Archive for September, 2010
September 30th, 2010 | 
Author: Tungsten carbide rings, particularly in 6mm tungsten ring, are very scratch resistant and maintain a permanent shine. Hard tool steel could barely scratch a tungsten ring and even if you hit the ring to a mallet, it would cause a little or no damage at all.
Generally, tungsten wedding bands can be scratched only by objects as strong as a diamond.
You may be fascinated to own a pair of tungsten rings for your wedding. But before that, you might have to plan carefully and make a few decisions to get the perfect pair.
Tungsten Carbide rings are the only ones in the market that can boast this feature. You must also recognize the fact that tungsten is a pretty heavy metal, hence the thicker the ring, the heavier it will feel on your finger.
The range is huge because there are some lower qualities rings that are mixed with cobalt, which is a metal that can cause negative reaction when in contact with skin. It is imperative to ask the jeweler whether the tungsten ring contains any cobalt properties before buying it.
The only problem with these rings is resizing, as it is very difficult to resize a tungsten ring. They can usually only be resized for a high cost which can range anywhere from $50 to $100.
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Can you really make money with paid web surveys? You can, if you approach it properly. The key here is always to steer clear of the no-pay/low-pay surveys and only take the legitimate ones that pay well. The bad news is that only 18-20% of the survey makers are really good ones; there’s a lower 40% that never pay and just spam you half to death or sell your contact info to sales companies, to sell things to YOU!
In order to find good survey makers, the first thing is to understand that there’re no “free lists”. All lists get paid for, one method or another. If not by the user (you) then by the no-pay/low-pay “bottom of the desirability list survey makers who keep losing survey participants and must constantly recruit more. To fill the vacancies left by survey takers who get tired of not being paid, and quit, the low-paying survey makers pay recruiting fees to recruit more survey takers. The distributors of “free lists” are compensated by the head recruited or with a percentage of the survey fees; a $10 survey becomes a $6 survey and the recruiter gets $4.
If your goal is to take online surveys that pay, then you should join a paid surveys membership site which has and maintains good lists of good survey makers. The most effective membership sites maintain the best lists of legitimate paid survey makers. You’ll be able to tell which are best by their percentage of refunds demanded. They watch the ever-changing scenario of available survey makers, eliminate the poor quality ones, find a lot of good ones for your needs. There are more than 50 paid survey membership sites available. Some are better than others. It’s best to use good paid survey review sites like surveysentinel.ya23.com, for example, to help you choose one which is best for you. You will want one that’s user-oriented, offers good survey makers with good surveys. Like the ones that offer legitimate paid surveys.
First, select a good paid survey site. Second, get a good list of good survey-makers from their website. Third, get signed up with (leave your contact and demographic info with) every one of the survey makers on that list Then you can get paid for taking surveys to make lots of money doing so.
Author: Veronica Smith
Ground cover is not all great information, nonetheless. There are some downsides, particularly if you’ve only a small garden, the place area is a premium even though for large gardens the benefits surely outweigh the disadvantages.
The very first is that a massive unfold in the similar place may be fairly boring. This may well not difficulty you when you aren’t over considering crops as this sort of but just want to retain your backyard tidy. Even so, several gardeners really feel that they’d somewhat use their space for diverse crops, creating a a lot more fascinating scene.
The second drawback is that ground cover just isn’t rather as efficient as it’s typically portrayed being. Any perennial weeds left inside the floor when it was prepared will absolutely penetrate the protect, and any thinning in the go over will permit in light and support the germination of weed seed.
So it truly is necessary to prepare the soil completely from the initial place, removing all traces of weeds, after which to generate certain that the crops are in the most effective of health and retain their tight include. Shearing them through occasionally helps to keep them dense.
The third dilemma is garbage. So usually ground cover locations are left to themselves, and they’ve a habit of catching any pieces of paper or other bits of rubbish that blow past. You simply need to remember to verify the plants every single so typically and eliminate any garbage which has accrued.
