Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

I would like to find out some opinions out there from those who take great "close-up" pictures from your digital cameras. I got mine last year as a holiday gift but I have not been happy at all with the results of the pics that I had posted (regarding clarity of details).

When I shoot my digital camera at close range, it looks fine after I examine it from the back screen of the digital camera...but when you upload that to the computer, it does not look as clear or as life like as I want it to be.

I would really appreciate it if you can give me the brand name and model of your digital camera that you use and post a couple of great pics of some milksnakes coming off of that camera of yours.

Much appreciation for your time in doing this !!!

Regards,
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RAY

What setting are you taking pix in? As in what pixel level/resolution? Use the finest setting that you have, it usually means that you won't have many pix on that card. You can always reduce your resolution, but you cannot make it higher after the fact. You also should look at what kind of pix you are taking (portrait, action?). That will also effect the final result.

There is a photo forum here on kingsnake, also. They are pretty good about responding with helpful tips. Click on the link.
Photo forum.

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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Thanks, I will look into the Photo Forum.

Regards,
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RAY

I hear exactly what you are saying!!! ha ha....

I hate seeing the pics on the back of my camera, and on the screen, they look great, but when I upload, a big NO happens!

I was recently discussing this with a friend. Digital cameras have come a long way. Now, they are so much cheaper than what they used to be.

From what I have experienced, I get the best pics when:

The snake is not moving.

I am not moving.

Lately, my better pics have been outside with no flash.

To me, for pics to be good, it is half the camera, half the photographer. I have taken such horrible pics, and I still have pics come out blurry, etc. but I have also noticed characteristics about lighting, movement, etc., and how they can all play a part in how your pics come out.

I have used flash indoors with great results. Lately, though, I have done most of my pics outside with no flash, and the colors on the snake seem more " real " to life than with the flash.

The only thing I can recommend is just trial and error, and restrict the movement of yourself and the snake to nothing, if possible. Experiment with taking pics with flash, and then take some without, and see what differences you can tell.

Here is a recent pic of my snow Southern pine. I don't have any recent pics of my albino Nelson milk, so I thought I would use this as an example. Pretty decent pic, but also, you gotta take a whole slew of pics right then and there and then pic out the best ones later.

I use a simple and older digital camera, a Kodak DX3700 3.1 megapixel. It was around $249.00 when we bought it back in 2001 but now it probably $99.00 or below.

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Genesis 1:1

I too have found outdoor pics with no flash to be the recipe for great pics. I use a tripod when possible, depending on how low to the ground I want the camera. Sometimes I'll prop it up on a rock or something, whatever it takes to keep it perfectly still.

My camera (Minolta Dimage 2300) is terribly limited, so I have to get everything (lighting, camera distance and position, backlighting,etc) JUST RIGHT in order to get some acceptable pics.

Some pine pics you may like...

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Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.boakingdom.com

Mike,....
WOW!!! Those are nice!!!!!!!!!!! I love them!!! Great pics as well my friend! Your pines are gorgeous!

Yeah, now all I do is outdoor pics with no flash, and I have had good results!!! My highest white northern pine is shown here.

Take care!
Billy

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Genesis 1:1

Nice photo!

Here's one of mine...

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Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.boakingdom.com

Oh yeah!!!!!
Very good snake and pic!
That is the one they have for the corn snake forums! I thought I recognized it.

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

hi
i use a sony super (cyber)steadyshot dsc-t30 7.2 mega pixels
you can take photos upto A3 size

photobucket limits the size i can upload

not the best pics but hear are a few
click to enlarge
inside 1024 x 768

outside 800 x 600

Paul.
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www.uk-hybrids.com

Is this Sony camera still able to upload pics on Photobucket, with the size constraints Photobucket has?

Thanks,
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RAY

hi ray
if you have a free acount with photobucket the maximum image size is 1024 x 768 ,,,, you can upload larger sizes but the photo is resized by photobucket.

If you have a pro account with them then your images are not resized, so an A3 will stay A3.

Variable

Paul.
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www.uk-hybrids.com

I don't have an account yet with Photobucket but it's good to know that they will re-size it for you.

BTW, those are really knockout snakes you got there. You should post pics more often as I think a lot of people would also enjoy looking at them.

Thanks again man,
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RAY

well i am by no means an expert. i have a pretty crappy fujifilm a345. it was like 140 dollers or so.
what i do is use the highest mega pixel setting(4.1 with mine) i then put on the macro setting(little flower design), but instead of putting the camera real close to the subject i pull it back a bit further. i then hold my button half way in and that lets my camera find focus. then i snap a picture. i usually take a bunch at a time. i then use a photo software program and cut the part of the shot i want closer and then paste it in another frame. i then can either cut and paste again or resize it and save. this is what i find works for me
adam

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hybrid breeders association
1.1 kenyan sand boas
1.1 mbk
1.5 ghost corns
0.1 striped albino corn
0.1 childrens python
0.1 albino nelsons
0.1 milksnake phase
0.1 anery motley
0.1 albino banded cal king
0.1. normal corn het hypo,anery
1.0 butter corns
1.0. snow corn het hypo,anery,amel
1.0. amel corn unknown hets(4ft 8inch long)
1.0 sinacorn
1.0 blizzard leo gecko
0.2 normal leo geckos
1.0 3 lined mud turtle

this depends a great deal on how much you want to spend.

here are some shots with my sony DSC-h5, a digicam (not a DSLR) that you can find for about $425 or so.

here's one I missed the pose but got the focus on...

and a different lampropelt, straight out of the egg.

and a 15 inch ribbonsnake.

Just a few examples of what a cheap camera can do. Photographers get so caught up in what they want to do EASILY that they often forget about what they can do if they try.

Erik.
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Erik Williams

fattailed geckos, western hognoses, and a bunch of postage stamps.
Contact me
www.chicagoherp.org
Chicago Herpetological Society

Why is the 3rd pic smaller in size than the first 2 pics? is that due to cropping or due to one of the functions of the camera itself?

Thanks,
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RAY

hey,

the third picture is smaller because I resized it smaller. I used to resize for the web at 1000 pixels on the longest side, but someone was having trouble seeing the images in one internet explorer page (they must have lower resolution than I am running) so now I resize to 700 pixels, longest side. I always shoot full megapixels, full resolution - can't get more detail from an image when it doesn't have it to give.

Erik.

>>Why is the 3rd pic smaller in size than the first 2 pics? is that due to cropping or due to one of the functions of the camera itself?
>>
>>Thanks,
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>>RAY
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Erik Williams

fattailed geckos, western hognoses, and a bunch of postage stamps.
Contact me
www.chicagoherp.org
Chicago Herpetological Society

.
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RAY