Make A Day at the Zoo Look Like a Family Safari

A trip to the zoo can be a lot of fun - and a great chance to get some terrific animal shots. Here are a few tips to make your zoo photos stand out from the crowd:

* Bring a rubber lens hood. It's handy for keeping direct sun off your lens. But there's an even better reason to use it. If you're shooting an animal behind glass, extend the hood and put it directly on the glass surface. This will eliminate reflections and prevent your flash - if you need it - from reflecting off the glass and into the lens.

* Watch your backgrounds. Try to shoot from an angle that avoids fences, bars and other man-made objects. This makes settings appear more natural.

* Use your zoom.If your camera has manual focus, don't try to get all your shots of animals up close. Instead, zoom out when they're away from fences and mesh. The farther out you zoom, the narrower your depth of field (the area in front of the camera that's in focus). Fencing or mesh that's narrow enough will "disappear"  from your pictures if the animal is far enough away from the fence.