One of my favourite places to take my camera is
the zoo. I have found that the best time of day is as early as possible
in the morning before the sun gets too hot. Once that happens the
animals tend to take cover in the shade and getting a good photo
becomes much harder.
Backlighting is my favourite for faces, I like to get those highlights
in the hair. The metering has to be very precise though to render
the face in full detail, especially a dark one like this. The main
problem is getting enough light in the eyes and eye sockets. Many
a good portrait on a sunny day has been spoiled by black eye sockets.
To some extent, getting the light behind the subject helps to cure
this.
I used my 300mm zoom to get this picture (it doesn't do to get
too close to chimps) which throws the background nicely out of focus.
Using longer lenses restricts the depth of field which in this case
gives a pleasing effect.
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