Photographing Animals Behind Glass

If you’ve ever visited a zoo you know there are numerous types of animal enclosures. For example, open air, cages, fences, and glass to name a few of the most common.

Today I’m going to share some tips with you on how to get great photos of animals behind glass.

My family recently took a trip to the zoo and spent some time in the Reptile House, a building which housed dozens of glass enclosures filled with, you guessed it, reptiles. A great opportunity to get some cool shots of these cold blooded animals.

Reflections can kill your images.
Glass is the enemy of clear, sharp, colorful, contrasty images. Glass reflects the ambient light really well. Reflected light will lower the contrast of the picture or clearly reflect actual distractions and “double” images. Your goal is to make it look like there is no glass. Glass can also have picture killing smudges, fingerprints and nose grease smeared all over it. In the excitement of getting the shot, those smudges are easy to miss. You may not notice them until you get home, disappointed with your pictures.

The good news is, most glass enclosures are presented well. They’re often well lit and have nicely thought out environments. Still, use these tips to make the best of the situation and get killer images from behind glass.

THE TIPS

• Get rid of the smudges.
  Bring a bandana and keep it in your back pocket. If just have to shoot from a certain location there’s a smudge you can deal with, wipe it clean. You might get some funny looks until they realize that it’s all about the picture. If the smudge is on the inside, all you can do is move to a better, less smudgy location.
• Don’t give light a chance to reflect off the glass into your lens.
  Get close, really CLOSE, like wrap your fingers around the barrel of your lens and touch / press your fingers right up on the glass. This will serve to do a couple things, it will get your lens right up on the glass, hopefully blocking out some reflections and it will also help stabilize your camera. A rock steady camera is more likely to get clear shots. If this isn’t blocking enough light reflection, use your other hand and cup over your lens where you can find any light leaks. If your hand is just not doing it, use a hat or jacket instead. Shoot from straight on, directly perpendicular to the glass. This will decrease the chance of reflections as well.
• Turn your flash OF!
  It will only reflect off the glass and cause even more glare.
• Shoot from their level and zoom in.
  Crop out distraction and make it look as natural as you can. Wait for the shot and avoid obvious man made objects if you can. Try and get theirs eyes sharp and in focus.
• Try and capture action.
  A grimace, a growl, a jump, a flicking tongue.
• Be patient.
  Pick an interesting subject and give it some time.
• Set your camera to continuous (burst) shooting mode and keep your focus on those eyes.
• Look for good colors and contrasting backgrounds if possible. Green on green? Bleh. Orange or red on green? Groovy!

Check out the video below to see examples

Your mission: Use these tips and send me examples of your images.