on Apr 21st, 2007Chattanooga Zoo Wide Open
I went to the Chattanooga Zoo this week and I brought my camera as I always do when I go to the zoo. I planned on walking around for well over an hour so I didn’t carry all of my photography gear. I know from previous experience at the zoo that what is needed is a fast lens and a long lens. I don’t have a very fast long lens (yet – I do have my eyes on a 70-200 f2.8L IS USM, but it will have to wait) so I compromise. I borrowed Suzanne Carty’s, a very talented painter and photographer, 75-300 f4.0-5.6 USM and I brought my Tamron 17-50 f2.8 XR LD IF. My camera, which has changed the way I see the world, is a Canon Digital Rebel XT with a battery grip.
The Tamron lens is very fast with a maximum aperture of f2.8. The tamron is my go to choice for low light photography. The zoo has a good mix of low light and bright light photography. The reptile room and the inside of the Gombe forest are low light situations. Fast apertures like 2.8 also come with shallow depths of field. The depth of field though is also a function of the length of the lens. The 17-50 is somewhat wide and brings with it a deeper depth of field. The result of the fast aperture and the short focal length makes for a moderate depth of field.
The longer lens, the 75-300, has a much wider maximum aperture and that makes it less usefull for low light photography. The zoo is full of open spaces with an abundance of natural light, but also very distracting backgrounds. I chose very small f-numbers not because I always needed the extra light but because I wanted less depth of field. Shotting a 300mm lens at f5.6 doesn’t always make for shallow depth of, however that depth does get shallower when the subjects get closer. Unfortunately at the zoo you can not always get very close to the animals. I was lucky and the snow leopards were relaxing next to a window so I was able to get a foot away from them several times. The African Grey Cranes are not usually camera shy and are a good source of close up pictures. The Chimpanzees are sometimes more social than other times so they can be hit and miss when it comes to them walking up to the windows.
Combining long focal lengths, fast apertures and getting close to the subjects makes for a powerful combination. If you want to isolate your subject from a busy background while at the same time creating a smooth soft backdrop for your photograph then this combination is for you. I have some other ideas I would like to write about including an in depth look at my Black and White process, Film vs. Digital, How to find a photographic destination, developing a photographic style and of course RAW vs. JPG. If you have a preference drop me a line and I will work on that subject next.
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