Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey there!

I am new to this forum and just love the amazing pictures you guys are taking of your boas. Can anyone lend me some advice on taking good digital pictures close-up? I have an Olympus Camedia D-580 digital camera and would like to take some decent shots of my critters up-close. However, every time I zoom in, the image is blurry. Maybe someone can give me some good advice?

Thanks!
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0.1 Hogg Island Boa (the newest addition-she is the sweetest girl ever)
0.0.2 Corn Snakes (grouchy considering the species!)
0.3 Leopard Geckos (my very first reptiles-I've had them a LOOOOOOOOONG time!)
2.0 Wonderful Dogs (one's a spoiled, but loveable old boy and the other is an ungrateful monster who was pulled off the streets of Santa Ana)

just take pictures of boas and you'll be fine
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NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL !!

what kind of light source are you using??? one thing that your camera is probably doing is trying to compensate for low light by taking a longer exposure, leading to a shaky/blurry picture. try using the flash (even if you have to force it on!) and/or turning on more lights.

a camera's auto mode can take a little experimentation, but then you'll know what it likes and doesn't like. it sounds like your camera is trying to avoid using the flash, so add light and see what happens! and let us know.

bc

the best way to get up close and personal is to set the camera to macro mode and get up close and personal for the shot. In macro mode you can shoot as close as a few inches or closer depending on your camera. As a general rule , if you are shooting in macro mode you must zoom all the way out to focus. The flash is also a bad idea when you are that close as it will overexpose your photo unless you have some sort of filter to absorb the reflection (circular polarizer). Your best bet is to get some sort of lighting , use your cameras preset or manual white balace to adjust for the unatural light , throw the camera into macro mode and shoot nice and close... even better is natural daylight on a overcast or cloudy day. It's important to keep the camera very very still while shooting macros or your photos will be blurry , so I'de also use a tripod, or be cheap like me and just rest the camera against something. Good luck !