Caption: The Cover photo.
How I conduct my Planned Photo-Shoot at a Zoo.
(An extremely brief discussion)
If my travel destination has a zoo, then I study the details through Google Maps, Google search, Wikipedia & YouTube; this will enable me to plan my whole trip & the visit to the zoo.
Usually, I plan to complete the shoot in one day, though many times it spills over to the second day too. If possible, I visit the zoo in advance with an assistant so that we scribble notes of positions & make some notes of the cages, animals, birds, etc. This helps us to select the camera & the lenses (+ accessories).
Such a trip also helps us to find out resting places, food availability, water, urinals, etc. Also, we try to take the help of one of the animal attendants in advance.
If prior permission is needed, I ensure to take the permission well in advance (some zoos need permission to take monopods/tripods inside).
Here are some photos, randomly selected from around 150 shots collected during one of the previous shooting sessions at Mysore Zoo in India.
Photo - 1. Caption: Closeup of a white tiger.
Photo - 2. Caption: A collage of photos of the White Tiger walking towards the camera.
Photo - 3. Caption: The tiger shying away from the camera.
Photo - 4. Caption: The tiger getting ready to take some rest.
Photo - 5. Caption: Other collections of the white tiger.
Photo - 6. Caption: Different poses of the tiger.
I usually do zoo shooting with:
- Sony 7R2 or 3 or a Full Frame Camera,
- Lenses: 24-70/f2.8, 70-200/f4, 200-600/f5-6.3- Sony Alpha 6500 or 6600 (APS-C Camera = Standby)
- with the above lenses (with 1.5X focal length).- RX10 M2 or M4. (RX10 M4 Covers up to 600mm zoom; 1” type sensor)
- Nikon Coolpix P1000 (Covers up to 3000mm zoom;f2.8 to 8 ).
- A 48 [or more] Megapixel 3/5X zoom Mobile camera (Samsung Plus, One Plus 7 Pro, Vivo 50X, etc.).
- Supplementary cameras (RX10 or Nikon) will be handled by assistant/s.
- The driver carries all sorts of accessories, including a monopod in a foldable trolley bag (along with food & water, if permitted). Of course, 4 to 8 charged batteries, memory cards, lens cleaning kit, etc. are inevitable companions, always.
Note:
- APS-C camera is used as a standby if the main camera shuts down.
- Mobile will be used only where the camera lens cannot shoot; one ex: when the cage mesh is too small, the mobile camera lens can easily reach.
The shoot day
We try to procure the first series ticket of the day & enter as early as possible; firstly, we reach the birds before they get disturbed by the visitors. Then, as per the guidance of the animal attender, we proceed by ensuring the shooting schedule; many times, especially during the noon, the animals will be resting & we tend to waste some time; this is the time when we have our food & some rest.
The last shoot of Mysore zoo, we comfortably covered it in full 3days’ with almost 6,000 shots.
Photo - 7. Caption: The rarest view of Black stripped & White tiger TWIN cubs (Nandankanan Zoo, Bhubaneswar, India).
Hope this will help you to plan your shoots well in future.
Dear & respected @TraciC - These are the shots I have mentioned earlier - hope this will be interesting to you; thanks in advance for your valuable time.
@jaisoncbe @davidhyno @bhavanakuntal @Adarshiips @AjithCyclist
from Chittagong city,
…Alhamdulillah 