A ideal bank of Geranium macrorrhizum, one from the most useful of ground cover plants for developing an efficiently impenetrable layer. Geranium macrorrhizum will develop in dry situations in fairly dark shade, and nevertheless it not merely offers very good leaf cover, but in addition provides attractive blossoms.
Use ground cover for instance Pratia to carpet and soften paving which is not walked on. Hostas always provide excellent ground cover, as long because the earth is not too dry. Use combine in the unique types to inject additional visual curiosity.
Anybody who has seen a carpet of Ice Place (Lampranthus spectabilis) in complete color can not assist but be impressed, if not moved. I do not think there’s something really like it in the gardening planet. When covering a moderately significant location, say from five sq. meters, the flowers form a variety of wave, which not only delivers staggering color, but texture and movement as well. The Ice Place is often a perennial succulent from South Africa.
Flower colours vary from rose pink, red, white and purple. Apart through the hottest desert areas, it might be grown when founded, virtually with out irrigation. In contrast to annual plants, which in a very Mediterranean local weather require a minimum of 1000mm (1000 liters per square meter) of water a yr, that is some saving! To be able to get satisfactory outcomes out of your Ice Plants, I suggest the next pretty uncomplicated, but important steps:
* Place inside autumn/winter, not inside the summer season or spring. In this way the vegetation ought to be established earlier than the summer time. Ice vegetation tend not to genuinely grow from the summer season, the sizzling couple of years becoming a variety of hibernation time period.
* When in flower, do not wait around for the last of your blooms to die off, as an alternative, remove the remaining 25% or so of blooms, by lightly clipping the vegetation, using sheers or even a hedge trimmer. By so doing, vegetative development is inspired, the crops green-up and as opposed to an progressively leggy and balding mess, you get a nice clean, if unspectacular compact ground cover through the summer, lovely winter growth, followed by the incredible show from the spg. Lampranthus should not be pruned back on the wood, as it truly is unlikely to rejuvenate if so pruned.
Through the winter, which is its expanding period, prune some cuttings, say ten cm in length, and just stick them inside floor. With some care, they must start rising and spreading effectively before the onset of spg. As Lampranthus is likely to degenerate after a few years, planting a certain percentage from the region every single yr with these cuttings, will let for continual rejuvenation in the mattress. To ensure obtaining the desired color, check out the flower blooms in a very nursery through the spring, but to the reasons previously explained, procrastinate until the autumn/winter earlier than buying and planting.
Lampranthus is usually baffled with another genus of ice place, Drosanthemum sp.This has more compact bouquets and tends to degenerate much less than Lampranthus, and so is an simpler place to grow, but is in my view less spectacular. If the upkeep guidelines described right here are carried out, then there must be no trouble in getting immense satisfaction through the Lampranthus ice plant.
A moccasin is really a shoe that’s made from soft leather or deerskin. The sole is soft and is usually ornamented with embroidery. Moccasins have been really popular for a lot of years. The primary reason behind its reputation may be the relaxed materials and timeless styles. If you are looking to purchase snug footwear then moccasins would be the greatest. Moccasins are snug and are trendy.
Minnetonka moccasins are maybe the finest minnetonka moccasins canada offered to anybody. It has a delicate sole that offers extra consolation. Minnetonka moccasins are one of those manufacturers that provide plenty of choices. These luxurious slippers assists in retaining your feet cozy in the winter and cool inside the summer time. You’ll be able to stretch out your foot and never really feel any discomfort.
Minnetonka moccasins are known for production top-notch top quality and comfy minnetonka shoes put on. The name “moccasin” has been around because the 16th century. This footwear is very peaceful and comes with a traction that avoids the risks of slipping down on icy floors. You must have noticed some women who put on heels for almost throughout the day suffer from several hip, leg and back again pains. Along with that that they suffer from continual fatigue and stress. Some factors why one must wear moccasins are:
Wearing higher heel regularly disfigures numerous physique components mainly because of this your body leans forward whenever you walk.
