Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Doug and others, how do you get the lighting right with the real close up shots? My camera maybe is not very good for macro, or I haven’t figured it out yet. Here’s an example where the snake is practically, and I mean really, pretty much touching the lens. My flash then can’t light the thing, as it is too close. Are you using the flash on the camera or other lighting, etc?

what is it? A little pop up flash? You can try putting a translucent pill bottle over the flash which could direct more of it downward, or you could use a piece of white paper to bounce the flash off of onto the subject. You might do a search on home made flash reflectors. It gets tough when you have no working distance between the subject and the lens.
-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

First off,...nice Micrurus f. fulvius!

Well, there are many different ways to get decent macro shot's, and they all depend on many different factors. But they usually come out pretty good on most cameras in the "auto" setting if you have a good above light source(i.e. natural sun light) or other strong lamp source from above, and even from the sides as well to eliminate shadows, and to fully illuminate the subject.

Many times incandescent, florescent bulbs, etc... can make the photo turn out somewhat yellow, and/or dark, and on many cameras there are settings to comensate for those conditions. Another way to get a fair closeup photo without actually getting super close, is to set the camera on a large pixel format, then crop it down in your photo program for that camera, or a number of other programs even. Then when you crop the huge formatted pic, it is reduced down to a much more manageable size, and in the process "blows up" the subject intended.

Also, on most programs, you can lighten or darken pics to better compensate for poor lighting conditions, or even ones that were too bright as well.

Check out your instruction manual real well, and you might get some good "pointers" to use for that particular camera. I will say though, that many times taking GOOD photos can take a lot of trial and error!..LOL!, this I know from botching a bunch myself!

One other way to get fairly good pics inside with a flash, is to do as I mentioned earlier with a big pic format setting put a folded paper towel in front of the flash, and it tends to not "wash-out" the pic as much, and the paper towel, or tissue acts as a "flash suppressor" of sorts. Another suggestion is don't take pics with strong light in the background(backlighting), this will certainly make the subject way too dark.

In any case, it can be really frustrating at times, so don't feel alone..LOL! Experiment with some of these things, and you'll likely develop a sense of what works well for you in certain conditions.

Good luck bro!

~Doug




-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Nice pictures Doug, I especially like the shed picture.
Thanks Bob;
-----
R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

Thanks, Bob!........

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice that one turned out too!..LOL!

best regards, ~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I would kill to take shots like that Doug!

I have a good SLR digital camera (Canon Rebel XTi), but I don't think I take such great shots. I really need to read the phone book sized instuctions that came along with it and learn how to use the camera correctly instead of just winging it...

I know Macro works better in natural sunlight, so i am going to take some outdoor shots the next time a get a free hour.

~ Mike Russo

So far this is about the best i can do.....

Mike,
You took that shot at F4, 1/60th of a second on 400 ISO. Crank that ISO down to 100 and close the aperture to about F10 or F11 if you are going to flash that close. That's why that image is so hot.
-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

Thanks Joe! Also, how about for outdoor pix.. Would i use those same settings for macro??

I am going to try some outdoor macro shots tomorrow.

~ Mike Russo

>>Thanks Joe! Also, how about for outdoor pix.. Would i use those same settings for macro??
>>
>>I am going to try some outdoor macro shots tomorrow.
>>
>>~ Mike Russo

You could probably shoot outside right now with the settings as is (400 iso, F4, 1/60th - no flash) and get a better exposure

You should have more light outside. Overcast skies are great diffusers, but most digital cameras don't do too bad in direct sunlight. Try both and see.

I'm pretty sure you have settings for that built in flash on the XTi. If you get a really hot exposure like that one above you could just dial down the flash power in fractional increments (1/4, 1/16, 1/32) and that will also help.

Your camera also has a histogram. Learn how to read one of those and you'll be off to the races. Then you will know with one glance if your image is exposed properly right after you take it.
-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

Thanks again Joe..

Now I know I have to read that manual! I will follow your advice and post up some new pix tomorrow!

~ Mike Russo

Can't wait to see them Mike. You have some very photogenic subjects, that's for sure.

Chris Harrison spends a lot of time on the Photography forum here on kingsnake and is very knowledgeable. Of course we can help you here too, but I'd thought I'd mention it because Chris is generous with his time and advice in that capacity.

