Birthday Week: Day 1 - Dudley Zoo
With my birthday on Tuesday I decided to book the week off work, treat myself to a new 85mm lens and try and shoot something every day for a week (or at least Monday to Friday). I wanted to go somewhere I could really put the 85mm through its paces and even though it’s traditionally a portrait lens I fully intend to use it for whatever pleases me, and after taking a couple of test shots of my daughter with just a lamp for lighting and I’m already in love. I hope from these images you can see how crystal clear this lens with.
You might want to make a cuppa, this is going to be a long one.
Because the flamingos were all inside as it was a bitter 1 degree, my first stop was at the Geladas. They were high up on their platform and I was sceptical I’d even be able to get a good image so I was really surprised when I took these then zoomed in on the camera screen and saw just how clean and sharp they were. As with many images in this post I’ve cropped heavily and the quality of the Nikon Z7 and the 85mm is outstanding. You can see I’ve had to shoot through the railings but with the depth of field it’s not too distracting.
Just past the Geladas are the majority of the bird enclosures, mostly cute little owls. It’s a real challenge shooting these birds because of the nature of the cages, but I thought the 85mm took on the challenge of the metal caging well and can hardly be seen. The main issue with shooting through glass, however, is that it’s not always easy to move away from reflections so I tried to compose in a way incorporated the reflections and added texture, layers and interest. I was so happy to be able to get a flying shot that was in focus and sharp.
If you follow along the path you come to some of the big cat enclosures and whilst the snow leopards were way too high up for me to photograph, the tigers were just coming out. These two images are two of my favourites I’ve ever taken. They may seem simple, but there’s something about the quality and the crispness that is everything I’ve ever wanted to be able to take. I don’t even mind the reflections of the glass, it just adds layering. This set up, with my new 85mm lens, is perfection for me. Both images were taken from the same position but the crop on the second shows just how much it’s capable of.
Understandably, there were always a lot of people around the tiger enclosure so I circled round few times so as not to disturb anyone, and I’m really happy I did. I love these images and they are so clear you could almost feel the fur. It’s so nice to be able to get so close to them without being right in their face, and the 85mm was ideal for that.
Next to the tigers are these little Arctic Foxes and they are adorable, but the problem with photographing them is that they just don’t look real because their fur almost glows. This is a ridiculous crop and it’s razor sharp. I’d honestly been momentarily regretting buying the 85mm when looking up zoo photography because I’d made myself believe I couldn’t get great images unless I had a superzoom, but this is proof that a prime like this can be great if you’re happy to see it as a challenge.
It’s been years since I last visited the Zoo with a camera and I remember spending ages waiting for the red pandas to come further down the slope so I could photograph them so this time when I got to their enclosure and couldn’t immediately see them I walked straight past. Thankfully I chose to walk up the steps at the top of their enclosure because I didn’t even realise I was on a viewing platform until I just happened to see some bright orange in the tree and couldn’t believe I was standing right by them.
Right next to the viewing platform is an indoor area and the lemurs were right in my face as soon as I walked through the door. I think this is such an accurate representation of its personality as it had just swiped at another lemur to get more room. I didn’t have too much time in the monkey house because a school group came in so I quickly snapped these and headed back out. Again, the sharpness in the faces is incredible and all of these are obviously shot through glass.
This melancholy looking guy was probably as freezing cold as I was because it hadn’t warmed up the whole time I was there. I love the depth of these images. My 85mm lens can go as wide in aperture as f1.8, but I’d been trying to step it down to f2.8 and even f5.6 to try and get the whole features in focus, which is nothing short of incredible growth for someone addicted to f2.8 on my 24-70mm.
While one of the gibbons was braving the cold weather, this guy was right up against the window. I had a bit of a surprise since I didn’t notice him straightaway. Although for most of the images on this walk I tried to minimise the reflections, there was no way of doing this so I rolled with it like with the owl, and I really like how they turned out. They’re a cool abstract way of looking at the context and makes your eye work a little harder to make sense of the shots.
The meerkats are always fun to shoot because they have no barriers around them, just a tiny wall. They must be the most trustworthy animals ever as they never seem to climb it and escape. They’re the best animals for getting a sense of context for the surrounding zoo and castle, and yeah, I could have upped the aperture and blown it out less, but I think you still get a good idea.
The indoor meerkats were so much fun to photograph because they were so playful and seemed to really enjoy the attention. In the past I would have been worried about the red light and would probably have shied away from taking these images, but I’m so glad I did and I love the colouration on these.
Being able to spend 3 hours shooting has given me much more experience with focus methods and how to use the digital screen zoom to focus on layered subject, and that has been so useful for these birds. For the most part the autofocus on the 85mm is exceptional, but there were times when dealing with caging that it couldn’t catch what I wanted. I used a combination of manual focus to find the right focus point and the digital screen zoom to make sure the focus was held exactly where I wanted it. For me, this is where the mirrorless capabilities outweigh the DSLR.
I absolutely love taking photos of otters and especially these two, who were so much fun and kept coming up to me and wanting to play. I got so many shots it was hard to narrow it down to these. Eventually I left them to it and wandered up to the reptile house.
Taking photos of reptiles is always interesting because firstly, you have to find them which is something I am terrible at, and secondly because the environments are so much darker. I really love the depth on this shot and that the texture of the snakeskin is so clear. I have to be careful about my aperture too because I have a tendency to shoot at the widest, f1.8 in this instance, and it won’t work. I’ve settled on f4 for most scenarios now as this lens just loves it.
It’s always a surprise to me that these crocodiles are here and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them awake, but I love the composition of this shot where they’re tucked into the alcove and the muted warmth of the tones are great too.
All in all I had a very successful trip to the zoo and I highly recommend the 85mm for anyone who wants to get fantastic quality images without paying £1000s. What a great week off so far!