Walking straight with your back erect will give an appealing appear to your persona. People today will appear back again and discover you as well.
Insurance is normally a subject that gets ignored, or brushed underneath the rug. People don’t discuss their life insurance policies in passing conversation, nor do they ask after the condition of another’s policy. Unfortunately, insurance policies are something that should be a staple financial requirement, yet it is a real proven fact that only a small percentage of individuals older than 50 hold life insurance policies.
With life insurance, the simple truth is that the older you are when you try and obtain it, the more costly your premiums will be. If you have children, nieces, nephews, a spouse or any family that you are financially supporting, have you ever stopped to consider what would happen to them once you have passed away? Your loss in their lives will be devastating enough without them having to deal with being financially crippled. Irrespective of the financial burden that could befall your loved ones upon your death, you may want to consider what you would like to leave behind. Maybe you would want your children to achieve their dreams of attending university, or you want to leave your partner in the same financial comfort that they have been living in whilst you were alive? There is something nice about knowing you will have one final gift to give your family when you have passed away.
Even though you may think you are too old to go and find an affordable life insurance policy, you are wrong. There are many affordable life insurance policies on the market, you simply need to know where and how to look. Firstly, you should disregard the fact that you may be older than is desired. It is never too late to take out a new life insurance policy, unless you are dead of course! That is why you need to grab the bull by the horns NOW and find yourself a good life insurance policy.
Before you even approach the insurance company, have a look at yourself. Are you healthy? If you smoke, you need to stop, so that you lower your premium already. Acquire as much information on the medical history of your immediate family as you can. All of this will be important throughout the quoting process.
Now you need to find some reputable life insurance companies to request an insurance quote from. You need to have at least three quotes to work with, so that you can do some comparisons based on the offers you are receiving, and so that you can see which policy will be best for your needs. Answer all the questions that are asked of you as accurately as possible. Any discrepancies CAN be found out upon your passing! It may be time consuming to reply to all the medical questions from each insurance company, however it is important that you do so in order to receive precise quotes and a fairly calculated premium.
Permit yourself to judge the company based on its customer service too. If you appreciate the way they handle your queries and the efficiency with which they handle the quote process, then they will probably be a nice company for you to work with.
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So you want to get your online business up and running but there’s one little problem – you need a website! For any business, big or small, a professional website is important if you want to attract potential clients or customers and create a solid foundation for continued success. But many people have no idea how to go about the process. Luckily, it’s actually quite easy to get a functional, well designed and user-friendly website online in a reasonable amount of time. And depending on your particular situation and budget, there are several options available to make your business goals a reality.
Spending a lot of money right at the beginning of your venture may seem a little risky, but compared to other business endeavors the cost – and risk – are minimal. And the amount of money you have the potential to make after your site goes live will far outweigh the amount of money initially invested in its construction. Also, if you expect a professional job, hiring a professional is the best way to attain that objective.
Website templates, for example, combine the professional design talents of an experienced web designer with the cost-effectiveness of going it alone. Templates are ready-made web pages that a designer or design company sells for a small sum – the cost is so low simply because the template can be resold over and over again. In addition, if you purchase a website template that won’t be resold after you buy it the cost will rise but still ends up being much more affordable than working with a designer one-on-one. The cost is kept relatively low because, although the template cannot be sold to another person, the design was already created and the buyer agrees to purchase it “as is.”
When you visit a website selling templates you are given the freedom to browse through a wide selection of different styles of website designs. Once you find the perfect match for your business you simply purchase and download. All that’s left is to edit it using a simple HTML editor to add content, graphics – you name it. One such website template company I found that offers quality, reasonably priced templates is http://www.instant-sites-launcher.com (see the link in Resource Box).
As you can see, there are many different ways to build a website from the ground up. In the end, choose the option you think will lead you down the path toward online success and you’ll be happy with the results.
I am a kind of people whose guilty of trying to bring everything every time I travel, local or internationally. I end up cluttering my luggage with extra stuff. Even my health club bag is sort of heavy with too much of everything!