Post a few more up when you get a chance and we'll go from there.
-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

Thanks, Mike!....

I've seen some great shots that you've posted in the past, and the alterna pic is sweet too! Reading the manual that came with that nice camera of yours, will no doubt help you get some super results.

Thanks again!, ~Doug





-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Those are some awesome shots, Doug. Those shots were the inspiration for me to actually break out the manual (ug…) and read some of it. I have been doing some web surfing too, I think I need to get a close up lens to screw on the ring to get that kind of super macro shot with the camera that I have. From what I read, with the additional lens I can be about 14” from the subject so the flash provides the light without shadows. I’m still doing my homework. Someday I’ll post a pic of a micrurus fang!

Thanks, man!,........yeah, I have good faith in you, your halfway there partner. You know the ol' sayin' "where there's a will, there's away".. It seems to apply to just about everything in life!. Staying a little further away WILL help when you don't have a light source like the sunlight, or other strong light sources. Try some outdoor shots, I think you'll like some of the results.

I'm sure you will produce some killer photos in the near future, and I look forward to seeing a gigantic crisp macro of a Coral Snake fang that fills my entire screen!..LOL!!!

Thanks again for the kind words my friend!

~Doug





-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I think it’s time for a new camera. Mine is a Panasonic Lumix FZ10, I think it was one of the first of it’s kind. It was a whopping 4.0 megapixel (ha ha 4.0!) and I read that the macro gets as close as 4 inches. O.K., this camera is already way outdated in features, etc. The lens is actually very good, but I think my 8 gig hard drive on my computer was big back then…

Here’s a recent picture, from the same time I took the other sample in above post. This is about as “macro” as this camera gets. This is about 2” from the snake. Good thing he’s pretty good natured, considering…

Thanks for the info. I hope I can share some nice pictures someday soon.

Well i'm pretty pleased with my Camera (Sony super steady shot DSC-T200). This camera allows you to take pix (using magnified macro setting) up to 3/8" or 1cm...

At 1st i had no real clue what "Macro" was... just thought it was a way to get better clarity in pix. Then i started playing around with it and realized it's there to enable a "super close, close-up" and still be clear!

As far as proper lighting i use natural lighting (outdoor sunlight) in addition to the flash most of the time.

honestly i can't take much of any credit, on the right setting the camera pretty much does the work, i just point & shoot (zoom on occasion!)

~ZF
-----

**Floridana Morphs: Resource Site**

Those are some great shots there Zenny!,....really like the close detail on the WW speck, and the "ruby-red" eyes on that hypo campbelli!

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Thanx Doug... coming from you with your photo expertise that's a true compliment!

~Z
-----

**Floridana Morphs: Resource Site**

I have a friend who makes a living out of doing photography and she had explained to me to use the macro setting on my little 6.2mp and stay back about 2 feet from the object and zoom in, rather than getting right up on the subject and zooming back.
I've had really good success that way.

and

...were both done using that method. I could have gotten closer too.

-----
Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Those are really nice field shots, Tom, what I am aiming for myself. I have an Olympus 560UZ that I am schooling myself on now. My other problem is with night shots with either hand held lights or the car head lights.
-----
Todd Hughes

Thanks. I was just getting by with a little HP 725r set to auto, then macro. Nowhere close to pro grade equipment, but I sure can milk it for what it's worth LOL!
-----
Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

>>I think it’s time for a new camera.
>>
>>Here’s a recent picture, from the same time I took the other sample in above post. This is about as “macro” as this camera gets. This is about 2” from the snake. Good thing he’s pretty good natured, considering…

If your playing with Hots, you might want to consider a camera with a good Zoom.LOL
-----
R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

These guys are my latest obsession. You aren’t kidding about the focus, though. My hand is basically right there for the taking if they were so inclined as I’m focusing, only about three inches from their face. They really will tolerate an awful lot before they will bite (except at dusk when in food mode). They basically will not bite unless squeezed pretty hard, like tongs or something that scares them. Highly underrated, these little guys. Very potent, not to be taken lightly, but there is A LOT of wrong info out there on them, which I hope to correct over time…

which involves the use of an extension tube in combination with a long zoom lens. This combination will provide "macro" with a greatly increased working distance. I use it all the time for shots like this:

-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

Awesome photo there, Joe!.......I can't imagine you feeling a need to be further away from that dude than just a couple of inches!...hahaha!!

