Heaven on Earth

One of the reasons I love photographing so much is that wherever I go I find magical moments. Even if the place is crowded, covered with fences or has a terrible weather, I can capture something special. Most of the moments I capture are more beautiful than what I saw in real life. This is because, in reality, there is too much information and a lot of different angles to look at things. However, while photographing , I always choose a focal point as well as an angle. For instance, in the image above, taken at Yosemite National Park, you don't see the dozens of people standing by my side. This is my way of creating heaven on earth.

At Yosemite it was very easy to find little pieces of heaven and every creature I met represented an opportunity. At the park, I photographed two species of reptiles: Sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus graciosus) which pose nicely for the photo and Gilbert's skink (Plestiodon gilberti).

The skink had a beautiful blue tail but the tail was hidden between the rocks. Also, the skink was too illusive, I had to wait quietly for several minutes before I could snap his photo.

The flowering Dogwood tree was a much easier target. But sometimes, when I know the object is immobile, I have less motivation to get an exceptionally good photo of it.

The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) was less illusive than the lizards and more challenging than the Dogwood tree so I spent a while near the river trying to get a nice portrait of this little fellow. These squirrels seem to be very comfortable around people and they didn't pay much attention while I was photographing them. Actually, two of them got into a fight and ran toward me. Unfortunately, they came so close that I couldn't focus on them with my 300mm lens.

The mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) is one of the largest animals in the park. It is also one of the easiest animals to spot. They are not shy around people and you can see them everywhere if you just keep an eye for them.

My heaven on earth is made from the creatures I meet and their habitat. This piece of heaven in Yosemite National Park is extraordinary, especially when you look at it through the mirror lake.    

Zoo Photography

Some of my best animal photos were created at the zoo. My Kung-Fu snow leopards photos were taken at the Central Park Zoo in NYC. If you want to get special moments at the zoo, my first recommendation would be to get a member card, because getting to know the animals is a big advantage for a photographer. The people of NYC have a great deal: we pay 119 USD for a one year membership card and get free unlimited visits, plus one guest, to all 5 NYC zoos: Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and New York Aquarium (located at Coney Island).

From the 5 zoos, the Bronx Zoo is, without a doubt, the most attractive. The Congo exhibit at the Bronx Zoo is gorgeous and I can spend hours watching the gorillas. Knowing Julia, the female western lowland gorilla, for quite a while, I knew she sometimes communicate with the visitors by sticking her tongue out. So, I brought my friend Alex with me and guided her on how to amuse Julia and interact with her. This is an abnormal behavior on Julia's part, but, on the other hand, she successfully creates a lifetime memory for the zoo visitors. By doing so, Julia takes a significant role as an ambassador for her own critically engendered species.      

Another advantage of getting to know  the zoo is becoming familiar with the feeding schedule. Feeding time is usually very interesting to watch since the animals are actually moving instead of resting or hiding. Also, you can prepare your gear before the keepers bring the food out to the exhibit.  I find that my 70-300mm lens is the best for photographing at the zoo.

At the zoo, watching baby animals is always a safe bet. They are very cute, they are playful and they interact with different members of their group. They are also very curious and will investigate any new object in their exhibit. Baby apes are extremely lovable because of their great resemblance to humans. I will always remember the first time I photographed the Bronx Zoo new baby gorilla because my heart missed a beat when I looked at him through the lens.

Black Background

I know that you really like my black background photos and a I've been receiving a lot of questions about it....so I decided to write my first article about how to create a dramatic image with a black background without going to a studio. The first thing you should do, which is very obvious if you think about it, is finding the black background for the scene you are shooting. For example, my baby gorilla photos were all taken when the baby was carried by his mother. Since Mama gorilla is black you can get a nice effect. This is not the traditional black background but you get the idea.

One of the most frustrating situation for a photographer is watching a wonderful scene with very little light. You can't focus, the ISO is high so you know the photo will come out grainy and...you can't focus. Some of my best photos were taken on a very low light and I hardly ever use flash. If you shoot RAW you should try to shoot RAW + JPEG and don't forget to set your aperture to the widest aperture possible in order to get the background blurry and limit your ISO to ~1600. The black background will reveal itself once you start shoot JPEG and with that you can find your best angle for the shoot.

Water can be a perfect black background under the right light. I used water to get the black background for the flamingo. Shadows can also do the trick. At the zoo we tend to ignore animals behind bars and under low light but this can be your perfect shoot. After taking the shoot you can adjust the contrast and watch the background turning black and your object popping out.

If it is a sunny day and you don't have enough shadows it is probably not the best situation for taking a black background photo, try to do something else.... Maybe a light background photo?