Have you ever visited a zoo and attempted to photograph animals through that wire fence? It can be frustrating and irritating, since you can easily detect the wire even when out of focus – yet the fence exists to protect both animals and visitors alike! However, there are ways around it without resorting to Photoshopping out all traces of wire in each photo.
Look at this photo; those white or light-colored patches represent green wire in front of an enclosure. Even though my focus on the background lion cubs was good, sunlight hitting this wire caused it to light up significantly and create halos around its edge. One way around this issue would be moving so it is in shade instead.
Make sure your focus point is set correctly on your subject rather than any foreground items such as fences. I found using a focus point so I can move myself more easily was helpful; this point can also come in handy if trying to shoot through long grass or bushes.
With this photo, I opted for a slightly more shaded angle – when light isn’t directly hitting the wire, its outline becomes less prominent, making for a better image.
Of course, taking photographs without wires interfering is preferable! But another approach (although sometimes impossible) is getting close enough for straight through shots; with the lion cubs today there were two fences-one to keep us back and one separating us from their main wire fence.
What Equipment Did I Use? For this task I used my Sony A7RV with Tamron 70-300mm Lens in AP Mode with Auto ISO, and minimum shutter speed of 1/800 seconds at F/6.3 aperture aperture setting. At first my minimum shutter speed was set too slowly at full 300mm focal length; therefore if using full zoom (300mm lens) double your shooting speed by setting one and half focal length (250mm lens needs shutter speed of 1/450 seconds or quicker while my Tamron 70-300mm lens works better at double speed ie 1/600 second minimum shutter speed).
Why Not Just Photoshop It Out? While I could have attempted to Photoshop the fence out, but that would have been too time consuming and boring a task – especially after coming home and editing multiple photos featuring fences! So instead I looked for other ways of hiding them – like choosing different positions to help hide them more efficiently.
Not everyone likes Photoshop or editing programs like Lightroom; I chose non-digital solutions as my solution to digital photoshoping and editing software.
Meet the New Kids on the Block
Say hello to Werribee Open Range Zoo’s 15-week-old lion cubs: Mwezi, Kianga and Jango (2 boys and one girl). These cuties make Melbourne, Australia their home. So adorable!