Marwell Zoo (Hampshire UK) photos (imgs)

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in Hampshire UK.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated!

http://www.pbase.com/ceesar/marwell_zoo

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740

My wife and I spent like 10 minutes peering through the enclosure fence, looking for this "critter" (a Caracal). Having not found it, we were about to walk away when we spotted her sitting up on her perch watching us the entire time!

Anyway, was really pleased with this picture, as I was able to use the "depth of field" technique to effectively "blur out" the fence in the foreground

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744

Just wanted to post this, as I thought it was a really natural picture of Diane - she didn't know I was taking her photo, so there was no fake posing or anything

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745

This little guy (a Meerkat incidentally) was on "lookout duty" for his colony in their outside enclosure, when he got distracted by a passing plane.

They are absolutely hilarious and great fun to watch...

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

...and now for the links to the actual photos...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated!

http://www.pbase.com/ceesar/marwell_zoo

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740
My wife and I spent like 10 minutes peering through the enclosure
fence, looking for this "critter" (a Caracal). Having not found it,
we were about to walk away when we spotted her sitting up on her
perch watching us the entire time!

Anyway, was really pleased with this picture, as I was able to use
the "depth of field" technique to effectively "blur out" the fence
in the foreground

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744
Just wanted to post this, as I thought it was a really natural
picture of Diane - she didn't know I was taking her photo, so there
was no fake posing or anything

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745
This little guy (a Meerkat incidentally) was on "lookout duty" for
his colony in their outside enclosure, when he got distracted by a
passing plane.

They are absolutely hilarious and great fun to watch...

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Click to expand...

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Hi all,

Just wanted to bump this up to see if folks had the time to comment...

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thnx,
Steve.

Hi Steve,

I enjoyed your shots. Thanks for sharing them. They appeared a tad washed out probably due to overexposure. What mode are you shooting in?

Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

Steven A Ross said:

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

Click to expand...

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated!

http://www.pbase.com/ceesar/marwell_zoo

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740
My wife and I spent like 10 minutes peering through the enclosure
fence, looking for this "critter" (a Caracal). Having not found it,
we were about to walk away when we spotted her sitting up on her
perch watching us the entire time!

Anyway, was really pleased with this picture, as I was able to use
the "depth of field" technique to effectively "blur out" the fence
in the foreground

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744
Just wanted to post this, as I thought it was a really natural
picture of Diane - she didn't know I was taking her photo, so there
was no fake posing or anything

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745
This little guy (a Meerkat incidentally) was on "lookout duty" for
his colony in their outside enclosure, when he got distracted by a
passing plane.

They are absolutely hilarious and great fun to watch...

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Click to expand...

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Click to expand...

Hi steve

Sorry I misses iot first time around , im in florida on my hols & only copnnect now & then

I only live a few minutes from marwell & they have some great stuff there ,

I enjoyed your pictures , thanks

jules
--

Please check out my site and if you have a comment please visit my guestbook . http://www.sonycam.co.uk

Julian Porter Southampton UK
Sony P9 & 717 Lots to learn

Hi Harry,

Thanks for the comments...

I was shooting in aperture priority mode, mainly to try to "blur out" the fences on the enclosures. Do you have any hints for using this technique, whilst managing to prevent over-exposure?

As an example, the EXIF info for the 1st photo (the Caracal) is as follows:

Exposure time : 1/1000s
F-Stop : f2.4
Exposure program : Aperture priority
ISO : 100
Focal length : 49mm
Metering mode : Spot
White balance : Auto

Hope this helps...

Incidentally, the shots were taken using a 717...

Harry Behret said:

Hi Steve,

I enjoyed your shots. Thanks for sharing them. They appeared a tad
washed out probably due to overexposure. What mode are you shooting
in?

Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

Click to expand...

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

I love going to the Zoo, it's a great place to relax and enjoy nature, and the beauty of the Animal Kingdom.......don't ya just love those Meerkats....they are just too cute.....wonder if they make good pets hehehe......they're little sticky noses aren't they
Thank you for sharing......... Skippy (Australia)

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Click to expand...

--



Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege. (Unknown)

Steven, great pictures. I especially like the Meercat picture. They are a lot of fun to watch aren't they? It's easy to picture one getting assigned a very important job by the colony and then getting distracted by an airplane or something else. They are extremely curious creatures ...

