"Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings."  - Evan Esar

Some of my best adventures have been at the local zoo, and the Philadelphia Zoo has always been one of my favorites.  Not that I'm advocating for locking up wild animals in cages or small spaces but sometimes the animals are there because they need to be, because they can't be in the wild for one reason or another.  I'm not here to debate the validity of zoos.  If you are, wrong blog, sorry to disappoint you.  I am, however, going to give you a few tips on making beautiful photographs on your day trip.

Zoom!  Zoom!  Zoom!  No, I'm not suggesting you race through the zoo snapping everything in your wake.  Take your time.  Get close and personal by either standing as near as you can to your subject and/or by zooming in as far as your lens will allow you.  

The closer you are, the less you will see of the background.  If you can't close the distance between you and your target, blur your background either using portrait mode or by maximizing your aperture.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The best time I have found to be at the zoo is as soon as they open for that morning feeding or just after.  Many of the animals are playful and animated.  

Sometimes you get a nice surprise.  I came across a cobra with an agenda, advocating for himself and those of his kind.  I thought, "All right then.  I will share your photo and your message as often as I get the opportunity to."  I've kept my promise and have shared this photo numerous times.

"Zoo animals are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild."  - Jack Hanna

Infinite Shades of Grey

Life, like black and white photography, is often many more shades of grey, a mix of shadows and light to varying degrees, then it is simply two colors in a crayon box.  It's rich textures and bold contrast can appear and often are strikingly dramatic.

FDR Park, Philadelphia, PA

Without the distraction of color, you are able to focus the viewer's attention on the details and lead the eye where you most want it to go.

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

To see a landscape photo in black and white is like time-traveling.  It offers an antiquated look where the viewer may wonder how near or far into the past they have retreated.

"Lady in Waiting" South Dakota  

                                                                                                                                                                            Textures come alive.

Good to be King

                                               
Light dances and mingles with the shadows.

Monochrome photographs have a classic style, elegance, and strength all its own.  

Capturing the Magic of Christmas

Picture this:  Christmas morning before the children have awakened.  The soft light of dawn is slowly creeping through the windows, the lights are synchronized dancing around the tree, the gifts are packaged perfectly with care, and you carefully snap those first few shots before mayhem ensues. 

Photographer Unknown

Okay.  Let's be more realistic.  This is probably you the night before because I don't know about you but I was never out of bed before my kids on Christmas morning.  Don't you wish they had that same enthusiasm jumping out of bed for school each day? 

You take a few precious photos to prove it looked just like an image right out of a Christmas catalogue, crawl into bed hoping for a few hours of sleep, and then the first screams of joy hit your eardrums and reverberate off of each and every brain cell with an equally loud echo.  Ah, let the games begin.  

 

One more hour, PLEASE!!

After bargaining for one more hour of sleep, you hide under your pillow while stockings are yanked from the fireplace and dumped onto your newly polished hardwood floors. What seems like only minutes later, cherub faces covered in chocolate treats and candy cane sticky hands come peering into your sanctuary with a choir of "Please, please, please, may we open our presents now?"  

Fully surrendered, you grab your camera and prepare yourself for the most adorable photos that everyone will admire and will no doubt share all over Facebook.  How could they resist?

By the time you manage to pick up your camera, aim and fire, amongst a blur of wrapping paper frenzy, a few "Ohs" and "Ahs," you pause to make sure you got that last pic because that was absolutely the cutest when you realize not only was Susie's sweetest smile completely hidden behind Johnny's arm but all of the gifts are opened and your perfect pictures nowhere to be found.  In a panic you flick through your digital previews and sudden all your hopes are dashed of winning any Christmas photo contests this year.    

What is a photographer to do?  

First of all, slow it down!  Certainly racing down the stairs and blasting through unwrapping presents has its own charm if you like it like that, but it will not make for great, or even good, pictures. There's nothing wrong with one child at a time, one present at a time, rule, at least until you've gotten a few acceptable shots or you are ready for your coffee.  Trust me if your little boy or girl knows that a few angelic smiles is all that is standing between them and the rest of their gifts, they will give you their full cooperation.

Photographer Unknown

Second of all, don't be a control freak.  Let them be themselves and capture that!  They will have more fun and so will you.    

Photographer unknown

Third, if your pets get in on the action, please let them!  They may be some of the cutest photos you get.

Tip:  A photo of a child with their gift from Grandma and Grandpa, Auntee Jen, or that special someone makes for a more personalized thank you card.  

Is It Real Or Is It Photoshopped?

All throughout history, even before Photoshop (believe it or not), photos have been manipulated. Here is one of the more well-known photos.  (Photo Credit Unknown)

There was a time when many people saw a picture as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth but, as you can see from this article, it just isn't true.

http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/?currentPage=3

Now that photos are digital and photo editing programs are in high demand, it's easier than ever to make a few adjustments here and a few adjustments there.  By the time a photo is "edited," you may have well over 100 layers as in some modeling pictures, anything from whitening the teeth to downsizing the waist and enhancing the breasts!

This one is for my nieces.  Don't believe the hype, ladies!  No one is born perfect but a few photo editing tricks and anyone can look it.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/time-lapse-video-shows-models-photoshop-transformation-20738180

What's my point in all of this?  Question everything!

Now that we have that out of the way, manipulating photos can be fun and your imagination, not the sky, is the limit.

Make a photo look like a painting.

 

                     Play with framing and layering.

The possibilities are limitless!  Have fun!

                                                                                                                             

Is a Photographer an Artist?

Life had me flying in a few directions simultaneously and something had to take a temporary backseat; unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you'd like to look at it, it was my photography and everything that went along with it, including this blog.  Maybe other areas needed my more immediate attention and that's okay.  The important part is, I'm back, and ready!

A photographer, in some circles, is not considered an artist.  What is so great about photography, especially in this period of time, when so many can pull out their cell phone and capture a photo any time they want and of anything that catches the eye? What could possibly be so special when we are inundated with images from all over the world?

At surface value, I might agree if you are only taking an image for what it appears to be at first glance; however, if you look into a photo, a really good one, you will see a story.  Maybe you will be able to view it from an objective point of view or maybe it will be purely subjective, based on your own life experiences and what you are ready or able to see at that moment.  Isn't that the most wonderful gift about photography?  It appears to be real, the mind accepts it as real, but, depending on what the creator of the image has chosen, it can be altered by layers of other photos or edited in Photoshop in some manner. The final product can be a complete illusion.

To me the definition of an artist is someone who has the creative ability to take the mundane or the ordinary, the often overlooked, and assist you in looking deeper and/or aide you in viewing it in a whole new way.  No matter what the medium is, if you can do this, then you truly are an artist, a creator.

Up next...Images and How They May Affect Your Life