The XMEN Clan Forums

I'm going back to the zoo for more photography practice on Monday. No new equipment, but since school is back in session and I'm going on a weekday I'm going to take the tripod along with me. So maybe I'll get some decent shots inside the buildings this time around.

The only problem is that it is supposed to be overcast with a chance for rain but I don't have much choice as I move off to Columbus the 15th. So... tips for shooting on an overcast day? I don't have anything for lighting except the on-camera flash... and at 50' for some shots, isn't that useless?

The good news is that I am getting a better feel for aperature and shutter speed settings... though I am still clueless when it comes to ISO speed (I can't really see a difference except that @ ISO 1600 my zoo pictures all came out grainy the last time), getting good manual focus (my bad eyes maybe?), and all the stuff you can do in photoshop... contrast, saturation, and the whole color thing..... absolutely clueless.

Overcast can often be better for lighting than sunny days, as you have nice, diffuse lighting and no strong shadows. You can play around with "P" mode to learn aperture and shutter speed, because then as you adjust one the other will change to balance the exposure. Always best to shoot at the lowest ISO, because you'll get the least noise, but if your shot is too dark (shutter speed too long in P mode, or check your post-shot histogram, or there are warning signs such as a blinking dot on the 20D) try bumping the ISO up.

BOO!!! Canon has drivers for 32-bit Vista, but no 64-bit drivers and the 32-bit drivers don't work on my 64-bit install....... so I'm using my laptop to pull the pictures. Then some hours to look them over and we'll see if I got anything.

Camera drivers? Why? Pull the memory stick, insert into card reader and thus into USB port, and voila.

The last Fuji camera I had didn't use drivers. Windows recognized it as a USB mass storage device, and I got all those pics no problemo.

Gambit, you assume that I would have a card reader.

Well, I got some decent shots... given that most were in poor lighting and through glass. (I even snuck in a couple flash shots where the normal slumberparty goers were very much on the party side... thank goodness for cats, they ALWAYS are sleeping.) Before I pick the best 15 to post, I have to see what can be saved from the ones that were underexposed.

ok, narrowed it down to 183 pictures... I still ought to cut 10-20 more out of the list, but I'm reasonably happy with what I got. In a couple minutes I'll upload me getting the evil eagle eye, happy otters, a 1.5 second exposure of some sort of tiny fox, lazy lions, and bears blowing raspberries.

These are just cropped and resized... I'll put up some bigger/better ones tomorrow or friday.

"Arggh! Are you back again?!"


"Hi!"


"Oh oh oh! What's that shiny thing?! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"


"..."


"Pfft! How's that for, 'posing for the camera'!!"

Hey, did you know you're overriding your exposure setting?

Exposure Bias (EV) = -2/3 = -0.67

That'll make your pics come out a little dark.

yes, I did it deliberately in a number of locations... in a few other places I also opened up the aperature (max or min, I forget) and tried all kinds of crazy and stupid things to try and get the exposure time down. In many places I was shooting through glass and in the dark, and all I wanted was a sharp image.... so I guess I sacrificed quite a bit of color for a little bit of sharpness. I even had to use the little bit of motion blur practice I had to try and get sharper images of animals that just wouldn't sit still. I could have used the flash alot more, but I wound up getting the reflection of the flash off the glass.

I'm going to have to find a photographer buddy to take on my field trips.

But still, I am quite happy with what I got.

oh, and I forgot... what's the software you guys recommend to calibrate my monitor? My screen's too bright... so I adjust things to look fine for me, but I bet they look alot darker for you. (They definately come out darker on the printer.)