With the forecast of 78 degrees and partly clouded, I made the 104 mile drive to the Cleveland Metro Zoo.  Having been to the Pittsburgh Zoo numerous times, I certainly had something to gauge my expectations against.  The Cleveland Zoo claims to have over 3000 animals representing 600 species.  When comparing the size of the Cleveland Zoo to the Pittsburgh Zoo, I would say that the Cleveland Zoo is about twice as big if not larger in terms of land size.

I highly recommend you picking up a zoo map when you walk into the gate.  While the zoo is much larger than that of Pittsburgh’s, I found that navigating the Cleveland Zoo was a much more difficult experience.  When at Pittsburgh, you basically follow a direct path from start to end.  Cleveland is not like this.  They make it possible to get to the different zoo exhibits from multiple directions.  This makes it a challenge to make sure you see everything.  It’s quite easy to bypass a large portion of exhibits due to the navigational structure.  This is the reason I recommended picking up a map at the gate.  This helps you check off where you’ve been and what you still have to see.

For photographers, the Cleveland Zoo offers some great shots of their outdoor animals.  Most will benefit from the fact that the animals are rather close to you so there isn’t a need to lug around large telephoto lenses.  I personally only took my Canon 1D Mark III camera, Canon 85mm 1.8, and Canon 100-400L.  I did this not know what I might expect there.  However after visiting the zoo, I would have brought my 70-200 2.8 IS with 1.4x Teleconverter for a more compact (not lighter) experience.  So if you are visiting the Cleveland Zoo, I would recommend that if you only need a max of 300mm to get those far off shots.  I would recommend bringing a flash with you as some of the animals were in some really shading environments which would have benefitted from some fill flash, though the 1D Mark III is quite a capable camera at higher ISO levels.  I have no problems pushing out to 3200 if exposure is done properly.

So if you’ve been to the Pittsburgh Zoo and really enjoyed it, I highly recommend making that extra trip to the Cleveland Zoo.  They have many more animals, closer exhibits, many more unique animals that Pittsburgh doesn’t offer, and larger area.  Plan to spend most of the day there as there is a lot to see.  Don’t forget to bring the camera!

Tags: Canon, Canon 1D Mark III, Cleveland Ohio, Cleveland Zoo, Photography, Pittsburgh Zoo, Zoo

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