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

thanks man,

These guys require even more working distance. Some say this is the most potent population of Mojave, I take their word for it.

Same setup, long zoom and extension tube, Photo is full frame (not cropped):

-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

Holy smokes!, Joe,......that photo is absolutely SUPERB!

And I tend to agree,.....I wouldn't want to get tagged by the very LEAST potent Mojave!

Do extension tubes only come in fitted sizes for bigger 35 mm etc...?, or can you build a "make-shift" one for small digitals to get the same effect?

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

>> Do extension tubes only come in fitted sizes for bigger 35 mm etc...?, or can you build a "make-shift" one for small digitals to get the same effect?

It goes between the lens and camera, so it would only be applicable in SLR's and DSLR's. It is the same principle as bellows focusing. You could take a normal lens, and the further you rack it away from the film plane / sensor the larger your image will become on that plane and the closer you must be to focus that same subject.

Long zoom lenses have really long minimum focus points already, so adding an extension tube and decreasing that focus point is actually a benefit with this type of photography.

It works really well for Dragon Flies and Frogs and other things as well that tend to spook if you get too close.
-----
Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

My dad is a semi-pro photographer, and has all that type of stuff,....I wish I understood all the things that you and he knows about photography. I just consider myself lucky to be able to "wing" some decent shots now and then with this small digital.

I've been lucky enough to basically find what tends to work in certain situations for me, but I don't know all the technical terms and setting "lingo" like you guys, I really wish I did.....it always seemed so darn confusing to me. My dad gave me a Canon AE-1 "hand-me-down" with a ton of extra equipment many years ago, and it was sort of hit or miss with it, sometimes I got awesome results, and sometimes I got back total crap from the drugstore! certainly products of my lack of "settings" knowledge..LOL!....oh well(shrug).

Thanks for the info Joe,......again, you and Chris Harrison take some stunning photos!.

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Great Doug. So what you’re saying is, those pictures of yours we are all admiring were you just winging it and getting lucky huh? That’s exactly what I’m trying to do! At least the digital is giving us the ability to shoot “rolls” worth of shots for cheap! I just have had too many sessions where I got not even one decent shot. My thumb gets sore from “trash can, delete, are you sure, yes, delete, repeat.” Very good for photography by the trial and error method! I’m glad so many are sharing some techniques and tips.

>>> "My thumb gets sore from “trash can, delete, are you sure, yes, delete, repeat.”

LOL!!!,....Too friggin' funny!..hahaha!

Well,..I know a little, but certainly not like some, one thing that helped immensely with my digital, was trying to learn all I could about my camera from reading the instruction book pretty thoroughly.

~Doug




-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

So the Micrurus you have are feeding well now?,........a while back, I remember us chatting about you trying to find some acceptable snakes at a cheap price for appropriate "feeder" vittles!........if you've been successful with them since then,.......way to go man!....I'm glad to hear it!

I had some about 15 years ago that were a real pain in the ass, so I took them for a drive waaaay out west at the end of Broward Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale, and let them go so they could thrive on their own. I had way to many other snakes to deal with then, so I thought it best for them that they were set free.

I sure wish I took some pics of those pretty things!..GRRR!

I got them from a friend of mine that found a sexual pair underneath one of their favorite "haunts",...a trash pile!

When he called me up, I asked him,...are you SURE they're Corals?,....he said he certainly thought so. So when I arrived to his house, and he showed me the plastic tubs they were in,..I peered in and said,...."yep,...those are indeed the real deal!"..LOL!

have a good weekend!, ~Doug

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I use the zoom on macro and back the camera up. But I am not particularly successful at it.
-----
1.1 Florida Kingsnake
1.0 Kisatchie Cornsnake

Macro lets in a lot of light. Are you using a fixed lens camera? If you can remove the lens try holding it up the the body backwards. Its an old trick that works great. Try the flash or light source behind you too. That will light it up without flooding the lens.

-----
Joe