I compiled all these tips in my last book: last minute nordsee
1. Research. Do some research regarding the place you are going to go to to know its culture. This is in all probability a standard observe but I want to still embody it here. There are some practices which are thought of impolite in a single country however accepted in others. You do not need to get into trouble, particularly in a overseas land, proper? For instance, it is considered rude to level or contact something along with your foot in Thailand as a result of they think about it the dirtiest a part of the human body.
2. Secure essential documents. Essential documents would include your passport, vouchers, boarding tickets, etc. I recommend allotting a compartment inside your bag for this so that these paperwork stay together and can be simpler to locate when necessary.
3. Do not put all your money in a single place. It is now practical to not put all your hard earned money in your wallet or pocket once you’re traveling. Preserve the majority of your money someplace safe and simply place in your wallet enough money to get you through the day. If you’re going to place it in your pocket, be sure it’s deep sufficient or have flaps for added security. Because of this I love cargo shorts or pants. It has a number of pockets which have buttons or velcro.
I recommend you sew an inside pocket on your denims the place you’ll be able to safely preserve your money. I requested an area seamstress to make an inside pocket for my jeans. Simply ask him/her to add a velcro in order that the pocket may have extra security. If you are able to do this with the lower garments you are going to carry, you don’t have to fret about dropping your money or getting robbed. Until in fact, the robber asks you to offer him all of your clothes. Yikes!
4. Mark your belongings. I’ve this habit of marking my issues with stickers, especially my gadgets. For instance, I can instantly spot my mobile phone even when surrounded by different phones as a result of I have a butterfly sticker on mine. Even my digicam have coronary heart stickers to have a particular mark. My parents do this kind of marking with all their things, together with baggage, pens, containers, etc.
Put neon orange stickers on your luggage. The stickers are easy to spot, especially when you’re searching for your luggage on the bags belt inside the airport. You can easily see if somebody mistakenly gets it.
5. Have a copy of vital documents. If in case you misplace your passport or a travel voucher, it could be easier to duplicate or verify your possession if you have a transparent copy on hand. As you may see from the previous picture, I have a photocopy of my passport that I maintain inside my luggage at all times.
6. Have a tough copy of important numbers. Do not depend on holding all important information on your gadgets. It’s important that you have a written copy of necessary contacts like your passport no., bank card nos., your credit card/s customer help nos., etc. For those who lose your card for instance, you may simply contact your financial institution to chop any further transactions made through your credit score card. In case you solely have these numbers in your cell phone for instance, and misplaced your cellphone together along with your playing cards, then you’d have a troublesome time reaching your bank for assistance.
7. Separate your cash out of your credit cards. I see most individuals who locations their cash along with their playing cards in one wallet. I recommend separating them. Put your playing cards in one other wallet. This fashion, you only need to take out your money when you’re paying in cash or take out your card should you’re charging your purchase.
8. Use Pacsafe products! Girls and guys alike have with them a bag for their daily use during travels. I like to recommend investing in Pacsafe products. It has special features that helps every traveler safe their belongings. I particularly like the Pacsafe models which you need to use as a physique bag. I really feel more secure when my bag is in entrance of my body. It’s simpler to get things out of it as well.
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On this gentle, I’m eyeing the Pacsafe Venture Protected 200. It is a compact journey bag that I can use daily. The Enterprise Safe 200 is roomy enough to carry all the required issues I need for the day.
It is chic and since it is a Pacsafe, it has a four anti-theft features: eXomesh slashguard in entrance, facet and backside panels, slashproof adjustable shoulder strap, snatchproof shoulder strap permits the bag to anchor to a secure fixture, and tamperproof zippers.
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Due to the credit crunch, many people today are finding it hard to make ends meet. Sometimes you are faced with an unexpected bill or a shorter paycheck. When this happens some people are turning to payday loans. Not all people realise what a payday loan basically is. With a lot of situations, a poor credit rating is not the issue that is considered with payday loans. They are a loan but do not go through the process that secured loan applicants have to go through. Payday loans may not be secured, and because of this there is never anything to secure the loan against.
