Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Fuego was looking so pretty tonight. Lots of yellows, oranges and reds, but when I take his picture he looks so BLAH! This is a picture I took tonight. H looks almost green. I think it is because of the MVB bulb. What kind of lighting and what background colors would you rec. so I couls get his colors to really show. My husband usually takes his pictures and he always looks good in those pictures.

-----
Stacey

Here he is again. Looking even more BLAH.

-----
Stacey

Stacey

A couple things you can try. I would first get your dragon out of the cage before taking the pic. Any lights in there will distort the color. I either take photos of mine in a mostly dark environment and let the flash provide the needed lighting or depending where you live you can go outside and not use a flash. With a flash you need to make sure you're not too close or you'll get a flash burn (usually on the dragon's face). Another option I sometimes do is set up a couple flourecent lights around them and not use the flash. With a digital I have also found it easier to zoom out farther on the picture an use photoshop to crop it to look closer. The higher the megapixel the better for this. If you have any other questions feel free to email me direct.

Mike
-----
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

____

Also,if you camera has a "MACRO" setting use it when shooting close ups. That's what it's there for. I've seen so many close up pics on this forum that were blurred and pointless it's not even funny.
-----
0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)
0.1.0 Royal/Ball Python(Not named yet)

I have a 5.1 mp, but the shots always comeut blurry, even with macro! I think its cause my hand shakes a little when I trying to keep it still, but I have taken a few good ones, when I increases the shutter speed... I guess I need a tripod?
-----
0.0.1 Chrysemys picta picta (Eastern Painted Turtle)
0.0.1 Teliqua gigas (Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink)
0.2.0 Eublepharis macularius (Leopard Geckos)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon (Northern Water Snake)
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus (Crested Geckos)
0.0.1 Python regius (Ball Python)
?.?.? Assorted goldfish, minnows and guppies
1.0.0 Ferret
1.1.0 Cats
1.0.0 Aussie Cattle Dog/ Border Collie Mix

If I try to get too close for a closeup, even in macro setting, it frequently comes out blurry. I use macro and then back away from the subject then use photoshop to crop in closer. You will be more successful trying it this way if you have a way of cropping the photo.
-----
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

____

While many digital cameras do have a "macro" setting, often they're not perfect. They will usually throw the auto-focus all out of whack, and also the closer you are to your subject, the shallower the depth of field. So you've got a much lower margin for error - or rather the camera does - when it's focussing on such a close subject.
-----
Axe
The Reptile Rooms

The amount of MP in your camera bears no relation to the quality of the image.

I used to have a Sony Mavica FD-83 which took outstanding photos in only 1024x768, which are perfect for online use. Then somebody gave me a HP Photosmart 315 which shoots 1600x1200, and I've rarely had a decent photo come out of that camera.

Now I shoot a Nikon D100, which is 6.1MP, and has a Sony CCD sensor that records the image, and while it's an expensive camera, and produces extremely nice results, the quality can still be pretty crappy compared to the Nikon D2h (which is only 4.1MP - yet even more expensive, I think about US3,200, although that may drop now the D2x has been announced).

Best advice for getting a new camera is just head down to the local Ritz/Wolf (or B&H if you're in New York), take a laptop or an image storage device like a DigiBin or something with you, and just try out a whole bunch of different cameras. Jot down which camera you used to take each photo, then examine them all on your PC full screen when you get home. The LCD on the back of the camera can be extremely misleading with regard to the quality of the images it takes.

The main parts that affect the image quality are the build & quality of the sensor in the camera, and the lense built into the camera (or the lens that you add onto the camera in the case of digital SLR).
-----
Axe
The Reptile Rooms

I agree.....

This is with flash with lights off....by the way Mike.....this is your girl.....cold and dry and still pretty!

-----
Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com
"Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous.
It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood" ~Maya Angelou

She used to have a very distinctive pattern. Looks like she's following in her parents footsteps and losing it. Definately taking after daddy though. She looks like her sister Rusty. She's actually much bigger now but I don't have a current pic.

-----
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

____

He looks good either way. I find that if you leave it mostly dark, with a flash, it washes out the color (for me). I would also, like Robert said, take him out of the cage, and try putting him in a plain background, such as a sheet. That way, the camera and photo will be focused on him. I have better luck in a well lighted room, with a few good flourescent bulbs around the "photo center" where the sheet and the dragon are. Good luck!
-----
KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

But don't the flourecent lights screw with the Dragon's colors? Or are you using Full Spectrum tubes?
-----
0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)
0.1.0 Royal/Ball Python(Not named yet)

I use every day florescents like you would see in any commercial building. I have a few fixtures that I used to put UVB bulbs in and just buy the cheapies. Because its more of a white light it doesn't affect the colors. Something like a flood light would add too much orange.

Mike
-----
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

____

Thank you! I will try to post some good pictures of him. It is frustrating to be looking at this gorgeous dragon and then not be able to show him off ! I want to send a follow up picture to Fire and Ice dragons where I got him, since he just turned a year old. But I want him to look so good that they put him on the website!
-----
Stacey

UV light will naturally add a yellow tint to color photographs, so it's not the light. I'm a senior lab tech for Ritz Camera, and I tend to find "wilderness" shots have a greenish tint to them, and nobody seems to have an answer for me as to why that is. As long as you don't get any glass or highly reflective service in the flash area, taking the picture like he is there but using the flash should help eleviate those problems.
-----
0.0.1 Senagel Chameleon-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boa-Xena
0.0.1 Albino Corn Snake-Pinky
0.1.0 Green Anaconda-Lola
0.0.4 Bearded Dragons (will be acquiring appx Dec 13-20)

I tend to find "wilderness" shots have a greenish tint to them, and nobody seems to have an answer for me as to why that is.

