Denver Zoo Animals!

Saturday, October 9th I had the pleasure of going on an "Early Morning Photo Safari" at the Denver zoo! I've often wanted to spend some time taking photos of the animals so when I saw this opportunity in the Zoo newsletter, I signed right up. I often take my boys to the zoo and have lots of snapshots of the animals but I wanted to try out my new Sigma 50-500mm OS lens and get up close and personal with the animals. Since it's a big lens and heavy(4lbs) I borrowed a monopod from a friend and loved it. I will probably purchase one a some point.
It was just me with 24 other people and we had the zoo to ourselves for 2 hours before it opened to the public with that golden morning light! We had the choice of going out on our own or following the Zoo's photographer, Dave Parsons. I started out with the group but ended up lagging behind and being pretty much on my own. Since I love to photograph birds I was hoping to come home with a lot more bird photos than I ended up with but 6 hours and 600 photos later I was too exhausted (and starving) by the time I got to Bird World. I WILL go back again and the next time I will hit the birds first! I did come across a few birds that I blogged about over at Calico's Nest.
As a "still learning" photographer, I take way more bad photos than good ones but I'm proud of the progress I'm making so far. Yes, part of it has to do with having nice (and expensive!) equipment but I've learned other important things such as capturing catchlights (or eye glints) in the eyes. I REALLY tried to focus on that in these pictures but the light and the animals were not always cooperative. Catchlights bring life to a face. I still struggle with composition. I TRY to get good composition when I take the shot however, I usually always have to crop the photo post- op to get the composition better. Another thing I struggle with is metering. Most of the photos I deleted were victims of over or underexposure. Still struggling with that one so I have no advice to offer. Below, I've posted a few pics I took but if you would like to see all my favorites from the day, you can view them HERE! Enjoy!