Photographing in an environment like the San Diego Zoo you definitely have plenty of beautiful options to photograph. But, you need to do a little bit of walking and have a little patience as well. With so many people wanting to see and photograph the exact same animal you just need to find a way to get the shot. In this first image of the orangutan there were at least 20+ people standing in front of the glass all looking down him. I got down to eye level with the orangutan and squeezed between two ladies on my knees and just waited for him to turn his head my way. Took me a few images to capture the one you see which is definitely my favorite shot of the day.
90% of the animals are behind either glass or rope which is obviously understandable, but it does affect your images if you let it.
Again, using the orangutan as an example, almost everyone with a camera was using a flash. Firing off a flash into glass is going to reflect mostly all of it and scare off the animal. Most cameras these days give you an ISO option which can be changed in the cameras settings. Boosting your cameras ISO may give you the capability to not have to fire off your flash, reducing the glare in the glass. For those not entirely familiar with their cameras settings get out your manual and try some new settings.