Here's my favorite one I took recently:



But here's another one showing just how nosy they can be. They were fascinated by the zookeeper's door and were clamoring for a better view. They're so tiny!

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Click to expand...

Steven ,

Sorry I haven't responded earlier but its been a busy day. You're asking a lot from the camera in aperture mode. The trade off worked pretty good on blurring the fences but the downside was the slight overexposure (emphasis on the slight). You can adjust the EV in aperture mode to get it to read as underexposing the shot. I probably would have used the manual mode for more flexibility for such a difficult shot.

The best thing is to experiment (heck its digital if it don't work delete it). Try different settings on the same shot and see which one gives you the results you like. Have fun.
Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

Hi Steven

I liked the pictures but they are a bit overexposed as Harry said, I cant add much more to his comments other than experiment take your time and shoot loads you can always delete them.

Zoos are hard at times due to the nature of the beasts meerkats are mad though and cute. i like the Limas who are just as silly.

My kids want me to take them to Marwell so maybe I should take the camera.

Here is a few pics taken in france at the zoo in the Loire.



NO IT IS NOT RED EYE...

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated!

http://www.pbase.com/ceesar/marwell_zoo

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740
My wife and I spent like 10 minutes peering through the enclosure
fence, looking for this "critter" (a Caracal). Having not found it,
we were about to walk away when we spotted her sitting up on her
perch watching us the entire time!

Anyway, was really pleased with this picture, as I was able to use
the "depth of field" technique to effectively "blur out" the fence
in the foreground

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744
Just wanted to post this, as I thought it was a really natural
picture of Diane - she didn't know I was taking her photo, so there
was no fake posing or anything

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745
This little guy (a Meerkat incidentally) was on "lookout duty" for
his colony in their outside enclosure, when he got distracted by a
passing plane.

They are absolutely hilarious and great fun to watch...

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/jonjo
pbase supporter

Hi Harry,

Thanks for your comments...!

I've been thinking some more about this, and I now remember I actually used manual mode...I was experiencing the problem you described, with over-exposure in aperture priority.

So with later photos, I switched over to manual mode, and increased the shutter speed to try to prevent over-exposure...but you can see it didn't quite work.

So, being pretty new to photography myself I could do with the advice....what's the best way to cope with extremely sunny days...is there a filter I should try using, perhaps?

I guess I need to experiment more! :-D

Thnx,
Steve.

Harry Behret said:

Steven ,

Sorry I haven't responded earlier but its been a busy day. You're
asking a lot from the camera in aperture mode. The trade off worked
pretty good on blurring the fences but the downside was the slight
overexposure (emphasis on the slight). You can adjust the EV in
aperture mode to get it to read as underexposing the shot. I
probably would have used the manual mode for more flexibility for
such a difficult shot.

The best thing is to experiment (heck its digital if it don't work
delete it). Try different settings on the same shot and see which
one gives you the results you like. Have fun.
Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

Click to expand...

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Hi John,

thanks for checking the pics out - I'd agree they are a little overexposed (see my comments in reply to Harry). And thanks for sharing your pics!

Just checked out your profile - Teddington, eh? That's a bit of a drive to Marwell! But worth the trip - there's plenty to do and see. Could end up being a bit of a pricey day out - it's not cheap!

Definitely take the camera - there are lots of great photo opportunities. A lot of the cages lend themselves to photography, quite open and relatively low fences - obviously the more dangerous animals are well caged in!!! :-D

The one thing that Marwell does, that I fancy doing, is a photography day! They give expert tuition on animal photography and allow you to get in closer to the animals. All for £90 or so. Details on their web site...

If you do visit, try to avoid the lemur cages at feeding time - they all "hang out" in their inside cage and everybody clusters round the view window. Much better to catch them whilst they are out and about in their enclosure.

BUT! If you want the ultimate lemur experience, visit Monkey World nr. Wareham in Dorset. The lemur enclosure is actually open to the public! Yeah, you read that right - you can enter the enclosure and walk around the lemurs, as they run about, leap between trees, etc.

Cheers,
Steve.

John Lumb said:

I liked the pictures but they are a bit overexposed as Harry said,
I cant add much more to his comments other than experiment take
your time and shoot loads you can always delete them.

