Ugly Hedgehog Newsletter

Hi,

In taking a photo of a zoo tiger....how do I make the bars disappear?

Ruth

Big Daddy Loc: Near Cleveland

Open the door, and walk in.. sorry couldnt resist..lol...

Usually if you get close and focus (With a DSLR) on the animal the bars may disappear. Try adjusting the aperture and play with the depth of field. Sometimes it works but you may see a slight blur where the bars are. Hope that helps.. sorry about the joke! :)

wmralls Loc: Kansas City

Photoshop
Get close and crop final pic enlarging the result. Good if shooting at a high resolution - if you can get close to the bars. Many need a telephoto lens 200mm or better.
Talk to zoo attendants. Some zoos have special photo op sessions for the public where animals are under control but in a better venue for shooting pics. If not, ask if they will...

RonaldLewis Loc: Chicago, Illinois

Shoot with a zoom lens close to the bars at about F5.6. If you are using a DSLR with a APS sensor it needs to be at least at 85mm which would compute to 135mm. Most point and shoot digital cameras have much longer tele focal lengths but you can't adjust the aperture.

notnoBuddha

Put camera to manual focus - with the above advice will often almost make them disappear. Close to the bars as possible. I have on occasion been able to zoom in between the bars which may not get the entire animal but may work for a head shot. You may then have to crop the pictures off of the side of the pucture. If the zoo does not have an outside area for the big cats that is protected by a moat or pit area you may went to consider finding another zoo as it may be rather dated. Good luck.

RonaldLewis Loc: Chicago, Illinois

Hi Ruth! If you are using a DSLR with a short zoom lens, say 17-55mm kit lens, get as close as you can to the bars at as wide of an aperture as the tele end of the lens will allow, normally about 5.6, and you should be able to get a decent picture. Try to have a shutter speed of at least 1/60 or 1/90 of a second to avoid camera shake unless you have image stabilization in the lens or camera body. Good Luck!!

Lavolpebxr Loc: Cleveland, OH

Most zoos have an outdoor habitat area. Wait until the Tigers are outside. That way there are no obstructions

dicspics Loc: southwest fla. 10 mins from the gulf

What i have done a few times, is get all your setting done put your camera on your tripod, and your timer for ten seconds. Then put the camera thru the bars and take 5 or ten pics.
some of the pics will have the lion in the frame. Make sure you use at least f1/200 to reduce shake. People around you might think your nuts, but a good pic is worth it..

musickna Loc: St. Louis

I know this is an old topic, but I was faced with exactly this problem last winter at the St. Louis Zoo. You can see from one of these two photos the bar situation I had to overcome. I could not get my camera between or round the bars - I had to reckon with them in my field of view. How did I get the snow leopard, seemingly without bars? Depth of field was my tool. I used a 135mm prime at f/2, focusing on the face of the leopard. The extremely shallow depth of field effectively masked out the bars - although, if you look closely, you can see the blurry out-of-focus lines corresponding to the wire. Cropping down to the cat's head essentially renders even that invisible too. Depth of field is a very powerful tool, especially on a full frame dSLR like the Canon 5D III that I used for these shots.

Too many bars!


Snow Leopard

sbesaw Loc: Boston

Nicely explained with supporting pics. :thumbup: :thumbup: