Rather than filling the frame with just the animal, include some of the terrain or location in which it resides. This establishes a sense of place and educates the viewer about where and how the subject dwells. Refrain from fully zooming the lens or getting too close. While it feels great that an animal trusts you to get close enough, it may not make the best image. By all means, get in tight and create the head shot as explained above, but learn to back off a bit a go wider. A more common flow of events is to progressively let the animal gravitate closer to you or slowly enter its world to get the head shot. Should this be the scenario, even as you’re getting closer, think about the perspective of the shot if while you were close, you went wide and get a unique look to your wildlife images.

Ah, who said you can't go out and play in the rain with your camera? Especially when exploring a new camera, rain or shine is my motto! In fact, the overcast skies and slight darkness are a perfect time to learn a few tricks for shooting in low light.

I spotted these two amazing flowers while walking along a lake road—utterly glowing with color. Diffuse light (from overcast skies) is terrific for flowers as it evens out the light and produces rich saturated color. I opened my lens fully to ƒ2.8 and bumped up my ISO to 200 to get a 1/40th second shutter (right at the edge of being safely handheld).

I could have used ISO 400 for more stability, but didn't want more noise/grain as those petals should look velvety. Instead of faster ISOs, try this extra steadying technique while hand-holding any low light shot. Switch on the self-timer and let the camera release the shutter for you, rather than your clumsy, motion-inducing finger. It works great. I also added some light by adjusting my +/- exposure control by +.07. It brightened up the shadows just the right amount, and ƒ2.8 gave a nice soft effect in the background.

The environmental image tends to be more of a story teller as it denotes a sense of place. The head shot is powerful as it provides an up close and personal look at the species. Both have their place in wildlife photography and I strongly encourage you to capture both options. Regardless of the one you choose, adhere to the compositional rule of thirds.

For the head shot, the eyes should fall into the top third of the frame. For the environmental image, position key elements into the power points that constitute the position of a third to create balance and intrigue in your compositions.

Flat lighting is not the end all be all of a good photograph. By doing a simple levels correction in Photoshop, a flat image can be turned into a photograph with good contrast and nice lighting.

Lenses: Bring your longest lens and a macro. The long lens will be used to try and fill the frame with your subject. They can also be used to throw foreground bars out of focus when you place the lens right up to them and shoot with a wide open aperture. The macro will come in handy for the smaller animals who reside in the indoor exhibits behind glass. If the rules allow you to get right up to the glass, press the lens against it to eliminate as many reflections and as much glare as possible. The closer your subject is to it the better as it will allow you to fill the frame. Be sure you’re shooting in RAW as the image will take on the color of the glass. By shooting in RAW, this cast can be corrected more efficiently using Photoshop or other RAW editor of your choice.

Tripod: Most zoos don’t have tripod restrictions with regards to shooting the outside exhibits but they may set limitations for the indoor ones. Before heading out, check into this. A monopod may prove to be a good alternate. The tripod will not only help stabilize your lens, it will more importantly keep your arms from getting over tired as you wait for the animal to display behavior. If your arms get tired and you drop the camera to your side, inevitably, this will be the moment the animal does something interesting. By time you raise the camera back to your eye, recreate the composition, and fine tune the adjustments, the shot may be gone.