Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am 16 years old, and have an Olympus 550-zoom 3.0 megapixels. I am getting a Nikon Coolpix 8700 soon, but here are some photos that I took on my trip to Red River Gorge this summer, so dont yell at me for the badness of the quality!!!

Here is an Eastern Fence Lizard I caught a shot of:

Here we ran into a few Copperheads sunning themselves, but I couldnt get close enough to get a good photo..

Heres an Eastern Box I found stranded on a rock in the middle of a creek, needless to say, he got a large lunch from me and went on his merry way!

A five lined skink I found sunning itself on a rock - I snapped this before it could scamper away!

Here is a photo of some mushrooms I thought would look cool in the photo:

Here is a bunch of moss on a log I thought looked nice with all the light streaming in through the treetops:

And finally, a photo I am kind of proud of, I LOVED the lighting on this one:

Just let me know what you all think!

David Love

(all photos Copyright © David Love 2004)

Haha - they arnt that good anyway, oh wellll...
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KDRKreatures.com
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You're off to a good start, David! Keep up the good work. Just keep shooting and post a few in here for us once in a while.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

dont yell at me for the badness of the quality

David,
No need to apologize for these shots. Considering you are just starting out, these shots are exceptional. They show you have a good eye for photography. There are a lot of folks posting on this and other websites who are three times your age and don't have your eye.

Here are a couple of comments. Please don't take offense at any of them, I only offer them because you obviously take your photography seriously. I do too, and I learn most when I am most critical of my own work. It isn't helpful to just say "I like this" or "I don't like that". You have to figure out why so you can repeat your successes and eliminate your failures.

This is a nice shot. You might try adding a little fill flash to get rid of some of the shadows as they are somewhat distracting.
This is a good "field guide" shot. Next time, if you can, you should "step outside the box" and try to find another perspective to see if you can change the feel of the pic.

This box turtle shot shows you know you can get a more interesting perspective (if that is your goal).
You should try and make sure the images are a little sharper by watching your shutter speed. A little fill flash might have helped here as well. Also, pay attention to what is the focal point of the picture - the eye and nose in this case - make sure those points are tack sharp when you focus.

With this shot, you should ask yourself "Why exactly do I like it?" and "How do I capture that again?" and "How can I improve it next time?". If you do that honestly for your shots, you will become a very good photographer in short order.

For me, I would like to have seen a little less exposure (it looks a tad overexposed to me) and I think a tripod and more depth of field (larger f/stop number) would help this shot capture what you were seeing.

Don't sell yourself short. These shots show you have some talent for photography. You need to polish your skills a bit and learn more about how to get what you envision onto the image and you will be opening a door to a lifelong love of photography.
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Chris Harrison

Chris - that is EXACTLY what I was looking for - a critique. I really would love to improve on my photography. It is hard to mess with the shutter speed of a camera that you just kinda open up and shoot. But I am buying plenty of Digital Camera Books, and soon I can get my 8700 Coolpix (Nikon) and learn alot about that one. I am glad I got the critisism, it helps me tremendously when I try to get better. I cant wait to get back out there and work on my shots!

Thanks again

David

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KDRKreatures.com
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David,

Your photos are getting better every time you post.

Here's a couple of tips:

1. Fill the frame. If you can't zoom enough, then try to move closer to the subject, but try to fill the frame with the subject as much as possible. Reptiles tend to be a challenge, because it's difficult to get the whole animal in the frame and not have a lot of distracting background stuff, due to their typically long, slender body shapes. Turtles and frogs are much easier in that respect. Experiment with different points of view.

2. Use fill-flash whenever possible.

3. Pay attention to the background. Try to find and angle and perspective that will eliminate the background, or separate the subject from the background. Failing that, try compositions where you only get a portion of the animal, but fill the frame with it. Many times I'll stage a photo so that I can get a background that is natural-looking and does not detract or take attention away from the subject.

4. Pay attention to focus. If you have any controls on the camera, use the smallest practical aperture available to you. Smaller apertures (in general) yield the sharper photos and greater depth-of-field. For wildlife photography, it is critical that the animal's eye be in the sharpest focus.

5. Pay attention to perspective. In general, photos from the animal's level or slightly lower yield the most aesthetically pleasing photos.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

>>David,
>>
>>Your photos are getting better every time you post.
>>
>>Here's a couple of tips:
>>
>>1. Fill the frame. If you can't zoom enough, then try to move closer to the subject, but try to fill the frame with the subject as much as possible. Reptiles tend to be a challenge, because it's difficult to get the whole animal in the frame and not have a lot of distracting background stuff, due to their typically long, slender body shapes. Turtles and frogs are much easier in that respect. Experiment with different points of view.
>>
>>2. Use fill-flash whenever possible.
>>
>>3. Pay attention to the background. Try to find and angle and perspective that will eliminate the background, or separate the subject from the background. Failing that, try compositions where you only get a portion of the animal, but fill the frame with it. Many times I'll stage a photo so that I can get a background that is natural-looking and does not detract or take attention away from the subject.
>>
>>4. Pay attention to focus. If you have any controls on the camera, use the smallest practical aperture available to you. Smaller apertures (in general) yield the sharper photos and greater depth-of-field. For wildlife photography, it is critical that the animal's eye be in the sharpest focus.
>>
>>5. Pay attention to perspective. In general, photos from the animal's level or slightly lower yield the most aesthetically pleasing photos.
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>>We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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I am buying plenty of Digital Camera Books

Digicam books are good, but you might want to invest in a good book about general photography.

Try a used bookstore. Now that digital has taken over, people may be unloading their older film photography books and good film technique is good digital technique.

Some of John Shaw's books (Closeups in Nature is my favorite) are great learning tools. He is an extraordinary nature photographer and a good teacher too. I learned a lot by reading his books, then shooting thousands of pics!

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Chris Harrison