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Zoo shots
#1

Some recent photos from the unphotogenic Toronto Zoo -- whose idea was it to go in the middle of January...? :/

junior:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1194889-Edit-wehi.jpg]

dude:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1194859-wehi.jpg]

dude, over here:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1194862-wehi.jpg]

what, another blonde hair? *
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1190594-wehi.jpg]

who else?
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1190529-wehi.jpg]

... I have to say that I found the zoo frustrating. I spent three hours in transit and twenty dollars to take long telephoto high-iso photos of bored and morose animals in an ugly environment, only to have them look like bland postcard photos if I was lucky, and superzoom-tourist snapshots for the rest. And the elephants weren't out, which was the main reason why I wanted to go.

But I'm planning on going back when the weather is better and more animals are in their outdoor enclosures. I have the start of a series that I like:

Gorilla:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1194908-wehi.jpg]

Jaguar:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1190571-wehi.jpg]

Sumatran Tiger
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1195103-wehi.jpg]

I have to say that out of the two sets of zoo photos, these are the ones that are "me".

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#2

Of your animal shots, I like the second one, "Dude," best, his pose and expression. But I really like where you're going with your geometric abstract series.

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." ~ Dorothea Lange
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#3

Both styles totally work for me.
I think you did way better than my last zoo trip.
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#4

The "Behind bars" theme is appealing, definitely worth going for!

but I do like the first two shots too, especially the way you did them in b/w, there is nothing boring in them!
they "might could" need a bit more zing, to put it the South Carolinian way.... Smile

Uli
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#5

Nice series Matthew.

#1 is my favourite, love the expression and the light.

Of the "behind bars" #2 is most appealing to me, probebly cause it reveals a little more.

Nice work.

/Paul L.

Strives to make photos instead of taking them...
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#6

aine-caitlin, thanks. I have a suspicion that the gorilla is actually a "dudette", but it just doesn't work as well.

Keith, thanks, but I had an advantage. Most of these were taken at 560mm-e and iso2000 or 3200. And it took 800+ exposures to get these.

Uli, definitely lacking "zing". In a couple of days I'll be able to compare my shots with a couple of others from the club -- there wasn't much to do, so we were shoulder-to-shoulder most of the time -- so I'll get to see what might have helped. Using the pop-up flash is what makes #2 work, and that's an idea that I got from one of the photographers I was with.

Paul, thanks, I like the light in #1 as well -- and worked hard with the dodge and burn tools to get it. Big Grin

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#7

"...560mm-e and iso2000 or 3200. And it took 800+ exposures..."

Maybe I did a whole lot better than I thought.
Out of 148 exposures I got 6 keepers, at 38-180mm-e and iso100-200.

I still prefer yours--they have personality and style, and the processing is very professional-looking.
Mine have a snapshot look with just a sprinkling of skill.
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#8

Thanks, and your keeper rate is just fine.

You know the saying about how it's not the camera, it's the photographer? Don't take it too seriously. I think I forgot to mention the sensor-shift IS (and occasionally the monopod) that let me get usable photos a couple of stops below my hand-holdable speeds. The closest that I came to traditional photography was the owl, which I shot with my E-1. 46 photos total, five of which got a single star rating (which means that they're in focus and reasonably well exposed) and only the one here got a two-star rating, which is a "good" photo. (iso1600, 400mm-e, f/3.5, 1/25, monopod.)

But next to one of the people that I was with, I was still a parvenu. He was using a Canon 5D, 600mm lens, and a 1.4 TC held on a gimbal-mount that was probably worth more than my camera. (He also needed a luggage cart to move his gear, instead of the micro trekker backpack that held my two assembled cameras.) We were shoulder-to-shoulder a couple of times, so I'm looking forward to seeing his results.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#9

I forgot to post this one: of the 843 shots, this is the only one that I liked enough to give a three-star rating to. (E-3, iso3200, 283mm, f/5.6, 1/80)

rhino:
[Image: matthewpiers2008-1195187-Edit-wehi.jpg]

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#10

Very cool series. I like the sculptural look of the first couple of ape shots with the composition of #1 giving it the edge IMO. I also like the straight on shot of the bars (Jaguar) - and of course the wonderful textures of the rhino.
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#11

awsome rhino! great composure.
slightly too burnt out highlights on my screen... are you going to print any of these?

Uli
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#12

Toad, thanks.

Uli, I haven't printed any, but will probably check the histogram and print the rhino. I have an elephant photo from 2005 that's a similar style and printed very well, so it will be a set that I can hang on the wall. Once I have more of the "behind bars" (thanks for the name) I'll create a little series out of it. But the rest of them will just keep my Lightroom catalog company. I keep thinking that I should be printing more of my photos, but I rarely do it.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#13

The elephant looks like an elephant should, ( I really will have to get new spectacles...for elephant read rhino)but the #1 gorilla, almost looks like a guy in a monkey suit or King Kong in the first movie (Fay Wray)
I think it's classic.

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#14

The Rhino shot looks great to me - I can imagine it next to an elephant shot. Blonde hair is my favourite of the first animal shots and I like the leaf shot especially.

Canon stuff.
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#15

NT: Elephant, rhino... I really wanted an elephant, so I completely understand the confusion.

WS, the leaf was the one that started me on the bars theme. I just wish I had pursued it more thoroughly while I was there. And I can't watch animals grooming without thinking about the Far Side comic -- "Well, well... Another blond hair...Conducting a little more 'Research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?"

Here's the old Elephant photo that I'll be pairing the rhino with; I may have posted it before but can't remember. It got very good marks, but no ribbon, at my club's print clinic.

[Image: matthewpiers2007-0675-Edit-wehi.jpg]

edit: seeing them together for the first time here, they may actually be too similar. I might flip the rhino back the way he was originally facing, which would put his eye on the left side of the photo.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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