Smartphones are great cameras and are very portable. One weakness they have is that they can’t shoot things that move fast. That is why a dedicated camera is better.
I recently went to The Exotic Resort Zoo located near Johnson City, TX. The tour consisted of getting to feed animals by riding on a trailer pulled by a tractor. Various animals such as camels, zebras, and many species of deer live at the zoo. The tractor would stop so the animals could approach, and you could feed them. With most animals, you could feed from your hand if you wanted to. The only animals we could not feed from your hand were the zebras and ostriches.
This wasn’t easy to photograph since I was on a moving trailer, and the animals would move fast. I used my Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens. I went ahead and turned off VR since I shot at about 1/1000 of a second. I used Auto-Area AF and continuous-servo AF. In Auto-Area the camera automatically selects the focus points, and with continuous-servo AF turned on, the camera will keep focusing even if the subject is moving.
Overall I liked shooting this since you could get close to the animals and did not have a cage in the way like you have at most zoos. The price was reasonable, and it cost $17.95 for a 30-minute tractor ride. Also, all the animals were pretty cute and were very eager to be feed. As always, I have posted photos below of my excursion.
