© 2013 Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott

This is the first in a series of images for the week from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The first is one of this striking emerald boa. Along the way I will try to impart a few techniques as well. The first – use a circular polarizer when shooting through glass. This shot is through glass, but I doubt you could tell that by looking. Rotating the polarizer helps remove reflections and enables a clear view. The challenge – a polarizer typically cuts light transmission by about 1 1/2 stops. My aperture was f/4.5 (maximum at this focal length on my 70-300L lens, which is an f/4-5.6 variable aperture), but the amount of light required for this shot was probably more like f/6.3. Fortunately, my 6D is truly excellent in low light, and ISO 2500 is as clean as ISO 400 when I shot the 60D. The other alternative is to use faster glass, which would allow for a lower ISO.

Technical info: Canon EOS Canon EF 70-300L, Hoya Circular Polarizer, Processed in Adobe Lightroom 4

Personal Website | Facebook Fan Page | 500px Gallery | Order Fine Art prints | iStock | Getty Collection