Research the Zoo itself – Go to their website and get a map. Figure out sun angles before you even get there. Also check for a feeding schedule. Everyone’s active when they know food’s coming. See if they’ve posted about new baby animals as they make for great photo opps.
Take advantage of free admission days if they’re offered. It’ll be a bit crowded until all the little kids get tired and Mom decides to pack it in for the day.

Shooting through glass barriers – The real secret is to put your lens on the glass. Look for a clean spot with no scratches. Be sure your lens shade is on (a rubber one is best as it gives a bit) and don’t press too hard. As your lens focuses, the front will rotate or move slightly in and out. You don’t want to impede that movement.
Look through the glass first before you decide to use this technique. If you see a distorted image through curved or angled glass so will your camera. And some of the viewing areas (gorillas perhaps) have laminated or sandwiched glass for extra strength which results in wavy or textured glass. No sharp images thru this stuff.

Shooting through fences – If possible, just like with the glass, get right up next to it and place your lens so that no fence wire is in front of it. If it’s too far, try using a wide open aperture and shoot subjects that are ten feet or more beyond the fence. The minimal depth of field will render the fence as a blur. Shots of animals right next to the fence will also show the fence; can’t really help it.

Camera support – Check with the zoo first as some don’t allow tripods. Causes too much of a hazard for pedestrians and stroller Moms. A monopod is perfect for that extra bit of stability for your 80-200 or 70-300 lens. A pocket or tabletop tripod, or a beanbag, may prove useful at times. There’s usually lots of posts or railings to prop it up on.

Bring a flash – A fill flash will make a huge difference in many photos. Shooting dark furred animals with fill helps bring out the details on their coat. Set you fill for -1.5 or -2 stops; you don’t want it to overpower the existing light. Good also for shots of the family when everyone is wearing a hat!

Off camera flash for fishtanks – … and for terrariums with lizards and snakes. Use the wireless capabilities of your DSLR flash or an off camera cord. Get the lens on the glass again and use the flash off to the side, angled at your subject. Very effective.

Prepare for your next photo trip to the zoo and have a great time.

The Saturday night “Lite In The Nite” session allowed me to get pictures of balloons glowing from the flames of the burners. Sunday’s sunrise launch was equally wonderful and I came away with lots of great photos of balloons in the sky, mountains in the background, etc. Can’t wait for next year’s event.

The number of photographic mistakes I saw was huge. So many people did these things it makes me cringe.

1. Using a P&S camera and FLASH – when you’re 50-100 feet away from a huge balloon, do you really expect your dinky flash to light it up? Kill the flash, use a tripod.

2. Not using a tripod – I have to give credit to the 20 percent of photogs who were using tripods. Unfortunately, it limits your mobility and as the crowds grew, it became more difficult for these folks to maneuver.

3. Using your camera phone – Whaddaya, nuts? Sorry, but real pictures deserve to be taken with a real camera.

4. Long, heavy lens and the camera screwed to tripod – If your long lens has a separate tripod mount ring then this is what should be attached to the tripod. Screwing into the camera puts too much stress on the lens mount.

5. No lens shade at sunrise shoot – Same lady with long lens, the shade was reverse mounted on the lens. Simple rule: Always have a lens shade mounted (properly) on your lens, unless you’re using a flash (it gets in the way of the flash sometimes).

6. Not getting close enough – Getting shots of inside the balloon while it’s being inflated are cool. Just ask before you stick your nose camera in.

7. Taking your entire camera inventory – A lot of guys with big photo backpacks. Think a little before you go somewhere. What do you really need? Can you leave the bag in the car, take what you need in a small bag or pouch, and travel lighter? I went with a 17-50/f2.8 and a 28-105/f3.5-4.5 in a pouch on my belt. Wound up only using the 17-50 !

If you can, do a bit of research before attending an event. I saw photos from last year and had a rough idea of what lens to take. While there Saturday I scouted for my Sunday sunrise location. Found a nice hill overlooking the launch area with mountains in the background. All it takes is a bit of preparation and thought.

Besides the yearling pictured here, there were 6-8 newborns and a whole bunch of Moms and Dads too. I was absolutely surprised that we were able to get so close to these animals. They are very used to humans, but we always watched that we didn’t get between Mom and baby.

I put up a little Mt Evans slide show on my photo website. Check it out if you’d like.