Whipsnade

[Mike_J_Smith]

Hi All,
I rented a 70-200 f4 IS and went to Whipsnade. These are a few of the shots from the day, any comments appreciated:

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

6 (so cute!):

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Breaker]

Play with the levels to give them a little more punch, especially the giraffe eye.

1, 2 & 4 are nothing special. Shot at 200mm? That's the problem with safari park places, unless you've got a really good zoom you can't get close enough.

3 would be nice with a better DOF, but you might be suprised how much it comes out with levels and a bit of sharpening. Saying that, it's too tight a crop and doesn't really convey anything expect 'extreme close up'

5 is a bit of an odd crop, and again your DOF is just a little too tight.

You're right about 6, very cute. I'd have cropped a little tighter, seems to be a lot of dead space above the little critter.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Snake Man]

I really like the close up of the Giraffe's eye.

Out of interest. Where did you hire the lens from?

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

Thanks for the comments Breaker, all good learning. Was my 1st time above the kit lenses 55mm. I like the giraffe's eye as is though tbh; horses for courses and all that. Will try playing around when I get a chance to see if I prefer it as you suggest.

Snake Man - Hired from lensesforhire.co.uk, £35 for a week. I live close enough to pick-up & drop-off as well, so save on delivery. Bargain & good service.

Mike

 

[Snake Man]

Snake Man - Hired from lensesforhire.co.uk, £35 for a week. I live close enough to pick-up & drop-off as well, so save on delivery. Bargain & good service.

Mike

Heard nothing but good things about them. Hopefully they will start supplying Nikon lenses soon. Had a hard time finding anyone reliable to hire from. My local Calumet don't and won't stock the lenses I need and the other two I have found don't bother getting back to you when you have made an inquiry.

 

[StewartR]

Ah, I wondered what you did with the lens!

I like #1, but a bit of PP (levels, sharpening) will make it better. It's tons better than #2 because the fence just screams "zoo" whereas in #1 that's not apparent.

I think #3 would have been better a bit more side-on, so that (a) you could see more of his eye and (b) the shallow DOF would be less of an issue. Again, a bit of PP will help.

#4 would be better without the tree in the background. #5 is cropped too tight. #6 is cute and would be benefit from a square crop, plus a bit of PP.

Incidentally, I would have thought 200mm on a 400D would be adequate for a zoo, but it seems from some of these (#1,2,4) that a bit more reach would have been beneficial. I have some ideas about that...