Photo Challenge Topic – Using Lighting and Flash
Since many of the animals at the National Zoo live in indoor enclosures, it can be tricky for the amateur photographer to capture them. There are many techniques you can use to enhance the quality of your photograph. For this challenge topic, we invite you to submit questions, comments, or examples of difficult situations and what you can do to take a better picture.
Thanks to everyone who posted a question or comment. Read answers provided by Mehgan Murphy, National Zoo photographer.
What’s the best way to shoot through glass?
—Patel
Photographing through glass can be tricky, but try these tips out and see how they work. If you are able to get right up to the glass, put your lens directly on it—be careful not to scratch your lens. This will eliminate any reflections. Sometimes you can't always get right up to the glass, so wear dark clothing. This helps to keep you from reflecting in the glass.
Another thing I like to do is wear thin dark gloves. This way if you have to shoot at an angle, you can use your hand to "cup" your lens, blocking out reflections. If you need to use a flash, make sure you shoot at least at a 45-degree angle. This way the light from the flash will reflect out and away from your lens, and not directly back at you.
Also, if you have the option, you may want to try using manual focus. If there are any marks on the glass the cameras autofocus feature could be tricked, causing your camera to focus on the glass instead of your subject.
The National Zoo is a great place to try these techniques out since there are many glass-enclosed exhibits. Try these techniques out at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, sloth bear exhibit, or the Small Mammal House, just to name a few.
I find I get better pictures by turning off the flash—especially indoors since flash reflects off the glass. I did really well recently capturing the orangutans indoors without flash while they interacted with viewers and each other just on the other side of the glass.
—Carol
I'm no expert with photography, but I sure love pictures of animals and going to the Zoo. Taking pictures through the glass can be a real pain. With flash, you get that "starburst" of light that blocks out everything, and probably annoys the animals. But without flash sometimes they turn out horribly blurry! So what I do is use the zoom feature. I like to stand away from the glass (the hand-prints are less visible) and then take a breath to steady my grip and snap the perfect photo. I love the Zoo and some of the best pictures can be taken with zoom, or up very close to the glass (always a safe distance)! Nature, pets, or pandas—there are so many things to capture. I hope I helped!
—Cassidy
Carol and Cassidy: Flash works really well inside if you know the secret of where to aim it. Flash freezes the action and gives natural color and more light so we use it inside most of the time. Holding the flash—or the camera, if the flash is attached—at a small angle (30 to 40 degrees) to the glass will avoid getting reflections of the flash. Being close to or right up against the glass helps, but as long as you are at an angle even farther away, it will work. You can check for reflections right away if you are using a digital camera.
