Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I realy stink at taking pics. Any tips on lighting, flash, etc.. this monitor is gorgeous but cant get a decent pic. Maybe its just my camera HP 320?
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Robert

if possible, take photos without glass between you and the monitor

If this is not possible, make sure the glass is as clean as possible and shoot with the flash at an angle to the glass so that it doesn't bounce back into the lens

if you can change the settings of your camera and/or flash, always set your aperture to as small as possible

Digitals do not do the best job indoors. They need the right lighting to give good quality and real color. Taking pictures outdoors helps or in a well lit cage with very clean glass.
I should note not all digitals are this way.

A good 35mm will work better for you more then likely. You'll still need to clean the glass and angle the shot so the flash does not reflect back straight at the lens. But it will show more true colors indoors then a digital. Make sure the background doesn't make the colors you want to bring out bleed into it. If your monitor is yellow do not use a yellow or tan background but use something to contrast that like black or blue.

Good luck

My Digital actually takes better indoor pics than outdoor... Its a Samsung Digimax 201...

Sorry.. no pics of a monitor.. so this was the best I could do. *L*
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
2.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 1 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

Like I said not all digitals are that way but most are. it also depends on the picture. Yours look like you had the camera pretty close up. I tmay be zoomed but if it was i would expect the background to be less dark. If you would of taken that with a 35mm like I have it would of turned out much better IMO.

Try taking that photo from far away once in the house not so lit up and see if it is better then taken from outside in the daytime. Or getting a picture of a color hue of a (i.e.)pastel boa with the digital as compared to a 35mm.

It all depends on the angle, where your at close up far away, and the camera itself. Not to mention what you feel is a good picture and what I others think. I think yours are ok but I prefer to show more of the animal and to not have the dark background blend into the animal.

Hmmmmmmmm I do not think you can blame the camera, I have a nikon system slr and olympus digital. I can take great pics with either, both indoors and out. Realisticly, the only difference is how the image is recorded. The rest is the camera. You can get basic models of both, to very complex models of both.

In this case, it may be the rider and not the horse. Point and shoot is for taking basic common pics, taking other types of pics requires experience and patience.

Also, i understand there are many qualities of pictures, and perfect pics are not always needed. Over the internet, pictures are a means of comunication. Capturing events, looking at part of bodies, to determine sex or wounds, etc. These only need to show whats intended. For instance, i will not open a window or add lites to rare events, I simply record them the best I can, then after the event becomes commonplace, then I will stage it, to get a better pic. I guess what I am saying is, Roberts pics are fine for the intended use.

Robert, you may want to look at other brands and styles of digital cams. But remember, no one camera is good for all kinds of pics.

I am patiently waiting for Nikon to come out with a digital body that I can afford.

For the moment, my digital cam has kept my nikon in the camera box, as its just so easy to get images from reality to here. F

If your digital has low mega pixels it will not compare with a 35mm quality. So it does also matter what camera you use. But if you know photography then you know that it depends on a number of things. Lighting, background, speed, lens, flash, what your picture is of and how you want it to show, and last the camera being used.

I agree I get good pictures with my digital at times but I prefer IMO the 35mm SLR for those must be good shots. For the rest I use a digital. But if the camera is of low quality then your pic will not be the same if that happened then a instant 35mm would be as good as my SLR and it is not. I believe it also could be his wire he uses to transfer from the camera to the pc, or it is the software.

Mine is very low pixel, 2.1.

Mega pixels have two advantages, one is size of print and the other is a larger ability to dig zoom.

Here on the interent, large pics are a hinderence, not a benefit. In fact I resize mine to less then half the standard size.

You need to remember, we are here, talking about pics for here. If you want a think about posters then I would still give the edge to a dig body on a system camera. The reason, is feedback, with digs, you can see the pic, delete it and try again. Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon slr, but for all practical purposes, its obsolete for day to day use. F

Hello Lucien,

My eyes could be decieving me or your camera is playing tricks on me, but what is that white substance surrounding your boas ocular? It seems to me that your boa has some mites forming around the ocular region...i hope i am delusional and all is well. Anybody else?

R_Hilo

Is it the background?

Maybe it is the software your using to save the picture to on your pc. Or if your digital is has a low megapixel then it's quality is greatly depreciated as well.

I do agree not all digitals are bad I use one and I use my 35mm canon. For the must have magazine quality pictures I will choose my 35mm everytime. For the quick and easy pictures I will grab my digital and try to make sure the lighting, and background is good for the shot. But if it is of them breeding at night etc. i just take it how I get it. Just look at the cumingi's pics of them copulating they suck but you can see what is going on so who cares.

Jody, i went out to see what he may be doing wrong. It seems he may not be using the shutter button correctly. With dig cams, you should push the shutter button slowly to allow the system to work. I tried clicking very fast and I recieved a pic just like his. Then I pushed it most of the way down then paused, the pics came out great.

In truth, they are different cameras and need to be used differently. F

I will try that also I see a differance when I change the pic from pixels to inches on my photo saver. I'll keep trying
Thanks for all the input..
Robert

This was just taken with a low megapixel camera(2.1), its thru glass, with a flash, taken at a distance from 6 feet away.(long lens) no marco and no dig zoom, was used and it was reduced more the 50%.

While its not an artsy pic, its fine for the intended purpose. And it this case its, man do I have a nice normal western hog. hahahahahahahaha.

Also, the real benefit with a dig cam is, I could take this pic, resize, put in a internet site and post it here in minutes. While with a SLR, you could take a pic.

Robert, your problem in not resizing. pixels=inches. If you enlarge to much it will only make it blurry. for instance, 2.1 pixels= 8 x 10 for a good quality print. Hope some of this helps. F

Have alot to learn with pix. Trying some of your ideas
Thanks

Hey!!! What is a hognose doing on this forum???? LOL

I also wondered if he had settings on his camera. Mine has different quality settings I think fine, good, and best or something. With the lowest setting I get poor quality but more quantity.

Even more, my first digi camera, had settings for natural lite, incandesent like and flor. lite.

Also, there is many modes on most cameras. Robert may be set on the wrong mode for whats hes trying to get. Thats what it looks like.

Hes a link to my current camera and other far better ones, some of these will not only breed your monitors but hatch the eggs as well j/k, check them out. F
Link

But where do you put the egg's to incubate them? Or is that an add on feature LOL

I'll check out the link I have been looking to get a digital myself. Right now I use my digital mini dv camcorder to take still digital pictures. It works good but I want to be able to get some nice macro shots.

part of that is a focus problem, the camera was either too close or didn't have a chance to focus properly. As Frank said, if the picture is taken too quickly with a digital they don't cope. Compact digitals need time to focus and meter.

The other part of the problem is a metering thing. For the best shots of your animal, the animal needs to be on a background similar in tone (ie lightness/darkness) to the animal but a different colour. To highlight a monitor with orange, go for a blue background (complimentary colour = opposite on colour wheel) but make sure the blue isn't too much lighter or darker than the monitor. The reason for this is that, with a dark background the camera will try to compensate by overexposing, leaving you with a bleached out monitor. If the background is light, the camera will close down its aperture and your monitor will end up dark.

If the centre of the lens is aimed at the monitor and your camera uses centre weighted metering by default, the monitor may come out just right but the background will come out bleached out (if it is lighter than the monitor) or really dark (if it is darker than the monitor)

If it all sounds too technical, all you need to remember is this: make sure the background isn't too much lighter or darker than your monitor, but preferably a different colour.