The Brevard Zoo
Nice park on the east coast of Florida. Much bigger and better organized than the Central Florida Zoo. It’s divided into different areas that actually make sense and give you the impression of a much bigger park than it is. It has lots of open enclosures for your picture taking pleasure and even when the sun is high up in the sky you got a lot of tree covering so the light doesn’t get too harsh. I went there before I understood my camera much so my pictures didn’t come out like I wanted them to but I am going back soon and hopefully will get better shots.
It has a nice aviary with lots of colorful birds and they are not scared of you. Those little buggers attack you if you have a cup of nectar. I had like 20 of them little buggers all over me wanting to eat what was in the little cup. It was kind of fun. Until they pooped on my new shirt. The trick is not to have one of those cups on you. No cup = no birds interested on you or your camera. Plan to spend some time in there. There are a few very cool looking birds on that enclosure but you have to be patient with them. The laughing kookaburra is a great poser. If he is out and about, you will have great fun shooting him.
There is another place where you can feed a giraffe, but there are too many people around to get a nice shot of the giraffe alone. All you get is a bunch of kids screaming and parents forcing them to stick their hands out for the giraffe to lick them. Kind of sad actually. "MOM... I DONT WANT TO!!!" "But honey, I brought you here because you asked me to and now you are going to feed this damn beast weather you like it or not.... " (I actually heard that) Nice parenting huh?
The rhinos pose for you also but the enclosure has no trees on it so it gets really bright and the reflection of the sun on the mud makes for a difficult shoot. Going to try a polarizer the next time.
The food is expensive and not very good. But again, zoo food sucks most of the time. I would make plans to eat at a restaurant close by.
It has a nice aviary with lots of colorful birds and they are not scared of you. Those little buggers attack you if you have a cup of nectar. I had like 20 of them little buggers all over me wanting to eat what was in the little cup. It was kind of fun. Until they pooped on my new shirt. The trick is not to have one of those cups on you. No cup = no birds interested on you or your camera. Plan to spend some time in there. There are a few very cool looking birds on that enclosure but you have to be patient with them. The laughing kookaburra is a great poser. If he is out and about, you will have great fun shooting him.
There is another place where you can feed a giraffe, but there are too many people around to get a nice shot of the giraffe alone. All you get is a bunch of kids screaming and parents forcing them to stick their hands out for the giraffe to lick them. Kind of sad actually. "MOM... I DONT WANT TO!!!" "But honey, I brought you here because you asked me to and now you are going to feed this damn beast weather you like it or not.... " (I actually heard that) Nice parenting huh?
The rhinos pose for you also but the enclosure has no trees on it so it gets really bright and the reflection of the sun on the mud makes for a difficult shoot. Going to try a polarizer the next time.
The food is expensive and not very good. But again, zoo food sucks most of the time. I would make plans to eat at a restaurant close by.