You will apply for these and sign the paperwork almost always through online processes. More traditional banks do not offer this type of loan. You will need a job or some source of income and most of the payday loans providers normally require a bank account but may be able to do it without that. After applying you maybe able to get the cash sent into your bank account the dame day of applying. Part of the approval process is confirming your employment or source of income. They will then let you know the amount of money you would be approved for. This can help you out of jam when unexpected bills show up or if there are repairs you need to make. Some businesses can have the money to you within an hour.
On a payday loan interest rates can be higher than a traditional loan and this is a questionable point for most. When paying this back you can end up paying more money than your original amount you borrow. They will set up payment plans or you can choose to pay it off with your next paycheck but you should invariably try to pay the money back when you are next paid. Though this kind of loan can help many people, there tend to be some negatives. The interest rates are the biggest problem. Since this is not a conventional loan they are much higher and you can end up paying hundreds more back than the money that you borrowed. This is quickly avoided if you pay it back in total when you are next paid. You need to make sure you do not get anymore than what you need and can pay back. It may be a better idea to borrow money from a friend or family if you do not think you can pay it back in at the end of the month.
If you are able to pay it back with one or even two payments, these are great loans to have in a jam. For those with bad credit they are also good to be able to access in times of need. Payday loans are usually easy to access and get approved for and lots of people have used them and there are a lot of agencies out there. Examine a few companies to see interest rates before deciding on one – some have lower rates for individuals who are first time applicants with their services. Payday loans get people into difficulty if they are not used correctly. They can also be a lifesaver when something comes up and you need to lend money quickly. They are quick and easy to apply for and, as long as you still have a job, you are usually approved within a few hours. The money can get to you quick and be there when you need it. Do your analysis on the company you are thinking about and compare rates before signing papers and always be sure you can pay this back in a timely manner.
Marketing your conservatory installation firm on the Internet may be one of the best things you’ve ever done. Right now there are scores of potential customers out there – and you don’t need to wait around hoping that they find you. There’s lots you can do to make yourself easier to find when they’re searching on the web for a conservatory installation firm in your region.
If building your own website sounds like a lot of work (and it can be), then don’t worry, there are other ways to get the task done: If you have the money, you can engage someone to do the task for you. Either look at websites you like and find out who created them – or ask some businesses in your area for a recommendation. You could even outsource the work on a site like Elance – you’ll receive quotes from across the world – and some of the work done in Eastern Europe or India is superb quality and very cheap. If you make a decision to develop the web site yourself – there are many services available that can make it very easy. Try Blogger or Yola for instance – they will not take long to master, and you’ll have the advantage of always being able to revise the website in future without shelling out more cash.
Make sure you install a web stats program like Google Analytics or similar on your website. It’s incredible how many people don’t do this, and that’s a massive mistake. Without analytics, you do not know how many prospects your website’s getting – and you also don’t know where they arrived from. Without that information you also have no idea which of your online promotion activities are effective. Most of these programs are totally free – so don’t ignore this step!
The first step for lots of people is to send their web site to the best category on the Yahoo Directory. Unfortunately this now costs $299 per annum, and since it sends very little traffic nowadays (have you tried finding the Yahoo directory on their site) it may not be great value for many companies. Luckily there are also free general directories out there, and it’s usually worth submitting to those. DMOZ is the best known, but because it’s operated by volunteers it normally takes forever to get in. Be certain that you submit your web site to the correct category for the greatest chance of being successful.
Sites that concentrate on an individual market are certainly well worth finding, and submitting your details to – because they tend to be more valuable places to advertise your site than more general sites. Regrettably in lots of sectors they’re few and far between – and they typically charge (frequently a large amount) for a page. However, there is http://www.ClickForConservatories.co.uk/ in the conservatory installation business sector which will publish your information without charge if you send detailed details and photographs. You might be able to discover some others – if so, they could be worth getting onto.
