Fall at Zoo

canon 550 D sample picture

Camera Model: Canon EOS 550D (…yes, I have a new camera. I’ll be talking about this a little later. Now I really need to spend some time crying …out of happiness. I hope you understand.)

Lens: Canon Telephoto 75-300mm (…yes, I’ve used telephoto to shoot almost macro. When I had a first look through the lens I could barely see one quarter of the leaf. I was standing that close to it. It’s actually not that smart to stand close to the photographed subject when you use a telephoto lens. To maneuver out of this peculiar situation I had to take a few steps back to achieve the dimensions of the photo above. This clearly describes how terribly lazy I can get – I decide to take a few steps back instead of reaching into the bag that’s hanging on my shoulder for a more appropriate lens because it just seems less energy consuming. Sometimes it’s hard to be me.)

Focal Length: 190 mm
(…the distance from the lens to its focus. This sounds rather technical. I have a distant and misty idea what this means but I am not sure I ever want to see into this fully.)


Aperture: F5.0 (…this is a quite small aperture value. The lower the aperture the blurrier the background. Petra loves blurry backgrounds. Sometimes she thinks she loves blurry backgrounds more than sweets. Sometimes she loves sweets more than anything.)


Shutter Speed: 1/100 [s] (…this is the fraction of time I have captured. It always amazes me. My brain isn’t even able to imagine a fraction that small.)

ISO: 3200 (…this is a very high ISO setting. ISO setting this high allows you to take pictures in rather low light conditions. And this number – I mean the number 3200 – is one of the reasons why I am crying with happiness when I think about my new camera. I can’t stop it! I was dreaming about this number for such a long time.)

White Balance: Auto (…the auto white balance of this camera must have been programmed by aliens. It is that good. Another tear of joy is rolling down my face.)
Post Processing: Photoshop Elements 8 (…I mostly played with the Pioneer Woman Action called ‘Soft Faded’.)

The moral of this story: ‘Even not so optimal equipment or settings can create quite an acceptable picture.’
…oh, and here’s the original picture:


6 thoughts on “Fall at Zoo

  1. 1
    Sue says:

    Oh, I am so jealous!

  2. 2
  3. 3
    Adriana says:

    Congratulations, enjoy and entertain us all….Can’t wait for the all beautiful pictures you are going to make.
    Love ADG

  4. 4
    ingrid says:

    Congrats on the new camera!

    I thought about getting that camera instead of the t1i but thought it was too much camera for a newbie such as myself. Since things have started to become clear I realize I should have gotten it instead. Oh, well live and learn! 🙂

    Is that SOOC? I’m so impressed that there isn’t any ugly grain at that ISO! I’m jealous but happy for you! 🙂
    ~ingrid

    • 4.1
      zoomyummy says:

      Hi Ingrid …and thanks!

      The second (bottom) picture is SOOC, no processing at all – and almost no noise. Could you believe it? I love that and also a couple of other things about this camera. Actually, I want to write a descriptive post about it once the camera and me become good buddies. But so far, I’m completely in love with it.

      BTW, your pictures are very lovely!

      🙂 Petra

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