If it's with film, then they're probably using film that's balanced for a different kind of light other than outdoor sunlight, if it's digital, then their white balance is set wrong

Photography is all about light. While most lenses on SLR cameras do have some form of UV coating, it's not always that great, and requires a good quality UV filter over the end.

Many Digital SLRs have a UV/Anti-Aliasing filter over the sensor (I know the Nikon DSLR's do, I'm not sure about the Canon/Sigma/Kodak, but I'm assuming they would too), which blocks most of the UV light going in.

However, every light source has a unique colour temperature (similar to the colour temperature setting on your computer monitor which can make your whites white or more towards the yellow end) and if the film/CCD/CMOS isn't calibrated to the correct colour temperature it's going to throw your colours slightly off. This is why some films are said to be "warmer" or "colder" than others.

Ovbiously, with a 35mm body, you have to change to a different type of film to get a different effect. On a digital SLR body, you just adjust the white balance.
-----
Axe
The Reptile Rooms

Flourescent does affect the colour (flourescent light tends to turn things bluish), just as ANY other light source does, however most digital cameras will easily adapt to flourescents of regular incandescents (which turns things a yellow/orange) on an auto white balance setting

Have a read of this article, it explains it a bit more in-depth.

www.photoxels.com/tutorial_white-balance.html
-----
Axe
The Reptile Rooms

If your camera has a custom white-balance setting, this should be able to override the green tint you're getting on your photos. You're right, it is because of the mercury vapour lights...

Here's a photo I took of our big guy Zookie using the camera's default "Auto" white balance..

Image Copyright ReptileRooms.com ©2003

After I preset a custom white balance and shot again, the difference was very dramatic. The ONLY difference between these two shots is the white balance setting in the digital camera.

Image Copyright ReptileRooms.com ©2003

In a 35mm film camera, there are many many different types of film that are calibrated for different types of lighting; Sunny outdoors, incandescent, flourescent, flash, etc. On a digital camera (whether it be a point-n-shoot or a digital SLR), the white balance is essentially digital's answer to shooting with different types of film. Obviously you cant change the CCD or CMOS inside your camera every time you go under different lighting conditions, so this is where the white balance comes into play.

You can spend an absolute fortune getting your white balance perfect. For Digital SLR owners, there's a device called an Expodisc, which is basically just a fancy filter that screws onto the end of your lens. Depending on the diameter of the filter, you can pay anywhere from $80-150 EACH for expodiscs.

For a point-n-shoot, or low-cost alternative for digital SLRs, you can just use a coffee filter. Yup, that's right, the same ones you put coffee into and pour water through to produce a drink

The way many SLR's work, when you go to set your white balance, you simply put the coffee filter over the end of your lens, point it directly at your primary light source (in this case, the MVB bulb), and fire the shutter. It records that colour light as being white. Then you go back to shooting, and it automatically shifts every photo over so that under that primary lightsource, you get correct colour (although it can still be fooled occasionally, especially if you have combinations of MVB, Incandescent and/or Flourescent all lighting your scene, or animal). This technique also works for quite a few point-n-shoots that have a custom white balance setting.

If your camera doesn't have a custom white balance setting, turn off the MVB temporarily and use your camera's built-in flash. If you find it's too bright, there's probably a setting to knock it down a tad. Some digital cameras use what's called TTL (through-the-lens) flash to gauge the exact amount of light required to light a scene adequately based upon the metering method you give it (spot, center, matrix, or whatever other metering capabilities your camera may have - some point-n-shoots just have a single metering mode). That way the flash never gets powerful enough to blow out your scene. When the sensor detects there's enough light to get a well exposed image, it shuts off the flash.

If your camera's flash doesn't do something like this, you can always dull it down a bit by taping a couple of small pieces of over it. Enough light will still pass through the paper towels to light up your scene a bit, and it will also diffuse the light some to prevent harsh shadows.

Here's an image using TTL flash, but it is unfiltered, you can see the very distinct outline of the shadow under cobra's head - even the tongue is casting a pretty harsh shadow.

Image Copyright ReptileRooms.com ©2004

Here's a shot of a Jungle Carpet Python I took at Daytona. This is using just a single flash, with a Lumiquest Mini-Softbox over the flash to diffuse the shadows just a little. As you can see, it helps some, but it's still a little harsh.

Image Copyright ReptileRooms.com ©2004

And here's another shot, this time of a 5 month old beardy, in more controlled conditions. This time using 2 flashes. One pointed directly at the camera, diffused through a couple of pieces of paper towel, and a separate flash bounced off the ceiling to further help diffuse the light & shadows. You can see the shadows are much more blurred, and don't draw your eye away from the main subject.

Image Copyright ReptileRooms.com ©2004

Depending on your camera though, you could get much better results removing the dragon from his enclosure to a more controlled environment where you have better control of "always-on" lighting (even just regular domes & 60 watt household bulbs will work wonders if they're arranged just right). It may not be as convenient as simply pointing your camera in the tank and firing away, but it should yield much better results.

I hope this helps you some
-----
Axe
The Reptile Rooms

Thank you so much for your advice. I copied it for reference. I really appreciate it. Hopefully, I will post some good pictures later and make you proud! lol
-----
Stacey