If you would like to get prospects to your conservatory installation company website immediately, then you’ll want to take a look at PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising. As its name suggests PPC is a method of advertising online but only paying when someone clicks through to your web site. The most popular PPC system currently around is Google Adwords. This lets you advertise on Google itself – adjacent to the search results. You can make sure your adverts only appear in a certain country (such as the UK) if you prefer – and obviously choose how much money you’re willing to pay out for every click.
Now that customers are coming to your site – don’t forget to request their email address, so you’ll be able to email them information, news and offers – or just remind them to return to your website and look at what’s new. Email services like Aweber make it easy to get email addresses and send out emails to your customers.
Advertising your conservatory installation business on the internet is a massive subject – but I hope the overview presented in this article has been beneficial. If it’s encouraged you to make a start, then that’s excellent – there’s a lot more detail available on the internet, so if you make a start right now, you’ll be getting new clients very soon indeed.
Introduction
Welcome to Part Two of Hints and Tips on Big Cat Photography. Here we continue to look at equipment and common mistakes encountered when photographing Big Cats.
Lenses
Here you have quite a few choices , these points are discuss below.
Specific Lenses
Macro – a close focusing lens ranging from 50 to around 110mm in focal length – the longer the lens the further away from the subject you can be. The drawback – foreshortened depth of field – you have just a few millimetres to get the focus point right – so you’ll need a still subject matter. But you can get some amazing close ups of teeth and paws.
Standard Close Focusing – this would apply to a 30mm or 50mm prime lens but one that has the ability to focus down to around 8 to 12 inches. These lenses can give you close dramatic pictures when on a Big Cats Experience Day.
Standard Zoom – for me this would be a lens similar to an 18 – 70mm or the 17 – 55mm. Similarly there are some longer standard zooms such as the 24 – 70mm or even a 24 – 120mm. The choice is yours and it comes down to which part of the zoom range you want to operate within, remember on a DX body the lens will be multiplied by a factor of 1.4 to 1.6 depending on which brand of camera body you have. So your 17 – 55mm multiplies up to around a 25 – 82mm when compared to a 35mm film camera or an FX digital body. On an FX body – being full frame the focal length is as stated. But remember if you use a DX lens on a FX body you’ll get edge fringing , called vignetting.
Fast Zoom Lens -by this we are talking about how much light the lens can let in at its maximum aperture. For example a lens with a minimum aperture of F6.3 will let in far less light than one of F2.8. Remember the smaller the number the bigger the hole in the lens and the more light it lets in. This then gives you faster shutter speeds, which you need with longer focal length lenses, for example those over 200mm. Tip – you should always keep your shutter speed over your focal length – so if you‘re at 200mm, you need 200th of a second, but hang on you’re using a DX body and lens so you need to add in the crop factor multiply by 1.4 to 1.6 so at 200mm you really need 320th or 400th of a second. Even some standard zooms with F2.8 aperture used by the professional photographer can still be expensive, for example the Nikon 17-55 F2.8 is around £900.
Standard Telephoto – this would be something like a 70 – 300mm lens or some of the more all day lenses – like an 18 – 200 or 55 – 200, all day lenses are discussed below. You can get a 70 – 200 F2.8 but these are expensive, most standard telephotos range from F4 to F5.6 in terms of speed and are good all round lenses, just watch the light levels. OK you can up the ISO but again remember the noise compromise.
Super Telephoto – this would apply to either a lens over 300mm or one that I feel is a prime lens, fixed focal length, that sits around F4 or F2.8. These are very expensive lenses and entry levels are around £2,000. Personally I like to use the 200 – 400mm VR lens from Nikon, now checking in at a suggested selling price of £5800, but I didn’t pay that for mine, I got in before the 2009 price rise.
All Day Lenses
A Definition – by this we are talking about an all in one lens, a lens that will zoom from wide angle to standard telephoto, for instance an 18- 200mm.
The Benefits – it gets you all the shots you need, no swapping lenses no down time. Often light and compact they are not much to carry about.
