Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Still trying to figure out how to take the best photos of snakes. Anyone have any suggestions on taking photos of your snakes.
Here's a few of the Hondurans all be breeding next year. I sure would like to figure out how to get these photos crisper and cleaner looking??
Thanks
Jim Baptista

Try playing around with different color backgrounds as that can help a ton with the color coming out true. Also my favorite camera accessory is the ol tripod.

Phil

The tripod tip is the first thing. A tripod is the best key to sharp photos.

Another useful thing is to look at other people's photos you like. Then decide why you like them, and figure out how they achieved that particular effect/photo. You may need to consult some photography books to learn the relationships between f/stops, shutter speeds, and depth of field.

Consider such things as...

1. color and contrast - does the animal stand out? Does the background distract you from the characteristic of the animal you are trying to photograph?

2. posing - does it look natural? Do you want it to?

3. Do you like the perspective? Often getting lower gives the picture more appeal. I find being around 30 degrees up from the animal often results in an appealing picture.

4. Is the eye in focus? If not, you won't have a good photo.

5. Pics are usually more appealing if the animal is moving/facing towards the photographer at an angle (not straight at the camera).
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Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

Thanks I find that a tri pod dose take the best photos, but I find it hard to get the snakes to pose for the camera. The biggest problem I'm having is the lighting or the flash, seems to always get washed out or a ugly glare shows up. All just keep trying and let you guys decide how there turning out??
Thanks again
Jim Baptista

Shooting straight down on a snake like that with camera mounted flash is difficult. A polarizing filter may help a little...that will be trial and error with a flash. If you can bounce and diffuse the flash, you'll get better results. I'm not sure what kind of camera you are using and if it allows for control of the flash or using slave units.

If you can get a more front-on angle and bounce the main flash from above-left or above-right, then use a small flash unit as a slave off the main flash for frontal fill-flash, it will eliminate a lot of the glare and wash-out. Make sure that your focus point is the snake's eye, then adjust for depth of field by using the aperture setting. A depth-of-field preview is very handy for that.

I'm not very familiar with digital cameras, so I'm not sure how much control you have over these things.

I use a Canon EOS-3 (35mm film camera) with a Speedlight 550 EX main flash and a cheapo smaller unit for fill flash, a Tamron 90mm Macro lens, an old Slik U-212 tripod and a box I made out of plywood with a bottom, 2 sides and a back that are painted white to reflect flash. The front is open. The bottom dimensions are 32" x24", the sides and back are 18" high. I can build whatever background I want to use in the box, set the camera and flash up, pose the snake and burn film. I use white poster board above the box to bounce flash downward. I always use the mirror lockup and an electronic remote trigger for macro to reduce vibration. For small snakes, I just put a deli cup over them and let them coil up naturally and settle down, then gently remove the cup and shoot before they try to take off. Many time if your timing is good, you will catch that alert, head up posture (and maybe some tongue-flicking) when they realize the cup is gone.

OK...so I'm a dinosaur, still using film. Canon makes a professional quality digital body for my lens system, but last I checked it was over $8,000.00 for just the body. A little too pricey for me. I can buy a lot of 35mm film for that.

Unless the snake is moving and forcing me to go in high speed mode which makes the flash needed I don't ever use it. In my experience the flash does tend to wash color and alter it to a degree I am not happy with as I like all my pics to look exactly as the animal does in person. Good lighting and a good camera go a long way ( the camera being the biggest part ) toward taking great pics with no flash needed. Personally I am a huge fan of the Nikon coolpix series.

Phil

You guys have given me lots to think about and to play around with.

Thanks again
Jim Baptista

That's a much better image than the first on you posted. Less reflected light and glare, better contrast, more accurate color saturation and reproduction. Now just work on composition, try to fill the frame more with the snake and leave out things like partial water bowls, etc. Try lots of different angles, positions, etc. What may not seem like it would be a good angle could turn out to be the best. Try different backgrounds to find the one that offers the best contrast to the animal you are photographing. Aspen shavings really doesn't make the best background for a snake. If you are simply trying to show the snake's colors, then try a starkly contrasting backround, such as black aquarium gravel or blue aquarium gravel, or solid white and show as little of the backround as possible and still get the whole snake in the frame (maybe an inch all the way around the snake). If you are showing the snake for the way it would look in the wild, then you will need to practice building backgrounds that closely approximate it's natural habitat (not always easy). In that case, you will show a little more of the background, props, etc., even placing some of them unobtrusively in the foreground, while still mostly filling the frame with the animal. The most effective pictures of snakes are the ones where you can clearly see the head/eyes and detail of the scales. It takes a lot of practice and hundreds of pictures. Sometimes I may burn up 3 or 4 rolls of film and only get one picture worth keeping. You digital guys have a big advantage. You can take lots of pictures and see immediately what you have, and cull them on the spot, then take more.

Believe me, a good tripod, cable release (or remote of some kind) and a good macro lens is key to this kind of photography. Sometimes it may take 30 minutes to get the snake in the position you want, take 4 or 5 pictures, then wrangle with it another 30 minutes. Some people actually cool them down to make them less active. I don't do that (I don't like dealing with RI), but it seems to work for others...