Tips for Photographing Tai Shan – DC’s Baby Panda

Right now, the hottest ticket in town in Washington DC is a ticket to see Tai Shan, the baby panda born at the National Zoo in July 2005. Tickets are occasionally offered online to the public, and there are 60 tickets available each day on a first come, first served basis.

If you are lucky enough to get a ticket, you are given a specific 10 minute appointment to enter the panda house – during which there is no guarantee that you will see Tai Shan. The zoo staff tries hard to make sure that each group gets at glimpse of the cub when his mother Mei Xiang is in the outdoor enclosure.

So far, we’ve made four visits to see Tai Shan. We’ve put some of the photos from our visits on our website at http://www.hankinslawrenceimages.com/pandacub/taishan.htm

We’ve had limited success getting good photos. His enclosure is great for pandas – but no so great for photography. There’s always a crowd of people, you’re shooting through glass, the area is poorly lit and you only have a few minutes. Zoo staff does encourage people to move around – so that everyone has a chance to see Tai Shan.

Here are few tips that may help you take better photos of Tai Shan in his indoor enclosure:

1) Do not use a flash. If your camera has one built in, turn it off. The front of the enclosure is a wall of windows that you can't get directly up against. So if you use a flash, all you are going to get is photos of the reflection of your flash in the glass. When Tai Shan is in front of the enclosure, your flash produces enough glare, that it’s hard to see him. When he is in the back of the enclosure, your flash won’t reach him. It only reaches 4-6 feet, and puts everything beyond that into shadow. You may be able to use a bounce flash if he is close to you, but the thick glass makes even a bounce flash tricky.

2) Use a high ISO. There is plenty of light for viewing, but not a whole lot for photography. With an aperture of F5.6, we had to shoot at ISO 800 to 1600 to get reasonable shutter speeds.

3) Bring a medium to long zoom lens. We were shooting a 28-135mm lens, and wouldn't have minded a slightly longer lens. If you have an image stabilized lens, use it. We can't imagine using a tripod or monopod in the indoor enclosure - it's a fairly small and crowded area.

4) Be patient. Be sure to let others get a good view of Tai Shan.

5) Have low expectations for your photographs. You only get ten minutes with a group of other people in a dark area, and no guarantee that you even see Tai Shan. With low expectations, if you get some good photos, you will be pleasantly surprised.

You can also visit Tai Shan on a couple of webcams. The one at Animal Planet has more bandwidth than the one at the Friends of the National Zoo site, so it’s easier to view Tai Shan at http://animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html

We’ve put some photos relating to these photo tips below - also check out our Tai Shan meets the public page at: http://www.hankinslawrenceimages.com/pandacub/taishan.htm

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Copyright © 2005, Patty Hankins	The problem of using a flash at the panda enclosure.  This photo was taken at the exact time someone else was using their flash.  It is particularly a problem when the cub was up against the glass, as the bottom of the glass is quite marked up as seen here.  Try shooting without a flash (if you can push your camera's ASA) or using a bounce flash.
Copyright © 2005, William Lawrence	One of the "keepers" we got from our first visit.  This shot was taken at ASA 1600, without flash.