Finding ways to grow and stimulate our individual creativity is one of the most important things we can do to advance our skill level as photographers. I gave myself one such challenge and I thought I would share the results of it with you with images taken at the Metro Toronto Zoo.

(NOTE: click on images to enlarge them)

I thought it would be interesting if I went to the zoo with only one camera body and one lens. So, I thought about the challenges I would be facing when shooting at such a diverse venue as the zoo… variable lighting with outdoor and building interiors…dealing with bars, mesh and netting… shooting through glass viewing panels smudged by the hands of thousands of young children…and a huge variety of subject matter. I decided I would use my Nikon 1 V2, FT-1 adapter and my Nikkor 70-200 f/4 VR FX lens. Then, I came up with a theme for my challenge…”Up Close and Personal at the Zoo”.

All of the images in this article were taken hand-held. They were processed from RAW files using DxOMark OpticsPro 8, CS6 and Nik Suite. No noise reduction was used on any of the images. Shooting details are found underneath my copyright on each image.

Choosing to shoot to a theme helps us see the world around us in a different manner. Orangutans become even more human with their actions and expressions…

Birds become more vibrant…

Both the mass and the details of animals become more apparent…

Even to the point of seeing water droplets on a subject’s head…

Or the texture of an ever-changing skin…

Or finding a face only a mother could love…

And others that many of us have learned to fear…

Developing photography challenges for ourselves is a great way to improve our skills and force ourselves out of our comfort zones and typical ways of capturing images.

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Article and all images Copyright 2014, Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, reproduction or duplication including electronic is allowed without written consent.