these, they're fabulous. You've inspired me to go back to the zoo.