How to photograph reptiles..

[ratsickle]

Hi,
I have several reptiles that I feel are special, But many time when I take pictures they just dont' look natural, or the color is FLat,,, and so on... SO why not have a forum that provides instruction and maybe some postivie feed back to improve our abilities to take pictures and improve the art of photgraphing our loverly pets...
The ratsickle aliases Doug
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[natas]

Well your idea gave me a thought RatSickle.

Instead of a forum dedicated to this...how about a article on best practices when taking photo's of your reptile.

It could contain the following:
Precautions
Lighting
Types of camera's
Types of modes for taking pics that work the best etc.

Now all we need is someone that is very good at taking pic's to help out in a article
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[eddie]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> Now all we need is someone that is very good at taking pic's to help out in a article
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>


JOOOOOOHNNNNNN WHIIIIIIIIIIIITE!
You are needed here! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[phaedrus]

Ah, ya beat me to it, Ed. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]

Personally, and speaking only from experience with my RTBs, natural lighting is best. Flashes tend to wash out the color, unless you're bouncing it. But who normally has lighting umbrellas at home. Close ups depend - large aperture, small depth and vice-versa.

But I'm a die-hard fan of 35mm SLR manuals. Digitals are fine, but not for the amount of control that I would desire and same goes for automatics.

Which leads to a different question. Techiques for each? We'd need input for all.

I'm just an amateur, so only about 1 in a hundred or so of my pics come out the way I really want it. Typically, I compose a shot, set the time and let it go. Tripods are a must for a steady hand and a clear pic. Just pick up a mini tripod about 4 inches tall for a couple of bucks and your all set.
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[StaticKaos]

Well my method seems 2 work 100% of the time.. Point the camera at the reptile and click the button [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[John_White]

Sorry for the delayed reply. It would be helpful if you could provide additional details regarding your camera equipment, film, flash and possibly post a few sample photos.

John
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