We decided to take advantage of Dublin Zoo’s quest to reach the one million visitor mark in 2011 where they offered entry for a paltry 2.50 euro. It was a no-brainer, and having not been there for almost 20 years, I thought it would be an opportune time to visit. However, being December, it was always going to be a hit and miss affair weather wise. We took our chances and popped along…

It was very wet when we got there, and from a photography point of view it added unforeseen problems. A lot of the enclosures are viewed through glass, but due to the inclement weather it all fogged up which meant snapping through it was a write-off. The African Plains and the areas with cages were fine as I had brought the trusty 4.5-5.6 100-400mm Canon lens so I could get right up into the action. Also meant I could try and make it look less like a zoo, by pulling the background out of focus. It was also extremely overcast and dark so used 6400 ISO to get a high shutter speed. Some of those monkeys are faster then any musicians I’ve photographed!

Was great fun, and thankfully the weather had meant it wasn’t as busy as it should have been. Actually by the time we got around it had cleared up a bit and I managed to get shots of the tigers and snow leopards as the glass dried out. Really recommend it, and great photo ops for amateurs and pros alike.