The Compromise – optical quality! You’re asking this lens to do a lot . A prime will always out perform a zoom. And an all day lens has to do a job at all levels through the zoom range, the edges of the image will suffer and so too will the speed of the lens, remember the F number and the amount of light it needs. You don’t find professional lens made at F2.8 or faster that cover that wide a range – and there has to be a reason for that – optical quality – Pros carry 2 or more camera bodies with a shot and a long lens set up using matched equipment.
Depth of Field
Depth of Field (DOF) – if you are fortunate enough to own f2.8 maximum aperture lenses then be mindful as to how short the DOF can be, especially if the subject comes within the zone where the distance to subject is under the focal length – for example, the DOF on a 200mm lens will be further foreshortened if the subject is inside a 2m (2000mm) range in front of the lens. Some 200mm lenses will focus as close as 1.5 – 1.8m so the impact of this is that you may focus on the nose of say a tiger only to find the eyes are blurred, or out of focus.
Shutter Speed
As a commercial photographer – remember this rule as we mentioned earlier – keep your shutter speed above the focal length of your lens, e.g. 200mm shoot at 250th sec or more, allowing for the crop factor I’d suggest at least 320th sec on a 200mm lens.
RAW or Jpeg
This is probably as much discussed on the camera forums as brand names, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Personally I shoot RAW as it gives you a safety zone if the shot is slightly out. Added to that I personally think it gives you more editing options. The choice as they is yours. I do shoot Jpeg for press work but only because you don’t have the time for post production.
Picture Composition
Detail – this is great option, stripes, spots, eyes, ear noses and tails – there is so much choice.
Action – running, jumping, pawing for food on the ground or in the air, lost of options. And when it all kicks off with the three male lions make sure you’re ready.
Portraits – sitting, lying down with a full belly and a low sun in the sky and the lions look great. Contrast that with an angelic Tiger that just can’t be bothered. All of these give you great options for images.
Close Up – teeth, paws and claws, similar to the details shot but much closer, using macro photography.
Use of flash – this is an option , watch out for green or yellow eye, this is the same as red eye in humans and it’s a lot easier to get and harder to get rid of due to the size of the cats eyes. Also watch out for the cage , make sure the flash gun is a fill to the available light and close to the wire else you get wire stripes.
Common Errors
Wire – while the gauge of wire will have an impact on what can be done, I still see many shots with the wire right through the middle of the image . It’s best to get the centre of the lens lined up with the square of the wire – i.e. the hole. Ensure you don’t have a vertical or horizontal wire passing in front of your lens or worst still a join, giving a big cross in the shot.
Background – try to get the background as natural as possible use close up shots or a short depth of field to bur the background. Also use any landscaping in the enclosure to mask the cage behind or above. Remember to get down low, take the cats perspective.
Machine gunning! – is the photographer that holds down the shutter button for extended periods of time, shooting continuously without checking the shots back. This will fill up your memory cards very quickly and give so many similar images to edit, when all you really need are short bursts of 3 to 6 shots. Take your time.
Metering – Try and avoid matrix metering and use spot or centre weighted, remember to metre off the subject. Matrix metering is too general for Big Cats.
Accessories
Tripods – these are not really suitable around the Big Cats enclosures as they are awkward and you don’t have the flexibility to move.
Monopods – these are very useful on longer lenses and have the ability to be more manoeuvrable.
Laptops – if you have one it’s a good idea to backup your shots half way through the day. Alternatively use the laptop to check shots back, say at lunchtime, and see how you are getting on. Also remember to back up your cards – the last thing you want is a card failure and no images.
Extra cards – a very good idea, keep them smaller, now-a-days around 4GB. 16GB cards are all well and good but if it fails, that’s a lot of lost data. 1GB used to bethought of as large, a while back, now using this card in a modern DSLR and it more resembles the number of shots you’d get on a roll of film.
Clothing – Check the weather before you go. Take a selection to allow for a change in the weather or for getting down on the ground.
Author : Peter Davey MA DipM