Zoos are hard at times due to the nature of the beasts meerkats are
mad though and cute. i like the Limas who are just as silly.

My kids want me to take them to Marwell so maybe I should take the
camera.

Here is a few pics taken in france at the zoo in the Loire.



NO IT IS NOT RED EYE...

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated!

http://www.pbase.com/ceesar/marwell_zoo

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503740
My wife and I spent like 10 minutes peering through the enclosure
fence, looking for this "critter" (a Caracal). Having not found it,
we were about to walk away when we spotted her sitting up on her
perch watching us the entire time!

Anyway, was really pleased with this picture, as I was able to use
the "depth of field" technique to effectively "blur out" the fence
in the foreground

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503741

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503742

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503743

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503744
Just wanted to post this, as I thought it was a really natural
picture of Diane - she didn't know I was taking her photo, so there
was no fake posing or anything

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503745
This little guy (a Meerkat incidentally) was on "lookout duty" for
his colony in their outside enclosure, when he got distracted by a
passing plane.

They are absolutely hilarious and great fun to watch...

http://www.pbase.com/image/15503746

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/jonjo
pbase supporter

Click to expand...

--
Cheers,
Steven.

Wiltshire, UK.
http://www.pbase.com/ceesar

Why don't you try setting the camera on spot metering while on Aperture priority mode? This way you could meter a neutral spot on your subject while keeping the aperture as wide as possible. As long as the subject is properly exposed, everything should be fine. Granted, the rest of the photo will have over/under exposed parts (underexposed/shadow spots tend to be noisy on the F717 even at ISO 100) but they are already out of focus and you should probably take this into consideration when framing the shot.

Don't forget that if you zoom your subject in significantly, even smaller apertures like f3.5 will produce significant background bluring.

What happened in your pictures was caused by the camera's inabillity to shoot at less than 1/1000 in bright light at a wide aperture setting. The meter probably wanted maybe 1/2000 at your set aperture but could not fire at that speed. Having a look at the histogram would have told you to try and add some negative EV bias.

Aditionally incorrect white balance would throw things out a bit as well... that's the fun in this hobby. Fortunately experimenting only costs some frustration sometimes when shooting digital.

Regards,

--
Bogdan

Life is beautiful

Skippy,

Are you near the Alligator Hunter's Zoo in Australia? We love him here in the US, especially my kids! They also love the Wiggles - which I hear was a bar band originally - but then turnen to kiddie music (lots of money in that). Not that I am a huge Wiggles fan, but it makes them happy and that is all that counts to me!

Australia Rules! I would love to go down under sometime. Oh well - maby when the kids get bigger and I can take a Loooong vacation. I bet it must be much more scenic than good old NJ where I live!!!

Take care,
ken

Skippy said:

Steven A Ross said:

Just thought I post a few photos I recently took at Marwell Zoo, in
Hampshire UK.

Click to expand...

--



Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege.
(Unknown)

Click to expand...

Hi Ken,

Well By Crykey ....nope I don't live anywhere near Steve Irwin, he's about 3-4 days drive from where I live, I live south of Melbourne......long way from Steve....he lives in the tropical part of Australia, kind of like how Florida is tropical compared to other areas of USA, in fact Australia is every bit as big as USA, except we have no where near the population that you guys have.

Australia for US travellers is very cheap because the Australian $ is not worth a cracker, and you get not quite double your money here.

The biggest mistake people make when they come to Australia is thinking that you can just get in the car and drive from say from Sydney to Melbourne in just a couple of hours and back again the same day......not so our Capital Cities are not close together, and so you have to plan your trip around the distances one needs to travel as well.....

It's a beautiful country, but then so is USA, I have been to USA many times, and will be going back in 2004..........start saving your pennies now
Skippy (Australia)

Ken Morris said:

Skippy,

Are you near the Alligator Hunter's Zoo in Australia? We love him
here in the US, especially my kids! They also love the Wiggles -
which I hear was a bar band originally - but then turnen to kiddie
music (lots of money in that). Not that I am a huge Wiggles fan,
but it makes them happy and that is all that counts to me!

Australia Rules! I would love to go down under sometime. Oh well

• maby when the kids get bigger and I can take a Loooong vacation.

I bet it must be much more scenic than good old NJ where I live!!!

Take care,
ken

Click to expand...

--



Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege. (Unknown)