Visiting Oaklawn Farm Zoo is a family tradition. It’s pretty cool to have a zoo with lions, cheetahs and zebras in the Annapolis Valley (Nova Scotia). The best time to go to Oaklawn may be around feeding time. You can check their site for more information.

And it’s a great place to practice photography! The animals are used to people, so you can often get close to the them and capture inquisitive photos, like the one above.

If the zoo allows interaction with the animals (like petting or feeding) you may be able to capture some pretty special moments!

It can be a little difficult to shoot without including the enclosures, but that also provides editing practice when you get home. With some careful cropping, you can get excellent results.

In this post, I share some of my favorite pictures from an afternoon at the zoo.