Camera Labs

Ah the zoo. A good place to see animals without busting your bank account traveling the world. So many opportunities to see....fences. Many a shot has been ruined by such a case. Is there any way to get rid of this nuisance?

P.S. Hi there I'm new

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Yashica Electro 35 GTN and Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd *wish i had a DSLR*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14860012@N06/
(please critique)

Hi,
If your camera is close enough to the fence, the fence might be out of focus to the extent that you can't see it anymore! Haven't actually gotten the chance to try this out. I read about this on a guide to motorsport photography but I can't find it so I'm sorry that I can't give you the original article.

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Graham
Flickr

Hi SDzooshutterbug, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

I hear what you're saying, and you're right, it's a pain. As Graham says though if you get close enough, you can often render the fencing out of focus. Another trick is to see if there's a gap you can poke your lens through - often there is - same for windows - a gap is always better than photographing 'through'.

That said, there's still some great shots possible in zoos. Check out what forum member Darrin has done here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=940

and here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=637

Forum member Telexstar has also taken some great shots in the zoo here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=961

Gordon

Thank you grahamnp and Mr. Laing for the warm welcome and for the tips. I'll try them and see how it works out.

A little off topic, but I would like to thank you Mr. Laing for your always informative reviews (seen via Youtube) and now I am saving for an EOS 40D. Much thanks from San Diego.

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Yashica Electro 35 GTN and Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd *wish i had a DSLR*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14860012@N06/
(please critique)

You could also use the fence as an element in your pics. Make it "A Day at the Zoo" and you can capture shots where the enthusiasm and curiosity of the visitors make for interesting photos. Like this:


or that:

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Nice shots Thomas!

I have a feeling the Dog was trained to 'sit still' and stare.
Either that or the Dog was extremely interested in Birds !

Nice ..

You were standing on normal ground or were you elevated , Thomas ?
The wooden fence gave an elevated feeling.

Edited - typo/grammar

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Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors

My dog hardly could sit still around birds. She has bird-chasing in her genes, and it shows. All the other times she was running around the bird-cages, highly excited, heart beating at 200bmp Unfortunately I couldn't grab/capture that excitement
The fence-pic was at normal hight...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Excellent idea tombomba2! I shall try that on my next excursion.

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Yashica Electro 35 GTN and Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd *wish i had a DSLR*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14860012@N06/
(please critique)