ZebraPrint, you're swiftly becoming one of this sites outstanding photographers! Great eye for zoo photography. Have you ever considered this as a career? I think Chester Zoo would seriously consider using your work. Bravo!!!
This is indeed a great exhibit (particularly the rainforest wing of the house), unfortunately the only time I have seen a Jaguar in this enclosure was from the RotRA entry ramp!
Zebraprint, another fantastic picture - keep them coming.
ZebraPrint, you're swiftly becoming one of this sites outstanding photographers! Great eye for zoo photography. Have you ever considered this as a career? I think Chester Zoo would seriously consider using your work. Bravo!!!
Thank you
Wildlife photography is the dream career I say I'd do when people say 'if you could be ANYTHING, what career would you have...' I think it must be one of the most amazing jobs on the planet!!
I've never done any photography courses or anything so I'm making it up as I go along, I got a camera and a book on digital photography for my birthday... but I don't understand either of them! It's very confusing, I want to really learn how to do it properly but don't know where to begin. And I don't know anything about photography as a profession
Is there actually such a thing as a 'zoo photographer'?
Gigit, I've renamed them all and given them (very unimaginitive) titles instead, the numbers were annoying me as well
A few big zoos in the U.S. actually have full-time staff photographers (San Diego, Los Angeles, etc) but I have no idea how you get a dream job like that. I check the AZA job listings on their website periodically, but have never seen an opening for photographer. I don't know if any U.K. or European zoos have full-time staff photographers.
In terms of a profession in nature photography in general, these days it is nearly impossible to earn a living at it. 20 years ago maybe, but now there are too many people doing it and the proliferation of cheap online stock agencies (like istockphoto.com) with amateurs who are willing to sell their images for pennies has caused the stock photo industry to completely crash. The big money these days seems to be in leading photo tours and workshops. The problem is, you have to have your name established first for people to want to sign up, but it's extremely difficult to get published now and make a name for yourself, so it's kind of a Catch-22. Some nature photographers make sales by selling matted prints at art shows, but that's a big gamble, because you have to pay to print a lot of photos up front with no guarantee they will sell. Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I work in the photo industry (professional lab) and follow these trends and that's just the reality.
