a Sunpak AF5000 speedlight. When I was initially looking at speedlights (which was like 4 years ago - geez where has the time gone?!), there weren't a whole lot of choices with Nikon. I remember they had one for $150 to $200 but it used some special batteries that were really expensive and not rechargeable. Then there was another model that was a great speedlight but was $350 and at the time (being a student and all) I just really couldn't jusity spending $350 on a flash.

SO...I visited a couple of photography forums and got some opinions and the Sunpak speedlights seemed to be everyone's recommendation. So that's what I ended up getting. It takes 4 AA batteries which I use the 15 minute rechargeable ones from Rayovak and I can take a few hundred photos with the speedlight before I need to recharge the batteries.

I do however use a Nikon D100 camera. At the time I got my camera, the choices were the Coolpix cameras, the D100, the D1H and the D1X - that was it! I would have LOVED a D1X but that was like $4,000 or $5,000 for the camera body alone at the time. So I got the D100 and it's one of the BEST cameras I have ever used! Even now, with the Nikon D2X out, I can't really justify getting a new system because my current one works so well for what I need it to do!

Anyways, for backgrounds, I use either white melamine or black melamine. I think I like the black melamine better for most animals because it's not bright like the white and doesn't bounce my flash back at the camera as much. There is a slight reflection of the animal on the black melamine but it is very slight and I like the way it looks. It's there yet it isn't so heavy that it becomes distracting and takes away from your main subject - the animal you are trying to show off!

If you haven't tried a melamine background yet, I would give that a shot. I don't bounce the flash on these shots but I do adjust the flash intensity for almost every single photo.

Thanks,
Celia
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Celia Chien
www.ExoticsByNature.com

2006 Boa Constrictor Morphs Calendar
2006 Ball Python Morphs Calendar

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• A pastel or two - topnotchboas, Mon Dec 12 17:32:45 2005
• RE: A pastel or two - ginebig, Mon Dec 12 17:59:24 2005
• Thanks Pete. np - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:34:03 2005
• RE: A pastel or two - JOEP123, Mon Dec 12 18:36:53 2005
• Mr. Lokken I believe is expecting more lokken pastels this season from the - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:34:53 2005
• RE: A pastel or two - davel, Mon Dec 12 19:21:30 2005
• Isnt it though!? Heh, I was interested in photography prior to - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:36:52 2005
• She's looking awesome! I love how she's coloring up. - JohnLokken, Mon Dec 12 20:15:21 2005
• Thanks John. Good luck with that pairing this season. Id love to see some - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:37:59 2005
• RE: A pastel or two - ajfreptiles, Mon Dec 12 21:05:39 2005
• Two words: Bounce Flash. I took a number of pictures in this series - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:39:47 2005
• Fantastic pictures! - wetceal, Mon Dec 12 23:32:09 2005
• Thanks Celia, what are you using? - topnotchboas, Tue Dec 13 11:41:45 2005
• I actually use.. - wetceal, Wed Dec 14 01:57:41 2005
• RE: I actually use.. - topnotchboas, Wed Dec 14 09:57:35 2005
• Oh, she's so purty! What nice pics.....>> - LindaH, Tue Dec 13 16:47:40 2005
• Thanks Linda. The light bounce certainly creates that soft "what flash?" - topnotchboas, Wed Dec 14 09:58:53 2005
• Super PICS!!!!!!!!!!!! - lexxxx300, Tue Dec 13 18:46:10 2005
• Thanks Alex. np - topnotchboas, Wed Dec 14 09:59:17 2005